It was an expectation.

The team has made the Sweet 16 for seven consecutive years — including the last six, with Amanda Augustus as head coach. The Bears’ regular season, like the six seasons before it, has been nothing more than an opening act for the main event.

“Going to the Sweet 16 is part of the culture on our team,” Augustus said.

On Friday, No. 8 Cal will face No. 9 Alabama, whose team made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

For the Bears, the question is still the same as it has been all season: Can they go all the way and deliver Cal its first NCAA championship?

It is not out of the question. As a No. 8 seed, Cal advanced to the title match in 2008 and again in 2009 as the No. 9 seed. Ever since those impressive seasons — Augustus’ first two years as the coach — the Bears have been unable to return to the finals.

As the seeding indicates, the Bears will be the favorite in their matchup against the Crimson Tide. Alabama does not have a singles player on its roster ranked in the top 25, while Cal has both No. 5 Zsofi Susanyi and No. 8 Anett Schutting in the top 10.

The Crimson Tide will be the second SEC opponent that the Bears will play in a row and the second team from the state of Alabama. The Cal squad swept Auburn, 4-0, last Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley.

If Cal bests the Crimson Tide (21-5) in Urbana, Ill., on Friday, its path will become much more daunting. The Bears will likely have to face top-seeded Florida on Sunday, should they make it to the Elite 8.

The good news for Cal is that the team has been producing its best tennis now than it has been all season. The Bears (18-5) are riding on an eight-match win streak and have brought home 13 victories in their last 14 dual matches.

“If we’re not peaking now, I don’t know,” Augustus said after the Auburn match. “And it seems as some of our health issues are at a place where we can handle them.”

As late as it is in the season, the Bears are healthiest they have ever been. Cal’s top player, fifth-ranked Susanyi, has been in and out of the lineup with a hip flexor injury. Meanwhile, freshman Klara Fabikova, who plays on the No. 2 court in singles and doubles, was hampered early in the season, along with senior Annie Goransson.

All those players were on the court last weekend and appeared to be at full strength.

“I felt good to be back on the court,” Susanyi said. “I feel like I’m 100 percent, and I’m so excited to play.”

The Bears are ready. As they’ve known all along, their dedication and effort all season have been leading up to this weekend.

“We’ll work hard and prepare as we have all season,” Augustus said. “Now it’s just who wants it more.”

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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The Bears will also be bringing a good dose of Cal spirit with them.

The team has a tradition unlike any other — when the postseason rolls around, players spray-paint their tennis shoes blue and gold in honor of the university they play for and represent.

“Everyone kind of puts their own spin on it,” says coach Amanda Augustus, whose kicks are also a bright blue and gold. “But it has to be school colors.”

Some choose an electric gold that mirrors the state’s California poppies paired with a true and bright Yale blue — the two sources that the University of California borrowed its colors from. Other players are a little more subtle, preferring a metallic gold that doesn’t catch the eye as much but still stands out on the courts of Hellman Tennis Complex.

Some players take their Cal spirit beyond their footwear. Sophomore Zsofi Susanyi and freshman Klara Fabikova had blue streaks in their normally blond hair last weekend. Each also painted her nails in the university’s colors, alternating blue and gold for each finger.

Even the athletic tape that the players wore this weekend — normally green or pink — was shades of either blue or gold.

But the longest-standing tradition is definitely the shoes. Augustus says that the tradition predates her time as a player for Cal in the late ’90s. Her coach back then — the legendary Jan Brogan, who led the Bears to 25 NCAA appearances — also couldn’t pinpoint an exact date.

“I would be guessing as I coached for 29 years,” Brogan says. “But I can pin it down to the Lisa Albano era.”

Lisa Albano played for Cal from 1988 to 1992, placing the shoe-painting tradition at more than 20 years old.

Augustus carries on the tradition, having her players lay cardboard down on the track in Edwards Stadium so that they can spray paint their shoes. They have to paint a few weeks before the postseason begins, or else the shoes won’t be dry in time.

But the Bears haven’t had to worry about jinxing their postseason chances or painting the shoes prematurely yet — in Augustus’ six seasons as head coach, her teams haven’t missed the postseason once.

Cal’s rivals have caught on to the tradition and have started doing something similar, but the players maintain that the idea originated in Berkeley.

“We did it first,” says sophomore Cecilia Estlander. “USC and UCLA have kind of started doing it, but we did it first.”

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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But not anymore.

In two of their last three matches of the regular season, the Bears had to make a comeback in singles after dropping doubles matches and finding themselves in early 1-0 deficits. This included doubles losses to opponents like Arizona, who weren’t strong enough to even make the 64-team NCAA tournament.

The Bears’ top duo of Lynn Chi and Anett Schutting seemed to be clicking earlier in the year, when they won five straight doubles matches. But down the stretch, the duo was only 3-4 in their last 7 doubles matches of the season.

Match after match, it seemed like the Bears could only hang on in doubles by a thread and would often have to use their strong singles play to bail themselves out later.

But with their drumming of Auburn, 4-0, on Saturday at Hellman Tennis Complex, that may no longer be the case.

It was no surprise that No. 8 Cal cruised through Stony Brook, 4-0, on Friday. But Auburn, the No. 25 team in the nation, was supposed to give Cal a tougher challenge in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Bears dominated and earned a trip to the Sweet 16.

Unlike in their usual sluggish starts in the regular season, the Bears exploded in doubles against Auburn. Tayler Davis and Kelly Chui jumped to an 8-1 win on court No. 3, and Anett Schutting and Lynn Chi — the same duo that was struggling just a few weeks ago — beat the No. 10 doubles team in the country with an 8-3 win on the top court to earn the doubles point for the Bears.

“I thought we were solid,” said Cal coach Amanda Augustus. “And then, on court No. 3, we had a really, really good day. That got us off to a great start.”

The Bears carried that momentum over into singles, where the Cal freshmen rocked Hellman Tennis Complex. Lynn Chi raced to a 6-0, 6-1 finish on court No. 4 to give Cal its second point of the match. Meanwhile, Cal’s other freshman, Klara Fabikova, dominated her opponent in a 6-1, 6-1 route.

The Bears needed just one more point to put the match away.

Seniors Tayler Davis and Annie Goransson were each up five games in their second sets, needing just one more game from either to seal the match for the Bears.

“Me and Annie were kind of in a race to see who would finish first,” Davis said. “(Assistant coach) Cordell was sorta joking with me to see who would finish first.”

Davis was able to beat Goransson in their race to finish off the opponent first, winning 6-3 on her court to give the Bears the four points needed to end the match.

It was a fitting end for the senior captain’s last match in Berkeley.

“I think a couple of them had a look up at the scoreboard and may have deferred to their senior captains a little bit,” Augustus said, smiling. “This is her big day.”

Watch an interview with co-captain Tayler Davis here

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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They leave in a much different situation.

Zsofi Susanyi, the No. 5 player in the nation, left her third singles match of the weekend with an injury. Susanyi was battling a hip flexor injury all spring that kept her bouncing in and out of the lineup from week to week.

The details and extent of her injury are unknown at this time — she may have reaggravated her hip or be suffering from something else entirely. But if she misses significant time, it will be a huge blow to a Cal squad that had just begun to find its groove with its star player back in the lineup.

Cal also had two other players in the main singles tournament — Anett Schutting and Klara Fabikova. The two met in the third round of matches, with Schutting taking down the freshman Fabikova, 6-2, 6-4.

Schutting then advanced to take on Krista Hardebeck of Stanford in the semifinals but lost, 6-4, 6-2.

Schutting also competed with her partner Lynn Chi in the doubles championships, where the story was similar. In that tournament, Schutting and Chi were also able to advance to the semifinals but lost to USC’s top duo of Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria, who were the top-seeded team coming into the the tournament.

The bright spot of the tournament for the Bears came in the doubles invitational tournament — essentially the tournament for the doubles teams aren’t able to make the main event.

In that tournament, the doubles duo of Annie Goransson and Cecilia Estlander were able to reach the finals. Estlander has rarely played in the spring due to injuries, and the duo had never actually played together before, but they were able to shine.

To get to the finals, Goransson and Estlander had to defeat the top-ranked duo of USC’s Gabi Desimone and Danielle Lao in a 9-7 thriller.

After that, they quickly advanced to the finals and faced the third-seeded duo of Calli Craig and Sarah Pham out of Utah. This match went to the wire. Both teams traded points back and forth until Goransson and Estlander fell 9-8(5) in a tiebreaker.

With that loss, the Bears fell short of their goal of taking home a championship in both of the tournaments.

But the real loss is losing Susanyi. Several Cal players admitted that finally having her back at full strength gave them a boost in confidence. Their confidence has to be taking a hit with Susanyi out yet again.

The good news for the Bears is that they have a week off for Susanyi to get healthy. The NCAAs are the last games that Cal will play all year, but that doesn’t start until well into May. Depending on the extent of her injury, Susanyi could make it back by then.

But tennis is a game of rhythm. Any player who comes back from time off needs matches to get into the groove again — a luxury Susanyi won’t have.

With Susanyi once again missing time, the Bears are left in the same place they were in at the beginning of the season — searching for a way to win without their top player.

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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But before the players can do that, they have one last match to play.

Due to a scheduling quirk, Cal (15-5, 9-1 in the Pac-12) will take on UCSB in Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Though the Gauchos (14-7) have put together a decent record over the season, their schedule has been filled with unranked and unaccomplished teams. Without a ranked player on the roster, they will have a tough chance competing against Cal, which has four ranked players and two in the top 10.

The match is an odd hiccup for the Bears in a schedule otherwise consisting of weekend matches. But the Tuesday match gives them a chance to hone their skills for the postseason. Two days after the UCSB match, the team will be in Ojai, Calif., for the Pac-12 Championships.

After the win over Stanford, the Cal team feels like it is close to peaking, and the players plan to use this UCSB match as a springboard to bring their level of play to its full potential.

“I think we’re finally gelling the way we need to,” said Cal coach Amanda Augustus. “Our goal is to peak in the (NCAA) Tournament.”

The match gives many of the players a chance to practice more in doubles, in which Cal has lost the doubles point in both of its last two matches. Zsofi Susanyi recently returned from injury, and her getting more playing time with her doubles partner, Klara Fabikova, should help the duo gel the way Augustus wants.

“(Susanyi and Fabikova) just need matches,” Augustus said. “Hopefully next week, they get a lot of matches doubleswise to just kinda get them better in sync.”

Those two in sync will be a huge asset for the team. The Cal team has been regularly facing 1-0 deficits going into singles play as a result of losses in doubles.

But while the Bears are struggling in doubles, they are dominating in singles action. The team has won at least four of the six singles courts in its last four matches. Cal has used that dominance to bail itself out of early deficits and win matches.

Susanyi back on the court is a boost for the entire team. As the current No. 5 singles player in the country, Susanyi at full strength gives the other players a leap in confidence.

“Now that we have Zsofi back, we can definitely see what is possible for us,” said senior Tayler Davis. “Because before, without her, I think we weren’t as confident.”

A win against UCSB would build off the momentum that Cal gained from beating Stanford and would send the team into the postseason with a six-game winning streak and as much confidence as any team in the field.

“I think we’ve prepared really well and worked so hard for a long time now,” said senior Annie Goransson. “We’ll just see how far we can take it.”

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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But the match provided an opportunity for Cal (12-5, 6-1) to show improvement.

The Bears’ two promising freshmen — Lynn Chi and Klara Fabikova — looked particularly impressive.

Chi and teammate Anett Schutting was challenged early in doubles by the Oregon squad (12-8, 1-7). Oregon’s duo of Nicole Long and Patricia Skowronski were able to push the Bears to an early 4-5 deficit on the top court.

It was like the duo had lost its focus — Chi and Schutting just kept making errors early on.

However, Schutting and Chi were able to come back and win the match, 7-6(2).

“They were playing from behind because they made a few unforced errors early in the match,” said Cal coach Amanda Augustus of the doubles team.

“We had to let them adjust on their own a little bit, and they did. I was happy to see them pull that match out for sure.”

Augustus found the close match to be good practice for the squad.

“I think it was good to have a little bit of a test,” Augustus said. “Coming off the high of last weekend, it would be real easy to take the opponent lightly. The girls did a really good job of carrying over, and I think they focused really well today.”

Cal entered singles with a new lineup. Fabikova, who has consistently played on court No. 3, was bumped up to court No. 2 due to her recent strong play.

“We gave her an opportunity to play on a higher court — I think she’s earned it,” Augustus said. “Just testing her a little bit, and she responded really well to the challenge.”

In recent weeks, Fabikova has dominated in singles play, winning her last seven singles matches. That streak includes tough opponents such as UCLA’s Kyle McPhillips and USC’s Zoe Scandalis.

Even on the higher court, Fabikova dominated as usual.

She defeated Skowronski in singles, 6-2, 6-1. Though Fabikova was favored in that match, Augustus emphasised the challenge Fabikova faced in Skowronski’s experience and aggressive play.

“Skowronski has played at (court) No. 1 for them a lot, and she’s just solid,” said Augustus. “She has a really good volley.”

Earlier in the day, it was Skowronski’s ability to come up to the net that pushed Schutting and Chi in doubles. This did not prove to be a problem for Fabikova.

Fabikova’s move to the second court meant that Cal’s other promising freshman — Chi — was moved down to court No. 3. Essentially, the two players switched places.

For Augustus, Fabikova’s success proves that Cal has two talented freshmen that can each play at a high level.

“Obviously, when Lynn is doing great too, it’s a nice problem to have,” Augustus said.

“You can put people in different positions, and they can be successful.”

Each of Cal’s top five singles players won her match in straight sets. Kelly Chui on court No. 6 was the only Cal player to lose a set.

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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The excitement of her return for Cal fans can only be matched by the excitement from Susanyi herself. For the last month, she could be seen in the stands of the Hellman Tennis Complex doing her homework. With her return, she was finally back in her natural element.

Cal (10-4, 4-0 in the Pac-12) dominated Colorado and Utah at Berkeley this weekend as expected, sweeping both matches 7-0. But all eyes were on Susanyi, and her return was not as easy as the overall match scores would suggest.

Susanyi started by playing doubles with freshman Klara Fabikova on the second court against Colorado (6-10, 1-5). At first, she looked rusty, and the duo started the match with an early 2-1 deficit. Susanyi’s timing was off and she was regularly hitting shots wide or into the net.

But with the help and encouragement of Fabikova and associate head coach Cordell Ho, Susanyi was able to find her rhythm.

“They were just telling me the right things, they were telling me what to do,” Susanyi said. “Klara and I were able to communicate well and also figure out a gameplan for each point so that worked well.”

Susanyi and Fabikova were able to finish the doubles match with an 8-3 victory.

The next day against the Utes (7-6, 1-4), Susanyi skipped the doubles match to play singles against Utah’s Callie Craig on the third court instead. With Susanyi hoping for a triumphant return, and Craig looking at a rare opportunity to knock off the No. 3 player in the country, the match was intense.

Susanyi dropped four of her first five sets against Craig, falling to an early 4-1 deficit. Again, Susanyi was hitting balls wide or just into the net. Craig was running her up and down the court, and Susanyi was unable to get aggressive.

Midway through the first set, Susanyi hit a ball that looked to be clearly in but was called out by the official. Susanyi disputed the call but to no avail. Just a couple of points later, Susanyi hit a very low bouncing ball that may have hit the court twice.

The official called it a good hit, but Craig tried to dispute it. Even Utah’s Natasha Smith, playing on the fourth court just next door, chimed in.

Around now, Susanyi reworked her strategy and ran away with the match. By working balls toward the middle of the court, Susanyi was able to wait for the shot that she wanted and take advantage. She won the next 11 straight points to finish the match 6-4, 6-0. The Susanyi of old had returned.

When midway through the second set, Susanyi spiked a ball and turned to her coach to flash an ear-to-ear grin. Despite the early struggles and intensity, she was back to doing what she loves.

“It’s so exciting,” Susanyi said. “Now I’m on the court, I feel better, and it’s just really great.”

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But it shouldn’t expect to get one when it hosts Washington State and Washington this weekend.

While Cal (5-4) has historically had great success against both of these teams — with a combined all-time record of 42-4 against the two programs — both northern schools are having fantastic seasons.

Washington State (10-2) is riding a seven-game win streak that has propelled it to its best start since 1986. The Bears will play Washington State at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Hellman Tennis Complex.

The next day, Cal will play Washington, which is sitting at an impressive 8-3, at noon.

While neither of these squads has wins against top-ranked teams, they are simply too hot right now to assume they will be easy victories as they have been in years past.

These games will finally open up Pac-12 play for the Bears, marking the beginning of their quest for a conference title. While the Bears have had trouble early this season, the start of conference games can be thought of as a kind of reset for them.

“It’s exciting to get into conference matches,” said Cal coach Amanda Augustus. “You look at your record, and it just says 0-0 until you start the conference matches.”

After Cal’s disappointing loss last weekend to Stanford, the start of Pac-12 play may be what the Bears need to rebound.

“I think after we lost to Stanford, everyone is going to be more pumped up to play and practice,” said freshman Klara Fabikova, who has stood out for Cal on the third court this season with a 5-2 singles record. “We’ll have better energy this week.”

While the Bears are looking to return to form, Washington State and Washington will be looking to finally prove themselves against a top team.

The Cougars have not played a team in the top 25 all season. Meanwhile, the Huskies have losses to UCLA and Alabama, both of which are top-10 teams. Beating the Bears could propel either of them into the top 25.

But Washington and Washington State will have their work cut out for them. Home-court advantage for Cal should have a bigger impact than usual. The Bears are an outdoor team, but both WSU and Washington play indoors.

Augustus thinks this makes both teams pretty comparable in play styles, allowing the Cal team to prepare for both of them at once.

“They play indoors a lot, so they play pretty aggressively and fast,” Augustus said. “I think we’ll be ready for that coming off the Stanford team that plays pretty aggressively and fast. We like playing them outside better than when we go up there and play them inside.”

Despite these advantages and Cal’s historical success, the team is not getting ahead of themselves.

“You can’t take any opponent lightly,” Augustus said. “I think you have to come out ready to play and compete each week.”

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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In a clash of top-10 teams, the No. 7 Bears (3-2) will take on No. 2 UCLA at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The next day, they will play No. 6 USC (7-1) at noon.

Last year, Cal went a combined 1-3 against the Bruins and Trojans in the regular season.

“These two games will set the tone for us,” head coach Amanda Augustus said.

Cal is led by sophomore Zsofi Susanyi, who was recently ranked co-No. 1 in singles nationally with USC’s Sabrina Santamaria. While a matchup on Saturday between those two players would have the attention of collegiate tennis, it may not happen.

The last time the Bears played the Trojans, Santamaria was on the second court to avoid Susanyi.

Whatever each team’s lineups are, there is a good chance that this matchup will come down to the wire. Last year, Cal lost each match against USC by only one point.

Cal played the Trojans earlier this season at the ITA National Women’s Indoor Championship on Feb 10, but lost 4-1. But in that game the Bears sorely missed one of their top freshmen, Klara Fabikova, to a nagging back injury.

“Klara is day-to-day but hopefully she plays this weekend.” said Augustus.

Fabikova also plays doubles with Susanyi, and the two have gone 3-1 when playing together. Her return might be the key to tipping the scales in favor of the Bears.

Against UCLA, Cal will have a chance at revenge. The last time the Bears played UCLA was during the NCAAs, where the then-No.1 Bruins knocked out the Bears in a 4-1 match.

This year, UCLA boasts six ranked singles players — two more than Cal. Their top player, sophomore Robin Anderson, is currently the No. 6 player in singles and a familiar face to Susanyi.

“We know what they do,” said Susanyi, “I’ve played against Robin Anderson a few times and am familiar with her.”

The last time Susanyi played Anderson was at the NCAA singles tournament last May where she defeated Anderson, 7-5, 6-4. She also beat USC’s Santamaria at the same tournament.

But it will take more than just the No. 1 player for Cal to beat UCLA and USC. With a history of close finishes between these teams, the Bears’ doubles play could prove crucial. Last year, Cal’s only victory against either of these teams came against UCLA in a 4-3 match where the Bears won the doubles point.

“Doubles will be very important to us,” Augustus said. “It’s tough to win 4 singles against those teams.

However winning the doubles may be difficult — Cal does not have a doubles team ranked in the top 25. UCLA and USC each have two.

Regardless of the final result, the two games should come down to the wire and will provide great entertainment.

“I am excited.” junior Anett Schutting said. “I expect good fights. And we have home court advantage.”

Riley McAtee covers women’s tennis. Contact him at rmcatee@dailycal.org

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Partaking in the Saint Mary’s Invitational at Moraga, Calif., Cal swept away the competition by winning the top four draws this weekend. The tournament was divided into 3 different flights: red, white and blue, each of which had a singles and a doubles draw.

The freshman duo of Klara Fabikova and Lynn Chi took home the crown in the top red flight doubles draw, while Junior Alice Duranteau and sophomore Laura Posylkin were victorious in the white flight doubles final. In singles, Lynn Chi won the red draw and junior Kelly Chui won the white draw.

The weekend proved to be a first for Cal women’s tennis.

“I am not sure we’ve ever swept this tournament before,” head coach Amanda Augustus said.

Cal got off to a fast start Sunday morning as Fabikova and Chi defeated Danielle Flores and Jade Frampton of Saint Mary’s, 8-1, to take first in the red flight doubles draw. Despite its tenacity, Saint Mary’s lacked Cal’s sharpness and missed its fair share of volleys at the net.

“They played really aggressively,” Chi said. “We were able to adjust to it though, and they didn’t adjust back.”

Chi’s success didn’t stop there, however. She would go on to win the red singles draw by defeating her teammate and doubles partner Fabikova.

Because two Bears were playing in the finals, Augustus opted to let the two of them play without much coaching. The result was a hard fought match that saw both players test each other.

It was also the first championship win for the Weston, Fla. native.

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Chi said. “I felt the opposite actually. I felt that as I freshmen I didn’t have anything to lose.”

In the white doubles draw, Duranteau and Posylkin defeated Marina Nikolic and Melinda Akerbrandt of the University of San Francisco, 8-5. Despite starting at 7-2, Cal watched its lead evaporate as USF fought its way back to 7-5 before eventually winning the final game.

“We just missed some important shots,” Duranteau said. “It was just about getting our focus back and having the strong intention of making the last shot that were missing.”

Augustus was impressed by her doubles team’s ability to set up tandem plays, especially because the two athletes haven’t been playing together for too long. Duranteau attributed that success to communication and energy.

“We talk to each other a lot,” Duranteau said. “She has a lot of energy and it’s really contagious.”

Junior transfer Kelly Chui completed the sweep for Cal, taking home the white flight singles championship. Augustus emphasized the difficulty of the final match and how Chui responded.

“Kelly wasn’t able to use her net game as much as she would have liked,” Augustus said. “It took a lot of patience on Kelly’s part.”

Like the rest of her Cal teammates, Kelly was able to come through and take home the crown.

“She was able to get the job done,” Augustus said.

Sean Wagner-McGough covers women’s tennis. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org

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