No. 24 California Defeats Mississippi
May 13, 2005
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) – California freshman Cristina Visico (Long Beach, Calif.) defeated Mississippi freshman Preethi Subramanian (Tamil Nadu, India) 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to give the 24th ranked Golden Bears a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the 35th ranked Lady Rebels in the opening match of the 2005 NCAA Women’s Tennis Coral Gables Regional at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Miami.
California (13-8) advances to Saturday’s 1 p.m. second-round match against the winner of today’s Miami/Florida Atlantic match. The winner of Saturday’s match advances to the NCAA Championship Final 16, May 19-22, in Athens, Georgia.
The win marks the 500th for head coach Jan Brown at California. Since taking over the Golden Bears’ program in 1978, Brown has registered a 500-204 dual match record including 23 NCAA appearances and 18 top-10 finishes.
Things did not look good early on for California.
Mississippi (13-10) captured the doubles-point winning at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, and then went up 2-0 after freshman Nika Koukhartchouk (Kaliningrad, Russia) posted a 6-1, 6-3 win over sophomore Monica Wiesener (Calabasas, Calif.) at No. 3 singles.
Cal freshman Marion Ravelojaona (Paris, France) got the Golden Bears on the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over freshman Mimi Renaudin (Mandeville, La.) at No. 5 singles.
California then tied the score 2-2 when freshman Suzi Babos (Sopron, Hungary), the nation’s eighth-ranked player, came from 4-1 down in the first set to defeat senior Chloe Carlotti (Paris, France) 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
Mississippi sophomore Ilona Summers (Putte, Holland) put the Rebels ahead 3-2 following a 6-3, 6-3 upset victory over 78th-ranked Stephanie Kusano (Houston, Texas) at the No. 2 position.
But California would not be denied. The Golden Bear’s Jessica Shu (San Francisco, Calif.) knocked off Mississippi’s Virginia Tomatis (Altos de Chipion, Argentina) 7-6 (5), 6-3 at No. 4 singles prior to Visico’s clinching win.
NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship – First Round
No. 24 California vs. No. 35 Mississippi
May 13, 2005
Coral Gables, Fla.
CAL 4, MISS 3
Singles
1. (8) Suzi Babos (CAL) def. (38) Chloe Carlotti (MISS), 6-4, 6-4
2. Ilona Somers (MISS) def. (78) Stephanie Kusano (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
3. (91) Nika Koukhartchouk (MISS) def. Monica Wiesener (CAL) 6-1, 6-3
4. Jessica Shu (CAL) def. Virginia Tomatis (MISS), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
5. Marion Ravelojaona (CAL) def. Mimi Renaudin (MISS), 6-3, 6-3
6. Christina Visico (CAL) def. Preethi Subramanian (MISS), 6-2, 6-4*
Doubles
1. (37) Suzi /Kusano (CAL) vs. (23) Carlotti/Tomatis (MISS) 6-5, DNF
2. Somers/Renaudin (MISS) def. Shu/Lee (CAL) 8-2
3. Koukhartchouk/Subramanian (MISS) def. Visico/Ravelojaona (CAL) 8-4**
Match Notes:
California: 13-8; National Ranking: 24th
Mississippi: 13-10; National Ranking: 35th
Order of Finish:
Doubles: (2, 3)
Singles: (3, 5, 1, 2, 4, 6)
** Clinched Doubles Point
* Clinched Match
