BERKELEY - In her penultimate home match, senior Lynn Chi clinched top-seeded California's quick 4-0 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley in the first round/round of 64 of the NCAA Championship on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The 20-1 Golden Bears advanced to Saturday's second round, in which they will face 74th-ranked UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. in what will be the last home match for Chi and fellow senior Klara Fabikova.
Playing at court-three singles, Chi defeated Natacha Minc, 6-2, 6-0, to wrap up Friday's action.
“It's always exciting just to finish your match especially in NCAAs, because you're playing clinch,” said Chi, referring to a match ending immediately after one team scores four points to clinch the overall victory. “But it is pretty cool since I had only two matches left here to finish one of them.”
Cal needed just one hour and 20 minutes to beat UTRGV, which ended its season with an 11-11 record.
Earlier at Hellman, the Gauchos needed a little over four hours to upset 32nd-ranked Kansas, 4-3, to advance to Saturday's round of 32. Due to injury, the Jayhawks played that match with just five players.
After waiting out that long match, Cal quickly dispatched the Vaqueros in doubles. Chi teamed with freshman Maria Smith to blank Doris Aleksovska and Dominique Ibarra, 6-0, on court three, and then the 90th-ranked pair of Fabikova and freshman Olivia Hauger clinched the point with a 6-1 win over Dominique Esparza and Natacha Minc on court two.
Cal sophomore Karla Popovic – who is still unbeaten in dual-match play – needed little time to defeat Tara Donaho, 6-0, 6-0, on court six to give Cal a 2-0 lead. Popovic improved her overall singles record to 34-7 and her dual-match singles record to 20-0 on the season.
The 16th-ranked Fabikova lost just one game in beating Esparza, 6-0, 6-1, to set up Chi for the clincher.
Saturday's match will determine whether second-ranked Cal or UCSB will advance to the May 19 NCAA round of 16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Prior to the 3 p.m. round of 32 match, Cal men's tennis will host two NCAA first-round matches at Hellman, with Denver and Mississippi playing at 9 a.m. and the 13th-seeded/13th-ranked Bears playing Army West Point at 12 p.m.
NCAA Championship Round of 64
No. 74 UC Santa Barbara (19-7) defeats No. 32 Kansas (17-8) – 4-3
May 13, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Nina Khmelnitchkaia/Janet Koch (Kansas) vs. No. 22 Palina Dubavets/Stefani Stojic (UCSB) – 5-3 Abandoned
2. Stephanie Yamada/Melissa Baker (UCSB) def. Anastasiya Rychagova/Smith Hinton (Kansas) – 6-3
3. UCSB wins by default
UCSB wins the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 2
Singles
1. No. 77 Anastasiya Rychagova (Kansas) def. Lou Adler (UCSB) – 6-2, 7-5
2. Palina Dubavets (UCSB) def. Smith Hinton (Kansas) – 6-2, 6-4
3. Janet Koch (Kansas) def. Stefani Stojic (UCSB) – 6-2, 6-3
4. Nina Khmelnitchkaia (Kansas) def. Jaimee Gilbertson (UCSB) – 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-4
5. Amanda Atanasson (UCSB) def. Maria Jose Cardona (Kansas) – 7-6(5), 6-7(0). 7-6(8)
6. UCSB wins by default
Order of Finish – 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 5
[1] No. 2 California (20-1) defeats UT Rio Grande Valley (11-11) – 4-0
May 13, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 4 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Reegan Greenwood/Tara Donaho (UTRGV) – 4-2 Abandoned
2. No. 90 Klara Fabikova/Olivia Hauger (Cal) def. Dominique Esparza/Natacha Minc (UTRGV) – 6-1
3. Lynn Chi/Maria Smith (Cal) def. Doris Aleksovska/Dominique Ibarra (UTRGV) – 6-0
Cal wins the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 2
Singles
1. No. 7 Maegan Manasse (Cal) vs. Reegan Greenwood (UTRGV) – 6-5 Abandoned
2. No. 16 Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Dominique Esparza (UTRGV) – 6-0, 6-1
3. No. 80 Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Natacha Minc (UTRGV) – 6-2, 6-0
4. No. 88 Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Dominique Ibarra (UTRGV) – 5-5 Abandoned
5. Olivia Hauger (Cal) vs. Doris Aleksovska (UTRGV) – 6-2, 4-1 Abandoned
6. Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Tara Donaho (UTRGV) – 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish – 6, 2, 3
