Northwestern breaks rank, beats No. 2 Florida

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- No. 16 Northwestern upset the Gators 4-2 by capturing the doubles point and winning three of five completed singles matches in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

A day after beating No. 7 Texas A&M in a 4-3 nail-biter, NU used solid performances to knock off a second top-10 team in as many days.

The `Cats claimed the doubles point by notching wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Belinda Niu and Manon Peri, playing at No. 3, took down Alexandra Cercone and Stefani Stojic by a 6-3 score. Maddie Lipp and Nida Hamilton fought their way to a 6-4 win versus Olivia Janowicz and Kourtney Keegan.

Florida came into the match with all six singles players nationally ranked. The Northwestern freshmen were unfazed, winning two of three matches to help the Wildcats claim the victory. Jillian Rooney was quite impressive on Saturday, taking down No. 27 Sofie Oyen at No. 4 by a 6-2, 6-1 score. Maddie Lipp, in her first singles match of the 2014 season, beat No. 39 Kourtney Keegan 7-6, (4), 7-5 at No. 5.

Niu, for the second match in a row, scored the clinching point for Northwestern. Niu took down No. 23 Alexandra Cercone 7-6 (4), 6-2 to send the `Cats to Sunday's semifinal round.

No. 10 Duke 4, No. 3 North Carolina 2

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- There will be a new Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoors champion for 2014 as Duke downed North Carolina (5-2) on Saturday afternoon at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

In doubles play, Duke cruised to take a 1-0 advantage early, which gave North Carolina a loss in doubles for the first time in dual match action in 2014.

The Tar Heels were able to even the match, 1-1, as fifth-ranked Hayley Carter knocked off Duke freshman Chalena Scholl 6-2, 6-2, on court No. 2. Scholl played in only her third career collegiate singles match and dropped to 2-1 overall. 

Duke senior Rachel Kahan gave the Blue Devils the lead back quickly on court No. 5 as she defeated 125th-ranked Dai 6-4, 6-2. Kahan found herself down 3-1 early in the first set but came back to win five out of the next six games to take the first set. She never trailed in the second set on her way to improving to 4-0 on the season.

In the featured match of the day with the Blue Devils’ third-ranked Beatrice Capra against second-ranked Jamie Loeb on court No. 1, Duke's standout fell behind 2-1 early but came back to claim the first set 6-4. It marked the first set Loeb had dropped since Oct. 1. Capra fell down again in the second set 3-2 but once again battled back to give Duke a 3-1 advantage with a 6-4, 6-4 win. The victory improved Capra to 17-3 on the season in singles play.

After winning a hard-fought match 6-4 in the first set on court four, Duke’s Goldfeld got behind 4-0 in the second and ended up falling 6-3 to send the match to a tiebreaking third set.

With three matches facing tiebreakers to decide the match, Hanna Mar came out strong in the tiebreaker as she built a commanding lead and won the clinching point on a fierce forehand down the left side of the court to clinch the 4-2 win for the Blue Devils. 

No. 8 California 4, No. 3 Georgia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Playing against one of the nation’s top programs – which knocked out California in the same round last year – with the overall contest tied at 3-3 and a berth to the semifinals on the line, freshman Maegan Manasse didn’t flinch. The nation’s 31st-ranked singles player, Manasse defeated Mia King 7-6(5), 6-3 to clinch Cal’s 4-3 victory against Georgia in Saturday’s quarterfinal at the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships.

In this year’s clash with the Bulldogs, Georgia took a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. First Cal sophomores Lynn Chi and Klara Fabikova fell to Lilly Kimbell/Caroline Brinson 6-3 on court No. 3, and then Manasse and senior Anett Schutting lost to the fifth-ranked Bulldog pair of Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase 7-5 on court No. 1 to end doubles.

In singles, Cal trailed 2-0 after the 95th-ranked Chi lost to the 25th-ranked Kowase on court No. 3 6-3, 6-2.

But the Bears bounced back for the second time in two days after dropping the doubles point. On Saturday, junior Zsofi Susanyi -- ranked 16th in singles -- began the comeback with a 6-0, 6-4 victory against the 33rd-ranked Kimbell on court No. 4. Starr -- Cal’s top-ranked singles player at No. 15 -- then tied the overall match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(7) win versus the 10th-ranked Garcia on court No. 2.

Fabikova continued the Cal surge with a tight 7-5, 7-5 win against Fuller on court No. 5. But Schutting -- ranked 26th -- fell to the fourth-ranked Herring 7-6(3), 6-1 on court No. 1 to tie the match at 3-3 and leave Manasse and King to decide matters on court No. 6.

No. 5 UCLA 4, No. 6 Southern California 0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- UCLA had little trouble with its cross-town rival at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Saturday afternoon, posting a 4-0 victory against Southern California in a quarterfinal showdown at the Boar's Head Sports Club.

The closest part of Saturday's match happened in doubles, where the Bruins narrowly edged the Women of Troy to take a 1-0 lead into singles action. After both teams traded wins at court Nos. 1 and 3, UCLA's Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips secured the point for the Bruins with a 7-6(7) upset against seventh-ranked Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis at court No. 2.

Unfortunately for USC, McPhillips would have Olmos's number again in singles, as she was first off following a 6-2, 6-0 victory at court No. 4 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead in the match. UCLA's top player Robin Anderson, who also happens to be the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, would soon follow, dropping just three games in a 6-1, 6-2 win against 13th-ranked Sabrina Santamaria at court No. 1. The win was significant for Anderson, who had won a total of just four games in her previous two meetings with Santamaria.

Bruin junior Kaitlin Ray notched the clincher for UCLA on Saturday, who like Anderson lost just three games in her singles match, downing Ellie Yates 6-1, 6-2 at court No. 6.

SUNDAY'S SEMIFINALS PAIRINGS:

No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 16 Northwestern

No. 8 California vs. No. 10 Duke

No. 14 Virginia 4, No. 7 Texas A&M 0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Virginia defeated Texas A&M 4-0 in consolation action Saturday at the 2014 ITA National Women's Tennis Indoor Team Championships at Boar's Head Sports Club.

The Cavaliers, who lost to Texas A&M three times last season, won the doubles point and three singles matches to earn the shutout.

Virginia took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. No. 8 Julia Elbaba and freshman Rachel Pierson beat No. 22 Cristina Stancu and Stefania Hristov 6-2 at No. 1. The Cavaliers clinched the point when senior Li Xi and sophomore Danielle Collins beat No. 51 Rutuja Bhosale and Ines Deheza 6-4 at No. 2. Virginia sophomores Stephanie Nauta and Maci Epstein were leading 5-4 at No. 3 when Xi and Collins clinched.

No. 85 Nauta made it 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win versus Anna Mamalat at No. 4 singles and Epstein made it 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win against  Hristov and No. 5. No. 8 Elbaba clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-3 win against No. 14 Stancu at No. 1 singles.

No. 9 Miami (Fla.) 4, No. 15 Vanderbilt 3

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Miami (Fla.) prevailed in a 4-3 thriller against Vanderbilt on Saturday morning in a consolation match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

With Miami and Vanderbilt tied 3-3 and one match remaining on the courts, junior Lina Lileikite edged out Vanderbilt’s Courtney Colton to clinch the Hurricanes’ win.

No. 1 Stanford, Saint Mary's (Calif.) (CANCELED)

STANFORD, Calif.-- Saturday’s match between Stanford and Saint Mary's (Calif.) has been postponed due to rain.

The schools will try to reschedule the match, possibly later this month.