MTEN2/16/2015 5:49 AM | By: Cal Athletics
No. 13 Cal Tops Penn State, 4-2, to End Indoor Run
CHICAGO – Another consolation match against a team of Lions came down to the wire for 13th-ranked California at the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship, and the Golden Bears prevailed on Sunday night to defeat No. 22 Penn State, 4-2. Cal sophomore
Andre Goransson closed out the match with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Leo Stakhovsky in court-one singles.
Cal – the 12th seed at national indoors – improved its record to 7-2, while the Nittany Lions (the 16th seed) fell to 3-5.
Goransson also clinched the doubles point, as he and junior Oskar Wikberg –ranked 32nd – beat Alex Fennell/Matt Barry, 7-5, on court two. Earlier, the Cal duo of sophomore Filip Bergevi and junior Mads Engsted beat Roman Trkulja/Mike Reilly, 6-3, on court three, followed by the 30th-ranked team of seniors Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton losing to Stakhovsky/Aws Laaribi, 6-3, on court one.
In singles, Cal also got wins from Bayane – who beat Tomas Hanzlik, 6-1, 6-2, on court five – and freshman J.T. Nishimura – who defeated Laaribi on court four, 6-0, 7-6(1) – before Goransson wrapped up the match.
Cal had lost to the Columbia Lions on Saturday in the consolation quarterfinals, after falling to host Illinois in the main draw in Friday's opening round of 16.
“This was a hard-fought win for us today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “Overall, we improved over the weekend, but I have to say, I think we're all a little happy the indoor season is over. Today was a step toward reaching mid-season form, but we have a lot of work to do to get ready for the Pac-12 season. Our team is young, and the learning curve is steep. We definitely learned some valuable lessons this weekend.”
Cal returns to Berkeley to play Stanford on Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Hellman Tennis complex. On Sunday, Feb. 22, the Bears host Saint Mary's at 9 a.m. and UC Santa Barbara at 1:30 p.m.
