Cal Seeks Hardware at Indoor Intercollegiate

by calbears.com
Nov 4, 2014

BERKELEY – California has sent its largest contingent of Golden Bears to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships that run Thursday through Monday in Flushing Meadows, New York. Meanwhile, the three newest Bears will play at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational from Friday through Sunday in Tempe, Arizona.

Cal head coach Amanda Augustus led senior Zsofi Susanyi, juniors Lynn Chi and Klara Fabikova, and sophomores Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr back east on Monday to play at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the home of the U.S. Open. Assistant coach Zack Warren will lead freshmen Karla Popovic and Lyann Hoang along with redshirt freshman Stephane Lin to the ASU tournament later this week.

At national indoors - hosted by Columbia University - the Bears earned one seed in singles (Manasse at No. 5) and two in doubles (Susanyi & Fabikova at No. 3 and Manasse & Starr at No. 4). Manasse – ranked 61st in singles – plays Florida’s Josie Kuhlman at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET in Thursday’s opening round of 32 in singles. Both of Cal’s seeded doubles teams – including the 11th-ranked Starr/Manasse – earned byes in the opening round of 32.

Also in singles on Thursday, the 16th-ranked Susanyi opens against Virginia’s sixth-seeded and fifth-ranked Julia Elbaba at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET, while the eighth-ranked Chi takes on Lynn’s Valentine Confalonieri at 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. Confalonieri was the top-ranked player in NCAA Division II at the end of last season.

Please visit the indoor intercollegiate website here for links to draws and results and please check out the tournament’s Facebook page here and follow the USTA and ITA Twitter feeds for more coverage from Flushing Meadows.

Scouting the Bears

  • Manasse has a 14-2 record this fall that included impressive results including reaching the quarterfinals of both the regional championships and the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
  • Manasse also defeated 35th-ranked sophomore teammate Starr to capture the top singles title at the Cal Nike Fall Invitational
  • Chi (6-4) is coming off of a stellar sophomore season in which she reached the championship match of the NCAA singles tournament and earned All-America honors, All-Pac-12 second-team kudos, a No. 11 ITA ranking and a nomination for the Honda Sports Award for Tennis
  • The veteran of this group, Susanyi (4-2) reached the quarterfinals of the regional, falling to freshman teammate Karla Popovic
  • A two-time singles All-American, Susanyi also got to the round of 16 at the All-American Championships
  • Also previously a doubles All-American, Susanyi has compiled a 5-0 doubles record with Fabikova this year; the duo played extensively two seasons ago, when the Bears earned a final ITA ranking of 42nd and had a 14-5 mark
  • The duo of Manasse and Starr (9-2) has played in two finals this fall, losing to Fabikova and Susanyi in the regional and beating Susanyi and Chi at the Cal Nike Fall Invitational; the sophomores also advanced to the round of 16 at the All-American.
  • Cal alumna Amanda Augustus (class of 1999) – the 2014 Pac-12 Coach of the Year – is in her eighth season as head coach of the Bears
  • First-year assistant coach Zach Warren, who was previously a UNLV men’s tennis assistant coach, served as the volunteer assistant coach for the Cal men’s team during the 2012-13 season

At the 2013 Indoor Intercollegiate

Zsofi Susanyi ended her run in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 8. A junior ranked fourth nationally and seeded second in the consolation singles draw, Susanyi fell to Georgia State’s 37th-ranked Abigail Tere-Apisah, 6-3, 6-2, at the USTA Billie Jean National King Tennis Center.

In the main draw, round of 32 opener, Susanyi suffered a three-set loss the day before. She won the first set against Georgia’s 14th-ranked Maho Kowase, but the Golden Bear ultimately lost, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

At the 2013 ASU Thunderbird Invitational

One thing was certain entering the last day of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational – a California freshman was going to win the main draw singles title. The Golden Bears’ Denise Starr wound up prevailing over teammate Maegan Manasse, 6-1, 6-2, as the Sun Devils’ tournament – and the fall season – came to a close at the Whiteman Tennis Center.

In the third-place singles match, Cal’s 23rd-ranked sophomore Klara Fabikova fell to Arizona State’s Stephanie Vlad, 6-1, 6-3.

Hellman Grand Opening

The Cal men’s and women’s tennis programs will host a grand opening of the Hellman Tennis Complex in late January to coincide with the start of the teams’ dual-match seasons. This will mark the first spring since the completion of the upgrades at the home of Golden Bear tennis. The upgrades include the following:

  • New building housing men’s and women’s team locker rooms, restrooms and showers.
  • New public restrooms for fans.
  • New elevated seating extending from court No. 1 to court No. 6.
  • New team lounge/academic room.

Please check CalBears.com in early January for more information.

Next Time

The Bears open the New Year in the Hawaii Invitational from Jan. 8-10 in Maui.