ROCKY HILL, Conn. – Defending champion California – ranked eighth and seeded seventh – bowed out of this year's ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship with a 4-2 consolation loss to third-seeded and fifth-ranked Oklahoma State on Sunday at the Tennis and Fitness Center of Rocky Hill.
 
The Golden Bears' record now stands at 4-2. OSU is 8-1.
 
Sunday's clash was a rematch of the 2016 NCAA semifinals, in which the Cowgirls upset then-No. 1 Cal, 4-3.
 
This time, Cal's 36th-ranked senior Maegan Manasse fell to the 10th-ranked Viktoriya Lushkova, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(1), at court-one singles to clinch the victory for OSU. Over on court two, the 20th-ranked Karla Popovic was within two points of tying the overall match at 3-3, but the Cal junior's match with the 56th-ranked Katarina Adamovic ended unfinished at 6-4, 3-6, 5-2 (and 30-30 in the last game) after court one decided matters.
 
Cal had taken a 1-0 lead by capturing the doubles point. The Bears' 20th-ranked pair of Popovic and sophomore Olivia Hauger lost to Sofia Blanco and Aliona Bolsova, 6-0, on court two. But the 49th-ranked Manasse and Maya Jansen upset the fifth-ranked OSU duo of Vladica Babic and Carla Tur Mari, 6-3, and then freshman Alexis Nelson and senior Denise Starr defeated Lushkova/Adamovic, 6-3, to clinch for Cal.
 
Jansen added a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 77th-ranked Blanco in singles, but the Cowgirls won on four of the six courts to wrap up the win.

"Today was another real exciting match," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "Our doubles today was very strong. I thought we played much better at doubles today than yesterday. It was great to see us make that adjustment. We'll go home and work on some things, but I saw a lot of good things as well. In singles it was such a tight match on every court as is to be expected. That's what this tournament's about. I'm really proud of how hard our team competed and fought. It truly was a couple points here and there that would've turned that result into another direction."
 
The 10th-year head coach was optimistic after Cal's run at national indoors, in which the Bears defeated Georgia Tech and lost to powerhouse teams in North Carolina and OSU.
 
"The tournament as a whole was really good for us," Augustus said. "It shows we're right there. North Carolina is in the final tomorrow, and we played them in the final last year. We played Oklahoma State in the final four last year. I'm pleased this team is in the mix with all the other top teams, and we're not just in the mix but are really competing and doing a lot of things really well for so early in the season. This will only motivate us to keep working hard and getting better. We're nowhere close to full strength yet. We'll use what we learned here. I'm really excited to see where this team moves in the next few months."
 
Cal returns home for its next two matches, as the Bears host UCLA on Feb. 24 and then USC on Feb. 25 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the match against the Bruins.
 
ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship – Consolation Round
No. 5 [3] Oklahoma State (8-1) vs. No. 8 [7] Cal (4-2), 4-2
Feb. 12, 2017, in Rocky Hill, Conn.
Tennis and Fitness Center of Rocky Hill
 
Doubles
1. No. 49 Maya Jansen/Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. No. 5 Vladica Babic/Carla Tur Mari (OSU), 6-3
2. Sofia Blanco/Aliona Bolsova (OSU) def. No. 20 Olivia Hauger/Karla Popovic (Cal), 6-0
3. Alexis Nelson/Denise Starr (Cal) def. Viktoriya Lushkova/Katarina Adamovic (OSU), 6-3
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 10 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) def. No. 36 Maegan Manasse (Cal), 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(1)
2. No. 20 Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. No. 56 Katarina Adamovic (OSU), 6-4, 3-6, 5-2 Abandoned
3. No. 33 Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Denise Starr (Cal), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Aliona Bolsova (OSU) def. Olivia Hauger (Cal), 6-2, 7-5
5. Maya Jansen (Cal) def. No. 77 Sofia Blanco (OSU), 6-2, 6-2
6. No. 86 Lena Ruppert (OSU) def. Maria Smith (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
 
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 1^
 
^Clinched the overall match