BERKELEY – Battling an inspired opponent, the cold and – for a few minutes down the stretch – a light drizzle, Billy Griffith beat Simon Freund in three sets to lead No. 5/6 California to a 4-3 win over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. That match followed the Golden Bears' 4-1 victory over UC Davis in the first match of the day's doubleheader.
 
Cal improved to 7-1 with Sunday's wins. UC Santa Barbara, led by former Cal great Marty Davis, has a 5-2 record, while the Aggies are 5-4.
 
The Bears won the doubles point against the Gauchos when the pair of freshman Dominic Barretto and senior Florian Lakat defeated Nicolas Moreno de Alboran and Anders Holm (UCSB) on court two, 6-4.
 
Cal senor Andre Goransson, ranked 26th, quickly gave Cal a 2-0 lead with his 6-2, 6-0 win over Morgan Mays at court-two singles. Lakat, ranked 20th, then made it a 3-0 Cal lead with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Nicolas Moreno de Alboran on court one.
 
But with Cal on the verge of clinching the overall match, the Gauchos posted three straight wins, including on court four. There, Cal freshman Bjorn Hoffmann retired due to illness when trailing Cody Rakela, 6-4, 4-1.
 
Over on court three, the 80th-ranked Griffith had lost the first set to the unranked Freund, 6-2. But the Cal junior rebounded to win the second set 6-2. With the rest of the matches complete and overall match tied at 3-3, the Bears and Gauchos gathered around the court to cheer on their respective teammates. Griffith fought his way to a 5-2 lead before Freund broke the Bear and then held serve to make the score 5-4. The match was briefly delayed due to the rain, and when it resumed, Griffith held serve to close out a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win and give Cal its second victory of the day.
 
Earlier against the Aggies, Cal lost the doubles point, with UC Davis clinching when Alec Adamson and Max Pham beat Hoffmann and junior J.T. Nishimura, 7-5, on court three.
 
But Cal got four straight singles wins from Griffith, Hoffmann, Nishimura and then Lakat, with the 6-4 Parisian clinching the win with his court-one triumph over James Wade, 7-6(3), 6-3.
 
"We played two tough teams today, and I'm proud of the way we handled ourselves," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "UC Davis is an extremely well coached team, and they always give us a battle. After the Aggies won the doubles point, we had to bring all of our attention and focus to the singles. Overall I think we raised the level of our game and came through with some quality performances from the middle of our lineup.
 
"UCSB is probably the most improved team in California, and we knew we would have to bring our A game to win. Even though we won the doubles point, the Gauchos stayed strong and battled us on every court. Fortunately we had great leadership from Florian and Andre at court one and two to get us the third point. Getting to four ended up being quite a challenge, but give a ton of credit to Billy Griffith for a gutsy third-set performance to clinch the win for us."
 
The Bears will play their third match in three days when they host ninth-ranked Michigan at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

No. 5/6 California (6-1) defeated UC Davis (5-4), 4-1
Feb. 26, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Bryce McKelvie/James Wade (UC Davis), 6-4
2. Tommy Lam/David Goulak (UC Davis) def. Florian Lakat/Connor Heap (Cal), 6-4
3. Alec Adamson/Max Pham (UC Davis) def. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 7-5

UC Davis won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 20 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. James Wade (UC Davis), 7-6(3), 6-3
2. No. 26 Andre Goransson (Cal) vs. Alec Adamson (UC Davis), 2-6, 6-3, 4-1 Unfinished
3. No. 80 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Bryce McKelvie (UC Davis), 6-1, 6-1
4. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) def. Everett Maltby (UC Davis), 6-3, 6-4
5. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Eli Whittle (UC Davis), 6-1, 7-5
6. Connor Heap (Cal) vs. Jessie Ross (UC Davis), 6-7(4), 2-3 Unfinished
 
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 5, 1^
 
^Clinched the overall match
 
 
No. 5/6 California (7-1) defeated UC Santa Barbara (5-2), 4-3
Feb. 26, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Morgan Mays/Simon Freund (UCSB) vs. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal), 5-3 Unfinished
2. Dominic Barretto/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Nicolas Moreno de Alboran/Anders Holm (UCSB), 6-4
3. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Teague Hamilton/Cody Rakela (UCSB), 6-3
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 3, 2*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 20 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (UCSB), 6-4, 6-1
2. No. 26 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Morgan Mays (UCSB), 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 80 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Simon Freund (UCSB), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal), 6-4, 4-1 ret. (ill.)
5. Anders Holm (UCSB) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Chase Masciorini (UCSB) def. Dominic Barretto (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
 
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 6, 4, 5, 3^
 
^Clinched the overall match