John emailed me with this report from yesterday's match between USC and Cal:
I just got back from watching the #6 California women play #8 USC in Berkeley. Both teams were coming off previous day losses to UCLA and Stanford respectively, so both needed wins to stay in the Pac-10 hunt. After getting swept in the doubles point (8-4, 8-4, 8-1 no less), Cal was looking at an uphill battle. Needing four singles wins, things looked promising after they took the first set in four of the six singles matches. When Bojana Bobusic from Cal won on court six (7-5, 6-0), the dual was tied at one apiece. It appeared as if courts one and two were going to split sets, and Cristina Visico from Cal seemed to have things under control on court three. If Cal could get two matches of those three matches, then the pressure would be on USC to win on courts four and five. Maria Sanchez from USC won her first set on court five 7-5, and things were still tight in the second set. Sarah Fansler from USC lost the first set on court four but jumped to a 5-1 advantage in the second set. This dual was going to be tight.
On court four, Claire Ilcinkas from Cal was looking at that daunting 1-5 deficit against Sarah Fansler, though at least she was a set up already. However, Claire's three set loss to UCLA's Andrea Remynse the previous day was the last and deciding match in the 4-3 dual loss, so it appeared as if this could be a long weekend for the junior from Paris, France. As quickly as she fell behind, she started climbing back. Was it too little too late? I guess Claire didn't want to be the deciding match again, and she somehow won the last six games to win the second set 7-5. Soon thereafter, Cristina Visico on court three didn't let her USC counterpart stage any such comeback. Cal was now up 3-1 and needed only one victory from courts one, two, or five.
All three of those courts were going to a third set, and USC needed to sweep. It would be tough, but it would not be impossible. On court one they had Lindsey Nelson, two-time NCAA finalist and defending Pac-10 champion. She was contending with Cal's Susie Babos, the NCAA champion two years ago as a sophomore, beating none other than Lindsey herself in the final. On court two they had Amanda Fink who was having a great season, climbing from #53 in the preseason polls to her current ranking of #10. She was facing off against Cal's freshman sensation Marina Cossou, who actually has a higher current ranking than Susie Babos. On court five they had #115 Maria Sanchez facing unranked Stephanie Kusano. What drama! Or would it be? Cal's #1 and 2 stormed out to early leads and didn't relinquish them. Within minutes of each other, Marina Cossou finished off Amanda Fink 6-1, and Susie Babos defeated Lindsey Nelson 6-2. The dual was now decided with Cal ahead 5-1. Not to be outdone, Stephanie Kusano completed the singles sweep for Cal.
It was a beautiful day to watch tennis here in sunny California, and it was made even more beautiful by the nice win from my alma mater. It also sets the stage for a huge matchup against their rival across the Bay, Stanford, on April 19. Cal actually won their first match this season by the remarkable score of 6-1. It was their first win against the perennial power since 2003, a 12 match losing streak. However, this was before Stanford's freshman Hilary Barte rocketed into the stratosphere. She actually played #3 in that dual, and she even lost to Cal's Cristina Visico in straight sets no less. However, two days later Hilary Barte played #1 for Stanford. She's been playing #1 for them ever since, and she hasn't lost a single match. Moreover, the only sets she lost were to #11 Megan Moulton-Levy from William and Mary and #11 Riza Zalameda from UCLA. Her rating has climbed from #49 to #7 with a bullet, and that has made Stanford a very different team from our first matchup.
Doubles
1. No. 6 Fink/Niculescu (USC) def. No. 20 Babos/Kusano (CAL) 8-4
2. Kintsler/Nelson (USC) def. Cossou/Ilcinkas (CAL) 8-4
3. Andrews/Sanchez (USC) def. Moore/Visico (CAL) 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 (USC wins doubles point)
Singles
1. No. 16 Susie Babos (CAL) def. No. 50 Lindsey Nelson (USC) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 12 Marina Cossou (CAL) def. No. 10 Amanda Fink (USC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
3. No. 34 Cristina Visico (CAL) def. No. 71 Gabriela Niculescu (USC) 6-3, 6-3
4. No. 91 Claire Ilcinkas (CAL) def. No. 118 Sarah Fansler (USC) 6-4, 7-5
5. Stephanie Kusano (CAL) def. No. 115 Maria Sanchez (USC) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
6. No. 102 Bojana Bobusic (CAL) def. No. 108 Leyla Entekhabi (USC) 7-5, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5
#6 California defeats #8 USC 6-1
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→Women's College Tennis: USC vs. Cal Eyewitness Report
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