From the rankings and final results, it seems as if the Cal women’s tennis team plateaued in 2013.
The Bears began the season as the No. 7 team and finished the year at No. 9 with a loss to then-top ranked Florida in the Elite Eight. Last year, Cal similarly lost to the top team, then UCLA, in the NCAA tournament of the Elite Eight. Additionally, the team’s 19-6 record this year nearly mirrors its 20-7 effort from 2012.
But looking beyond the statistics, there is evidence of long-term improvement and a bright future for the young squad.
“We definitely took a step up this year,” said head coach Amanda Augustus. “It’s easy to look and say, ‘OK, they got to the quarters last year, they got to the quarters this year,’ but I think we competed and pushed really hard.”
At the beginning of the year, it looked like Cal’s top player was sophomore Zsofi Susanyi. After a breakout freshman year in which she posted a 41-8 record in singles matches, the Hungarian native soon found herself tied for the No. 1 ranking on February 12.
But when a hip-flexor injury forced Susanyi to the sideline, it was junior Annett Schutting’s turn to step up.
Despite never playing higher than the third court for Cal in 2012, Schutting looked comfortable almost immediately at the top court. She began the season as the No. 22 player in the country but quickly climbed into the top 10 and was ranked No. 8 on May 2.
Schutting also played on the top doubles court with one of Cal’s young freshman stars — Lynn Chi.
Chi moved onto the No. 2 court after Susanyi’s injury early in the season for the Bears, and she made the most of her opportunity. The fast and aggressive Chi posted an impressive 8-2 record on the No. 2 court and finished with an overall 19-3 record in dual matches.
However, despite her impressive play, Chi was soon bumped from the No. 2 court when Cal’s other freshman, Klara Fabikova, was simply too dominating on the No. 3 court to ignore.
Fabikova was ranked as the No. 2 freshman or new player in the preseason, but a back injury hampered her early in the year. When Fabikova returned, she used her big-hit ability and powerful shots to punish opponents on the No. 3 court. After weeks of dominating performances — including over strong opponents like Zoe Scandalis of USC and Kyle McPhillips of UCLA — Fabikova was bumped up to the No. 2 court, behind only Annett Schutting.
“Both she and Lynn had a really great freshman year in both school and tennis,” Augustus said. “I couldn’t be happier with their progress.”
The freshmen, along with Susanyi and Schutting, give the Bears a young core to work with for next season.
“I think we have a really good group, and other teams know that our top 4 are returning next year,” Augustus said. “And we only have one who will be a senior in that group, and that’s Annett.”
The challenge for Cal next year will be replacing graduating seniors Tayler Davis and Annie Goransson, who played on the No. 5 and No. 6 courts, respectively. But a recruiting class as strong as the Fabikova-Chi class of this year would make that transition easy, and the Cal roster would finally be able to definitively stand out against powerhouses USC, UCLA and Stanford.
Meanwhile, the Bears are happy with their finish, and the coaching staff is excited to move forward with a young roster that they feel can only get better in time.
“With any young team, there’s a lot of work that goes in to molding and building and teaching, so that’s something that Cordell Ho (the assistant coach) and I really enjoy doing,” Augustus said. “That’s the fun part of our job.”
Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at [email protected]