Clemson Women’s Tennis Falls To Cal, 4-3, At ITA National Team Indoor Championships

Feb. 13, 2009

MADISON, WI – The Clemson women’s tennis team fell to #2 California, 4-3, on Friday night at the 2009 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. This year’s tournament is being held at the Nielsen Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The Tigers will take on either Fresno State or Georgia Tech in the consolation bracket at 10:00 am on Saturday.

The loss dropped Clemson to 5-2 on the year while the Golden Bears improved to 4-0.

The Tigers won at the first and third doubles positions to clinch the point and take a 1-0 lead in the match. Ani Mijacika and Estefania Balda and Alexandra Luc defeated Bojana Bobusic and Stephany Chang at the third position.

Cal avoided the sweep with an 8-4 win at flight two as Ina Hadziselimovic fell to Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova.

Mijacika then put the Tigers ahead, 2-0, with a three-set victory at flight one. Thirteenth-ranked Cossou won the first set, 6-3, but Mijacika, the nation’s #4 player, didn’t drop a game in the second set and then posted a 6-2 win in the third.

Andersson scored the first point for the Golden Bears with a win over Keri Wong at the third position (6-2, 7-5), and Bobusic defeated Hadziselimovic at flight five in another three-set battle. Bobusic won the first set, 6-3, before Hadziselimovic eked out the 7-5 win in the second. However, the Cal player hung on for the 6-4 victory in the third to score her team’s second point of the night.

Balda then fell to the Golden Bears’ Ilcinkas, who is ranked 30th in the latest ITA singles poll, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, at flight four. Juricova then clinched the match for Cal with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Bek at the second position.

With the match decided, Luc pulled out the win at flight six to post Clemson’s third point of the match. She defeated Marion Ravelojaona by a 6-1, 7-6 margin.

#2 California def. #12 Clemson, 4-3

Doubles 1. Mijacika/Wong (CU) def. #7 Cossou/Illcinkas (Cal) – 8-3 2. Andersson/Juricova (Cal) def. Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) – 8-4 3. Balda/Luc (CU) def. Bobusic/Chang (Cal) – 8-2

Singles 1. #4 Ani Mijacika (CU) def. #13 Marina Cossou (Cal) – 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 2. #52 Jana Juricova (Cal) def. #10 Josipa Bek (CU) – 6-2, 6-1 3. Mari Andersson (Cal) def. #111 Keri Wong – 6-2, 7-5 4. #30 Claire Ilcinkas (Cal) def. Estefania Balda (CU) – 6-1, 6-2 5. #15 Bojana Bobusic (Cal) def. Ina Hadziselimovic (CU) – 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 6. #117 Alexandra Luc (CU) def. Marion Ravelojaona (Cal), 6-1, 7-6