The Cal Women's Tennis Team had all but pulled off an amazing comeback in the semi-finals of the NCAA team tournament in Atlanta. After getting into an 0-3 hole, they slowly started digging their way out.

First, Cristina Visico managed to close out Tarryn Rudman 6-4, 6-2. She had the match under control until she was up 5-0 in the second set, at which point she got the yips and almost let Rudman back into the match. She hung on to make it Cal 1, Georgia Tech 3.

Suzie Babos looked awful in the first set, but she's always a streaky player. Once she found her serve, she got some confidence and started being more assertive on her ground strokes, which she needs to do to set up her touch shots. She came back in convincing fashion, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. Cal 2, Georgia Tech 3

At one point in the match, I was ready to write off Marion Ravelojaona at #5 as an early casualty as she was getting wiped off the court, 2-6, in the first set. But when she changed tactics and started moonballing and giving her opponent, Christy Striplin, no pace to work with, she suddenly had the match in control with Striplin frustrated and clueless about what to do. Ravelojaona came back to take the second set 6-1 and sliced and diced her way to a 4-1 lead in the third. Striplin was completely thrown off. She would try coming to the net on anything, but even when she had an easy high volley, she would spray it way off the court somewhere. If Ravelojaona could close it out, it would leave the deciding match to Zsuzsanna Fodor, the most consistent player on the team, who had just won the second set and was threatening to take control of the third.

Marion was so in control of the match that about the only way she could lose was... no, you've got to be kidding me!... coaches, where are the coaches??? Yes, with the match under control, she changed tactics and started trying to pound the ball through Striplin. For the 62nd ranked Striplin, it was just what the doctor ordered. She got the groove back on her groundstrokes, got into a rhythm, and got her confidence back. The score went to 4-2, 4-3, and 4-all. At this point, it was Ravelojaona who tightened up, and it wasn't long before the rest of the Georgia Tech women's team was on the court celebrating the victory.

College tennis is one of the few places in tennis where coaching is allowed during a match (Davis Cup and Fed Cup are a couple of others). That being the case, what were the coaches thinking? Any middle school coach could have seen what was working for Ravelojaona and how frustrated it was making Striplin. Were there really no coaches to tell her to keep doing what she was doing? Or go back to what she was doing? Or don't let your opponent get grooved and just let her shank her way out of the match?

UCLA had upset #1 ranked Stanford earlier in the day, so things couldn't have been set up any better for Cal to take the national championship. Cal had beaten UCLA at home 7-0 and lost a tight one 3-4 at UCLA earlier in the season. Instead, Georgia Tech went on to the finals, where they beat UCLA and took the crown.

I was only watching the live video stream over the internet, so I may have missed something, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the coaching cost us the match.

Don't get me wrong, Jan Brogan has had a way of getting Cal's women's teams prepared for the post-season and getting them deep into the tournament time and time again. But in this case it seems the coaches dropped the ball.