BERKELEY – California dropped a second consecutive 4-3 result, as TCU edged the Golden Bears on Friday under the lights at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Cal's 30th-ranked Andre Goransson fell to the 84th-ranked Alex Rybakov, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1, to give the Horned Frogs the win.

Cal, ranked fifth in the USTA Top 25 and sixth in the Oracle/ITA poll, now has a 9-3 record after losing to TCU on Friday and to Stanford, 4-3, on Tuesday. TCU, ranked 31st, is 6-4.
 
"We fought hard today, and it was another match that came down to the last set of the deciding match, and this time we came up a little short," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "I was disappointed in how we played the doubles point today, but I felt we rebounded well with good energy in the singles. Our three seniors were the last matches on, and they've done a great job leading our team this year.
 
"We're not focused on the results at this point in the season because we know we're going to play a lot of close matches, and we'll win some and lose some. We have our focus on how we stay in our process of playing each point, game and set of each match. And the process of how we recover from one match to the next. I have a lot of faith in this team, and I know we'll get stronger as the season progresses."
 
The teams split the first two doubles matches, as Cal freshman Bjorn Hoffmann and junior J.T. Nishimura beat Cameron Norrie and Gianni Mancini, 6-3, on court three before the 27th-ranked pair of Rybakov and Guillermo Nuñez defeated the 54th-ranked Goransson and junior Billy Griffith, 6-3, on court two. The point came down to court one, on which Cal seniors Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat – newly ranked No. 1 in this week's Oracle/ITA poll – lost to Reese Stalder and Jerry Lopez, 6-4.
 
In singles, Nishimura picked up the first victory, as Stalder retired with an injury on court five with Nishimura leading 6-2, 1-1. Cal then got another win, as freshman Connor Heap defeated TCU's Gianni Mancini on court six, 6-1, 6-2, to post his first singles win in a college dual match and give the Bears a 2-1 lead.
 
Later, with Cal down 3-2, Bergevi, ranked 109th, beat the 110th-ranked Lopez, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, to knot the score at 3-3 and leave court two to decide the match.
 
The Bears return to Hellman on Saturday for a 2 p.m. match against Texas, which is ranked sixth in the USTA poll and eighth in the Oracle/ITA Rankings.
 
No. 31 TCU (6-4) defeated No. 5/6 California (9-3), 4-3
March 10, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Reese Stalder/Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. No. 1 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal), 6-4
2. No. 27 Alex Rybakov/Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. No. 54 Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal), 6-3
3. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Cameron Norrie/Gianni Mancini (TCU), 6-3
 
TCU won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 23 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. No. 14 Florian Lakat (Cal), 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 84 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. No. 30 Andre Goransson (Cal), 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1
3. No. 93 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. No. 53 Billy Griffith (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
4. No. 109 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. No. 110 Jerry Lopez (TCU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
5. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Reese Stalder (TCU), 6-2, 1-1 ret. (inj.)
6. Connor Heap (Cal) def. Gianni Mancini (TCU), 6-1, 6-2
 
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1, 3, 4, 2^
 
^Clinched the overall match