Washington Beats No. 19 Cal For 11th-Straight Win

Friday, April 5

Berkeley, CA

1:30 PM

University of Washington

California

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

April 05, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. --- Freshman Sedona Gallagher gutted out a victory at No. 5 singles, winning both sets in tiebreakers to clinch a hard-fought victory for No. 15 Washington as the Huskies beat No. 19 Cal 4-3 on Friday afternoon in Berkeley.

The victory gives Washington its 11th-straight win as the Huskies improve to 16-1 on the season. UW also stays perfect in Pac-12 play with a 6-0 conference mark. The Golden Bears fall to 9-6 and to 3-3 in the conference.

Washington got off a great start by winning the doubles point with a pair of impressive victories. After losing quickly in the No. 2 doubles match, Stacey Fung and Nika Zupancic teamed up for the upset win over the No. 13-ranked Cal team of Julia Rosenqvist and Hana Mraz at No. 1 by a 6-3 score.

That put the fate of the doubles point in the hands of the No. 3 doubles team of Kenadi Hance and Natsuho Arakawa. The match was close throughout with neither team able to break the other through the first 10 games. But the match tied at 5-5, the Huskies tandem was able to break the Golden Bears to go up 6-5, then needed three match-points before putting away the set.

Cal quickly took back the overall lead in the match with a pair of quick wins in singles play as Wong lost to No. 42-ranked Olivia Hauger 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2, and Kat Kopcalic dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to No. 111-ranked Anna Bright at No. 3. Washington tied the match back up just a few minutes later as Arakawa beat Katerina Stloukalova 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4. Arakawa won the final two games to break a 4-4 tie in the first set, then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second before holding on late for the 6-4 win.

The Huskies were pushed to the brink as Fung lost at No. 1 to No. 40-ranked Rosenqvist 6-4, 6-4, leaving just the matches at No. 5 and No. 6 still to go. At No. 6, Zupancic pulled away late to win the first set 6-4, but trailed 4-1 midway through the second. She would win the next three games to even up the set, then fought off a pair of set points to tie the match at 5-5. She wasn't able to put the match away up 6-5, heading to a tiebreaker even at 6-6. Zupancic broke a 1-1 tie with four-straight points in the tiebreaker, and led 6-2 before wrapping her match up wit ha 7-4 win, even the team score at 3-3.

The only match remaining was on court five as Gallagher battled Maria Smith. The two matched each other game for game in the first set and headed to a tiebreaker even at 6-6. With the tiebreaker even at 3-3, Gallagher rattled off four-straight points to take the first set 7-6 (7-3). The two were again locked in an back-and-forth battle which again headed to a tiebreaker. Gallagher again took an early advantage in the tiebreaker, leading 4-3, but saw Smith answer back with two points to take a 5-4 lead. But Gallagher would wrap up her match and the team win with three-straight points off a pai rof errors by Smith, winning 7-6 (7-5).

Gallagher has now won six-straight dual matches and improves to 12-2 on the season. Zupancic also has won her last five dual matches and is 7-1 overall in duals.

"To describe today with one word I would choose 'united'," said Zupancic. "Whoever watched today's match against Cal, would understand why I chose it. When we came out today, each one of us had a vision of what we had to do. We executed everything as planned and competed very well in hard conditions. As the matches got tougher moving to the end, we were more energized and loud. Sedona played an amazing match today, and left it all out on that court. Everyone on the team was hitting the balls with her. It's just so amazing to see how we all are so united in good and bad."

"We had another tough match today and were able dig deep and persevere with so much belief in ourselves and each other," said Fung. "There's nothing that compares to seeing one of your teammates grind out a long, tiring point and then look over to the girls on the sideline and everyone freak out with excitement. This team is so special, the energy, the heart, the fight and that's what we brought today and what got things done."

"Today's match was so exciting!" said Gallagher. "I am so lucky to get to battle next to nine of my closest friends and teammates. Our team culture is amazing and the freshman experience has been awesome. We have another great opportunity tomorrow against Stanford and I can't wait to get back at it."

The victory sets up a big showdown on Saturday between UW and No. 5 Stanford in a match featuring the only two undefeated teams in the Pac-12. The Cardinal beat Washington State 4-0 on Friday and will be celebrating Senior Day on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.