BERKELEY – Olivia Hauger was in a familiar spot. The California freshman was playing in the last singles match of a huge contest for the Golden Bears, and she was trailing. But the young Bear provided another clutch moment, rebounding to win her match in three sets – on Friday beating Brianna Morgan, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 – and this time giving No. 1 California a 4-3 come-from-behind win over No. 7 Florida at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
Friday's win gave Cal a tie for the best start in school history at 10-0 and also marked the Bears' first win over Florida. Cal was also 10-0 to start the 1998-99 season.
“They just fought really, really hard,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “We talked the other day about 'competing hard,' and that's something I want to do each match, because you never know what court's going to have a good matchup or not such a good matchup. We had some good courts and some not so good courts today, but the team stuck together and fought through. I'm really proud of how hard they worked to get that victory as a team.”
The Pac-12 Networks also broadcast the dramatic victory over Florida, with Cal alumna – and Augustus' partner in two NCAA doubles championships – Amy Jensen doing color commentary.
The Bears had trailed 3-1 at one point but fought back, and when senior Lynn Chi won her own clutch three-set match one court over, Cal was tied with the Gators at 3-3.
Hauger lost her first set to Morgan and then trailed 5-2 in the second set.
No matter.
“I was just really focused on winning the next point, and I was trying not to think about the score,” Hauger said. “I was just telling myself to fight as hard as I can for every point, and it worked out.”
The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native did something similar at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship earlier in February, when she trailed 5-3 in the third set of the final against North Carolina. She also bounced back to win that match and give Cal its first national indoor championship as well as its first national team title.
Cal's first No. 1 ranking – which it's retained for three weeks – soon followed.
“As a freshman, she's clinched multiple matches, big matches, for us, so she's a real competitor,” Augustus said of Hauger. “That's why we recruited her. I'm just really proud seeing her adjusting so well to team competition, because you don't how someone's going to do until they're put in that situation. And that's probably the toughest situation in college tennis – a match tied 3-all and it comes down to you in a third set. That's why we put in all the hours of on- and off-court training. I'm really proud of her today. She's obviously a great addition to our program, and I'm happy to have her.”
Florida showed its class all day, including in doubles. Its two ranked pairs beat Cal's two ranked teams to clinch the point for the Gators. First, though, the Cal duo of Chi and freshman Maria Smith defeated Anna Danilina and Brianna Morgan, 6-4, on court three. Court one finished next, with Cal's sixth-ranked pair of juniors Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr falling to Florida's seventh-ranked team of Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan, 6-4.
Court two would decide matters, and at that point the match between Cal's 52nd-ranked team of Hauger and senior Klara Fabikova and Florida's 19th-ranked team of Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock was tied at 5-5. The Gators prevailed, 7-5, to take the point.
In singles, Cal sophomore Karla Popovic quickly dispatched the 67th-ranked Danilina, 6-1, 6-1, to tie the overall match at 1-1. But Florida beat Cal's two top-10-ranked players in straight sets on courts two and one to take a 3-1 lead. On two, the sixth-ranked Woolcock beat the fifth-ranked Fabikova, 6-2, 6-0, and then on one, the 12th-ranked Austin topped her former U.S. teammate Manasse – who's ranked 10th – 6-3, 6-3.
In December, Augustus coached a U.S. team that defended its Master'U BNP Paribas title in France, with the pair of Manasse and Austin winning a doubles match in the final against host France.
Back on court three at Hellman, the 80th-ranked Starr started Cal's climb back with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the 72nd-ranked Kuhlman that made the score 3-2. That left courts four and five to decide things.
Chi faced the 30th-ranked Keegan on four and dropped a tight first set, 7-6, after Keegan prevailed, 8-6, in the tiebreaker. Buoyed on by her teammates and by a boisterous crowd that included players from the Cal men's tennis team, Cal men's basketball team and Cal baseball team, the veteran Chi – who was the NCAA singles runner-up in 2014 – surged ahead and beat Keegan, 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3.
“That shows Lynn's poise and her experience,” Augustus said. “She had some opportunities in the first set, and it just got away from her. Instead of giving up, she put her head down and got back to work, and in that third set I thought she closed it out well, especially on match point. She went with a really aggressive shot to win the match.”
Hauger then took hold of her match on court five and never looked back. When she won match point, Hauger's teammates and coaches celebrated with her on the court.
“It's really great to have that support,” she said. “We fight as a team and we win as a team.”
No. 1 California (10-0) defeated No. 5 Florida (5-1) – 4-3
Feb. 26, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 7 Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan (Florida) def. No. 6 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) – 6-4
2. No. 19 Josie Kuhlman/Belinda Woolcock (Florida) def. No. 52 Klara Fabikova/Olivia Hauger (Cal) –7-5
3. Lynn Chi/Maria Smith (Cal) def. Anna Danilina/Brianna Morgan (Florida) – 6-4
Florida won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 12 Brooke Austin (Florida) def. No. 10 Maegan Manasse (Cal) – 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 6 Belinda Woolcock (Florida) def. No. 5 Klara Fabikova (Cal) – 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 80 Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 72 Josie Kuhlman (Florida) – 6-3, 6-4
4. Lynn Chi (Cal) def. No. 30 Kourtney Keegan (Florida) – 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3
5. No. 96 Olivia Hauger (Cal) def. No. 88 Brianna Morgan (Florida) – 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. Karla Popovic (Cal) def. No. 67 Anna Danilina (Florida) – 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5*
*Clinched the overall match
