Berkeley, CA -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's tennis team fought hard in a 4-0 loss to No. 6 California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. With the victory, the Golden Bears advance to Saturday's second round to face No. 24 Pepperdine and improve to 19-4 on the season, while the Knights' season comes to end with an overall record of 13-5.

The home team took an early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Sophomore Nicole Chis (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park) and junior Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine/Secondary School #50) were trailing 5-1 when at No. 2 when their match was halted.

California then won at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 1 singles to clinch the match. But the Knights were competitive, taking numerous games to deuce before winding up on the wrong end.

"This was a great experience for our first four players who appeared in the championship for the first time," Head Coach Jonathan Buchman said. "Cal demonstrated what it takes to compete at this level, and we will use that in order to make ourselves better. The team took another great step forward for a third year in a row, and I expect next year to be our best year yet."
 
Doubles
1. No. 41 Anett Schutting/Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Gisela Castany (Barcelona, Spain)/Ksenija Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia) (FDU), 8-1
2. No. 47 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) DNF vs. Nicole Chis (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park)/Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine/Secondary School #50) (FDU),  5-1 abandoned
3. No. 83 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Shreya Pasricha (India)/Manuela Leme (Varginha, Brazil/E.E. Antania Alves Cruz) (FDU), 8-0
 
Doubles Order of Finish: 1, 3.
 
Singles
1. No. 30 Denise Starr (Cal) def. Ksenija Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia) (FDU), 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 23 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) DNF vs. Shreya Pasricha (India) (FDU), 6-0, 4-2 abandoned
3. No. 18 Anett Schutting (Cal) DNF vs. Nicole Chis (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park) (FDU), 6-2, 3-0 abandoned
4. No. 24 Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Gisela Castany (Barcelona, Spain) (FDU), 6-1, 6-1
5. No. 62 Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. Mariya Krachok (Kiev, Ukraine/Secondary School #50) (FDU), 6-1, 6-2
6. Alice Duranteau (Cal) DNF vs. Manuela Leme (Varginha, Brazil/E.E. Antania Alves Cruz) (FDU), 6-1, 2-0 abandoned

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1