TULSA, Okla. – California's deepest run into the postseason in 25 years came to an end on Monday when the 13th-seeded/ranked Golden Bears lost to the top-seeded/ranked Virginia Cavaliers, 4-0, in the NCAA semifinals at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
The Bears had beaten two top-five seeds in No. 4 TCU and No. 5 Ohio State in Tulsa to get to the semifinals, but they ran across a truly challenging opponent in the defending champions.
“It was a tough match for us today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “Virginia is just an incredibly strong team, and the doubles point was a critical piece of it for us today. But when I reflect on today's match, I reflect on the run this team has had this year and it has been an incredible run. Our senior class has done an amazing job, I am proud of how we competed today. Virginia is strong, solid, and our guys fought back and we actually had some opportunities in a few of the matches there to really bring this thing back. Overall, I am not disappointed with our performance.”
Cal finished the team portion of its season with a 21-7 record, while Virginia improved to 29-4 and a second-straight meeting with Oklahoma in Tuesday's championship.
Despite Cal's No. 13 seed, Wright didn't see Cal as a big underdog when facing the higher seeds in Tulsa.
“We never saw ourselves as the 13 seed coming in here,” he said. “We saw ourselves as a team that if somebody is going to beat us, they are going to have to play well to beat us. We just didn't have the same picture that everybody else had, and we didn't look at the numbers and the seeding the way that everybody else did, and I think that reflected in our play throughout the tournament. Today, that was a very strong Virginia team, and they beat us so we have to tip our hat to them – a well-coached, strong team.”
The court-one doubles match featured a good battle between two top -10 teams in Cal's ninth-ranked pair of Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat facing the fourth-ranked Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shan. That match ended at 4-4 after the Cavaliers won 6-3 on court three and then 6-2 on court two to secure the doubles point.
The Cavs won five out of six first sets in singles. The one first set that Cal won was on court four, on which the 119th-ranked Bergevi looked to be on his way to a win over the 78th-ranked Alexander Ritschard, as the Golden Bear had a 6-3, 4-3 lead.
But Virginia wrapped up the victory when Henrik Wiersholm defeated Cal senior Mads Engsted – who was playing in his last collegiate match – 6-3, 6-4, on court six.
The start of the match was delayed due to rain that kept tournament organizers busy trying to dry the outdoor courts as well as forced both women's semifinals onto the six indoors courts at the Case Tennis Center. The Bears had to wait until the Stanford-Vanderbilt women's semifinal ended indoors, and then the Bears began their semifinal – originally scheduled for 4 p.m. CT – at 5:25 p.m. CT.
The Cal women's team also had to play indoors in the first semifinal of the day, and Wright talked about the importance of having both teams competing in the NCAA semifinals together for the first time.
“It says a lot about our tennis program and our kids,” Wright said. “It is a wonderful feat. Our guys are extremely proud of what they have been able to accomplish here, and I know our women are as well. I know for us, we feel like we are a program on the rise, and we would like to have two national champions next year.”
Three Bears will remain in Tulsa to play in the NCAA individual tournaments from May 25-30. Goransson, ranked 31st, and Lakat, ranked 30th, will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, while Lakat and Bergevi will take part in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
NCAA Championship Semifinal Round
#1 Virginia (29-4) def. #13 California (21-7), 4-0
May 23, 2016, in Tulsa, Okla.
Michael D. Case Tennis Center • 4 p.m.
Head Coaches: Brian Boland (Virginia) and Peter Wright (California)
Doubles
1. #4 Luca Corinteli/Ryan Shane (Virginia) vs. #9 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (California), 4-4 DNF
2. #16 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (Virginia) def. Andre Goransson/Oskar Wikberg (California), 6-3
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (Virginia) def. Mads Engsted/J.T. Nishimura (California), 6-2
Virginia won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. #8 Ryan Shane (Virginia) vs. #30 Florian Lakat (California), 6-1, 6-6 DNF
2. #33 Collin Altamirano (Virginia) vs. #31 Andre Goransson (California), 6-4, 2-3 DNF
3. #9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia) def. #85 Billy Griffith (California), 6-3, 6-0
4. #119 Filip Bergevi (California) vs. #78 Alexander Ritschard (Virginia), 6-3, 4-3 DNF
5. #110 J.C. Aragone (Virginia) def. #124 Oskar Wikberg (California), 6-3, 6-4
6. Henrik Wiersholm (Virginia) def. Mads Engsted (California), 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 6
