Cal Opens Pac-12 Play In L.A.

Friday, March 10

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:30 PM

California

USC

Alexis Nelson and the Bears play the L.A. schools down south this week after previously beating them at Cal. (Photo by Cal.ISIPhotos.com)

Photo by: Ariel Nava

3/7/2017 5:12 PM | Women's Tennis

Follow Cal on Twitter Follow Cal on Instagram Like Cal on Facebook

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – After having a week off from competition, No. 6/12 California heads to Los Angeles to open Pac-12 Conference play against a pair of familiar opponents in No. 21/23 USC and No. 16/28 UCLA. The Golden Bears (6-2) play the Trojans (4-3) at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Marks Stadium and then face the Bruins (6-4) at noon on Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Live stats are available for the UCLA match by clicking here.

In Cal's last two matches, the Bears defeated UCLA, 6-1, on Feb. 24 and then beat USC, 6-1, on Feb. 25 in nonconference action at home in the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Poll Position
In Tuesday's Oracle/ITA team poll, Cal is ranked 12th, while USC is 21st and UCLA is 28th. In last week's USTA Top 25 (the new USTA poll comes out on Wednesday), Cal was ranked sixth, USC was ranked 23rd and UCLA was ranked 16th.

In Tuesday's Oracle/ITA singles polls, junior Karla Popovic is ranked ninth and senior Maegan Manasse is ranked 45th in singles and sophomore Olivia Hauger is ranked 96th. In doubles, Hauger and Popovic are ranked 23rd, Manasse and Maya Jansen are ranked 28th, senior Denise Starr and freshman Alexis Nelson are ranked 46th, and Starr and Jansen are ranked 65th.

Scouting the Bears

Karla Popovic – who jumped to No. 9 in singles this week after being ranked 23rd previously – was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for winning twice in singles and doubles in Cal's wins over UCLA and USC in February
One of those singles wins was a 6-3, 6-3 upset of then-No. 2 Ena Shibahara of UCLA; Popovic – who has a 27-1 singles record – has only lost to Ohio State's top-ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo this season
Earlier this year, Popovic won the singles title and paired with Olivia Hauger to capture the doubles crown at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in the fall; the Bears have a 16-3 doubles record
Maegan Manasse has an 8-1 singles record so far this season; the four-time All-American won the singles and – with Jansen – doubles titles at this year's Cal Winter Invitational
Manasse and Jansen have a 7-1 overall record; in the pair's last match, the Bears upset Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked Vladica Babic and Carla Tur Mari, 6-3, at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship
The doubles team of Starr and Alexis Nelson is 5-0, while Jansen and Starr are 1-0
Sophomore Maria Smith (19-9 in singles) was named the Athletic Study Center Scholar-Athlete of the Week honor for the week of Feb. 6-10
Cal alumna Amanda Augustus (class of 1999) was named the 2016 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year and was a two-time NCAA doubles champion in her playing days in Berkeley; she is in her 10th season as head coach of the Bears
Zack Warren in in his third year as the Cal women's tennis assistant coach

Scouting the Trojans

After losing to Cal in Berkeley, USC's next match was a 5-2 win over then-No. 4/9 Michigan on March 3 in Los Angeles
Gabby Smith is ranked 33rd, Jessica Failla is 55th, Zoe Katz is 80th and Madison Westby is ranked 104th in singles
In doubles, Katz and Smith are ranked 21st, Westby and Angela Kulikov are 64th, Failla and Rianna Valdes are 75th, and the team of Katz and Westby is ranked 78th
Richard Gallien is in his 22nd year as USC's head coach

Scouting the Bruins