MADISON, Wis. – California's Karla Popovic beat Ohio State's Olivia Sneed on Sunday to send the sixth-ranked, fourth-seeded Golden Bears past the eighth-seeded, 16th-ranked Buckeyes, 4-3, and into the Monday final at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship. Popovic, a sophomore, wrapped up a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory when Sneed fired a return into the net at court six at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
As soon as Popovic's match ended, the Bears rushed the court to celebrate with their teammate.
“It was amazing,” Popovic said. “Absolutely amazing. I saw them standing by my court, since mine was the deciding match, and I just did my best to stay focused. It was awesome seeing all my teammates there.”
Cal will play defending champion North Carolina – the tournament's third seed and the nation's fifth-ranked team – in Monday's championship match at 11 a.m. CT. This will mark Cal's second appearance in the indoor final; the Bears lost to Stanford in the final in 2000 in Wisconsin.
RadioTennis.com will broadcast Monday's final live.
On Sunday, the Bears fell behind when the Buckeyes captured the doubles point. Cal's third-ranked duo of juniors Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr lost, 7-6(5), to the sixth-ranked Anna Sanford and Miho Kowase on court one to clinch for Ohio State.
“We played a pretty good doubles point,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “I thought a couple points could've gone either way. That's the first doubles point we've lost this year, but we've lost the doubles point plenty of times before coming back to win.”
The back-and-forth affair leveled off early in singles, when 10th-ranked Cal senior Klara Fabikova defeated Gabriella De Santis, 6-2, 6-1, on court two to make the score 1-1. Ohio State led again, at 2-1, when the second-ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo beat the fifth-ranked Manasse, 6-2, 7-6(2), on court one.
Cal freshman and 81st-ranked Olivia Hauger made it 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-4, court-five victory over Femy Angeles Paz, but Sanford pushed OSU into a 3-2 lead with her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, court-three win over Cal senior Lynn Chi.
Trailing after falling to Kowase in the first set on court four, Cal's Starr rebounded to prevail, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, tie the overall score at 3-3 and set the stage for Popovic.
“Karla's opponent continued to go for her shots no matter what the score was,” Augustus said. “Karla had to try to get the ball out of her strike zone and move her around. The more she did that, the more the points went in her favor. Karla was really, really solid at the end of the match, served well and returned aggressively, and that's why she was able to close out the third set.”
“The third set I had to make some adjustments and play smarter,” Popovic said. “I did that, and I won.”
Augustus added, “We were confident in our singles lineup and knew everyone was motivated to win for the team. Credit to Ohio State – they made us battle, and we responded well. We're really looking forward to competing in the final tomorrow.”
ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship – Semifinal Round
[4] No. 6 California (5-0) def. [8] No. 16 Ohio State (7-1) – 4-3
Feb. 7, 2016, in Madison, Wis.
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Doubles
1. No. 6 Anna Sanford/Miho Kowase (Ohio State) def. No. 3 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) – 7-6(5)
2. No. 43 Klara Fabikova/Olivia Hauger (Cal) vs. Gabriella De Santis/Femy Angeles Paz (Ohio State) – 5-5
3. Olivia Sneed/Francesca Di Lorenzo (Ohio State) def. Lynn Chi/Maria Smith (Cal) – 6-4
Ohio State won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 1
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 2 Francesca Di Lorenzo (Ohio State) def. No. 5 Maegan Manasse (Cal) – 6-2, 7-6(2)
2. No. 10 Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Gabriella De Santis (Ohio State) – 6-2, 6-1
3. Anna Sanford (Ohio State) def. Lynn Chi (Cal) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. Denise Starr (Cal) def. Miho Kowase (Ohio State) – 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. No. 81 Olivia Hauger (Cal) def. Femy Angeles Paz (Ohio State) – 6-4, 6-4
6. Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Olivia Sneed (Ohio State) – 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Order of Finish – 2, 1, 5, 3, 4, 6*
*Clinched the overall match
