Stephanie Balzert reached the final round of Cal's Nike Invitational in Berkeley, Calif., this weekend, becoming the first Wildcat to make the championship of a non-consolation bracket this year.
The junior lost to Cal's fourth-seeded Suzi Babos 6-0, 6-3 in the final. She beat ASU's Wendy Pilecka, the third seed in the singles bracket, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in a hard-fought semifinals victory after defeating her ASU teammate Rebecca Rankin 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
The un-seeded Balzert topped Hillary Englert of Cal 6-3, 6-4 in the round of 32 and beat Texas' sixth-seeded Kendra Strohm 7-6 (3), 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Coach Vicky Maes said that Balzert played well, but lost to a "great player."
"She got beaten by a better player, but that's how it will go sometimes," Maes said. "Balzert is getting her confidence back and is going to play better and better. She can beat anyone she wants."
Freshman Cameila Todorova reached her second consecutive singles Sweet 16 after a first-round victory over Washington State's Zsofia Fodor 7-5, 6-3. She lost to eventual champ Babos 6-0, 6-1 in the round of 16.
In the consolation bracket, she defeated ASU's Lauren Colalillo 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, before losing to Cal's top-seeded Sasha Podkolzina 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Junior Iza Ferreira fell in the round of 32 on Friday to Monica Wiesner of Cal 6-1, 6-0. She lost to Cal's Brooke Borisoff 7-6 (4), 6-4, in a consolation quarterfinal match and defeated UC Davis' Ashley Lehman 6-2, 6-1 in a round robin match.
The doubles team of Todorova and Ferreira lost to ASU's Vana Tomas and Texas' Kelly Baritot 8-5 in the round of 16.
The Wildcats - especially conference newcomers Todorova and Balzert, a transfer from Baylor - should benefit from playing this tournament in the difficult confines of Cal's Hellman Tennis Center during Pac-10 play.
"Playing at Cal is good experience for them to see the environment for the next time we play there," Maes said. "Visualizing the court can be helpful. It's a good benefit for us and it's why I picked them to play."
Maes said she was "very pleased" with how her team played this weekend.
"The girls played very well overall," she said. "I feel like we're on the right track and we'll be really competitive."
Men's single comes up two matches short
The UA's lone representative in the singles pre-qualifying round of the Icy Hot/ITA Men's All-American Championships this weekend came up two matches short of advancing to the qualifying portion of the event.
Junior Paul Warkentin won his first two matches before losing to Matt Roberts of Arkansas 6-0, 6-4 in the round of 32. Players had to advance to the quarterfinals of the pre-qualifying round to make it to the qualifying tournament.
Warkentin beat Jan Macek of Santa Clara 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the round of 64 and Alabama's RJ Murray 6-2, 6-3 in the round of 128 after opening with a first-round bye. Warkentin competed with 192 players for those eight spots.
As Warkentin returns home, senior Colin O'Grady will enter the Chattanooga, Tenn., tournament for the singles qualifying round Monday through Wednesday. O'Grady automatically reached the qualifying round by virtue of being ranked 85th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
O'Grady will also join junior Roger Matalonga in the doubles bracket of the main draw later in the week where they own the fifth-best ranking. Matalonga has already qualified for the main tournament in singles action.
O'Grady said he has played many practice matches in preparation for this event which will feature the top players in the country.
"At the moment I just want to play well, but I would like to make the main draw which is three matches," he said. "Where I'm ranked, I'm not supposed to, but I feel like I'm playing well."