BERKELEY - California booked its return to the NCAA round of 16 when J.T. Nishimura won at court-six singles to clinch the 13th-seeded Golden Bears' 4-0 win over No. 27 Mississippi in the round of 32 on Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Nishimura beat the Rebels' Zvonimir Babic, 6-4, 6-2, and Cal improved its record to 19-6. Ole Miss ended its season with a 16-11 record.

The 13th-ranked Bears will face a familiar opponent in fourth-seeded and fourth-ranked TCU in the NCAA round of 16 on Friday at 9 a.m. CT in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Bears upset the then-No. 2 Horned Frogs, 4-2, on Feb. 7 in Austin.

Cal had a stretch of four straight seasons in which they reached the round of 16 – from 2011-2014 – until a loss in the round of 32 last season snapped that streak. But now the Bears are back in the third round of the tournament.

The University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center will host the remainder of the NCAA team tournament from May 20-24 and the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships from May 25-30.

On Sunday at Hellman, Nishimura teamed with senior Mads Engsted to beat Babic and Ricardo Jorge, 6-2, at court-three doubles. Court two featured a battle of Swedes, as Cal junior Andre Goransson and senior Oskar Wikberg played compatriots Gustav Hansson and Stefan Lindmark, with the Rebels prevailing, 6-4. The Bears clinched the doubles point when the ninth-ranked pair of juniors Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat defeated the Ole Miss duo of Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton, 6-4, on court one.

In singles, the 31st-ranked Goransson played the 59th-ranked Lindmark again, with the Cal star winning, 6-3, 6-1, to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Bergevi then posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Fallert on court four to make the score 3-0. Nishimura soon followed with his win against Babic to clinch the victory.

“We came up against a very solid Mississippi team today, and I'm pleased with how we handled ourselves,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “The doubles point was a battle, and it ended up being critical for setting the tone for the match. When our guys faced adversity, they stayed calm and stuck to their game plans. It was a physical match today, and we were ready.

“This past week our team did an amazing job of balancing their academic lives and their athletic lives. We finished finals on Friday and started the NCAA championships on Saturday, so it's great to see the resiliency this group brings every day. We're looking forward to playing in Tulsa on Friday, and we know our next opponent, TCU, will be tough. We've played them once already this year, and we know they're a talented team.”

“It's a great win,” Nishimura added. “We're all excited and ready to go to Tulsa.”

This will mark Cal's second visit to Tulsa this year, as the Bears opened the dual-match season with a 4-3 loss against the Golden Hurricane on Jan. 15 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Cal has posted a 19-5 record since that match.

“We had a rough one in the first match of the year at Tulsa,” Nishimura said. “But we bounced back and had a pretty good season, so we're excited to go back.”

NCAA Championship Round of 32

[13] No. 13 California (19-6) defeated No. 27 Mississippi (16-11) – 4-0

May 15, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.

Hellman Tennis Complex

Doubles

1. No. 9 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Fabian Fallert/Grey Hamilton (Ole Miss) – 6-4

2. Gustav Hansson/Stefan Lindmark (Ole Miss) def. Andre Goransson/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) – 6-4

3. Mads Engsted/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Zvonimir Babic/Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss) – 6-2

Cal won the doubles point

Order of Finish – 3, 2, 1

Singles

1. No. 30 Florian Lakat (Cal) vs. No. 39 Gustav Hansson (Ole Miss) – 6-2, 4-4 Abandoned

2. No. 31 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. No. 59 Stefan Lindmark (Ole Miss) – 6-3, 6-1

3. No. 85 Billy Griffith (Cal) vs. Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss) – 6-3, 3-4 Abandoned

4. No. 119 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Fabian Fallert (Ole Miss) – 6-2, 6-3

5. No. 124 Oskar Wikberg (Cal) vs. Grey Hamilton (Ole Miss) – 3-6, 6-1, 2-1 Abandoned

6. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Zvonimir Babic (Ole Miss) – 6-4, 6-2

Order of Finish – 2, 4, 6