BERKELEY – Amidst a stretch of several road matches this spring, No. 16 California made a brief appearance at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Tuesday afternoon when it defeated San Diego State, 4-0, in slightly less than two hours. Sophomore J.T. Nishimura clinched the nonconference victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Sanders Gjoels-Andersen on court four.
Cal improved its record to 11-3, while SDSU fell to 6-10.
Tuesday's match marked just the fourth of the season at Hellman for the Bears. Thanks in part to bad weather, the last time Cal played at Hellman was on Feb. 27, when it beat Pepperdine, 4-0. With rain expected on March 13, the Golden Bears moved their home match that day to indoor courts in Burlingame, California.
“It's been definitely nice to get back home,” Cal sophomore Billy Griffith said. “It was nice to not have to travel for the first time in a while.”
Nishimura also paired with senior Mads Engsted to beat Milen Ianakiev and Santiago Cevallos, 6-2, at court-two doubles. The Bears clinched the doubles point when freshman Gunther Matta and senior Mads Engsted topped SDSU's Freddy Gelbrich and Marko Goles-Babic, 6-4, on court three.
Cal won the first set in singles on four of six courts and doubled its lead to 2-0 when the 40th-ranked Griffith knocked off the 112th-ranked Freddy Gelbrich, 6-3, 6-1, on court one. A few seconds later on court two, 17th-ranked junior Andre Goransson completed a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hendrik Jebens to push the lead to 3-0, and minutes later Nishimura ended the day with his victory on court four.
“Our guys came out and played really well today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “We got very strong performances from our two freshmen, Gunther Matta - in doubles in his second (dual) match – and Ryan Shen, who got into his first dual match of the year. And he was ahead in that (singles) match.
“A couple guys were out of the lineup; we had a couple of new guys into the lineup, and they were well prepared. The quality of tennis we played as a team together was quite high, right from the doubles all the way through the singles. We are getting some guys healthy and back into the lineup soon, but while they're out, I don't think we've missed a beat. We've gotten a little stronger in some areas.”
Neither Florian Lakat nor Filip Bergevi played Tuesday, though both juniors were at Hellman to cheer on their teammates.
With Lakat out, Griffith played for the third-straight time at court-one singles. Tuesday's match was his first playing at court one/Newmark Stadium Court at Hellman.
"It's nice to play that close to the fans," Griffith said. "It was pretty cool. I enjoyed it."
Cal returns to the road when it plays at No. 9 USC on Friday and then plays at No. 5 UCLA on Saturday.
No. 16 California (11-3) defeated San Diego State (6-10) – 4-0
March 29, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal) vs. Hendrik Jebens/Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU) – 5-4 Abandoned
2. Mads Engsted/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Milen Ianakiev/Santiago Cevallos (SDSU) – 6-2
3. Gunther Matta/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Freddy Gelbrich/Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU) – 6-4
Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 2, 3*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 40 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. No. 112 Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) – 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 17 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Hendrik Jebens (SDSU) – 6-1, 6-2
3. Milen Ianakiev (SDSU) vs. No. 62 Oskar Wikberg (Cal) – 7-6(4), 0-4 Abandoned
4. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU) – 6-4, 6-1
5. Marko Goles-Babic (SDSU) vs. Mads Engsted (Cal) – 6-4, 4-4 Abandoned
6. Ryan Shen (Cal) vs. Santiago Cevallos (SDSU) – 6-3, 4-3 Abandoned
Order of Finish – 1, 2, 4*
*Clinched the overall match
