BERKELEY – With the Pac-12 regular-season title – and conference tournament's top seed – on the line, California hosts defending conference champion Stanford in the Big Slam on Saturday at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The No. 16 Golden Bears bring a 15-3 record (8-1 Pac-12) into the match with the No. 8 Cardinal (17-2), which leads the conference with a 9-0 record.
 
Cal is second in the Pac-12 at 8-1. Whichever team wins at Hellman on Saturday will capture the the top seed. If Cal wins, the teams would be declared Pac-12 regular-season co-champions since they would be tied with 9-1 conference records. If Stanford wins, it would take the regular-season conference title with a 10-0 Pac-12 record.
 
The Pac-12 Championship no longer features singles and doubles tournaments but instead is a head-to-head team tournament.
 
The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the Big Slam along with the men's tennis clash between Cal and Stanford that will begin at 3:30 p.m. or, depending on the length of the women's match, start directly after the end of the women's match.
 
Saturday will be a busy day on campus, since it's also Cal Day, the university's annual open house. Fans are encouraged to take public transportation to get to Hellman, as parking will be at a premium.
 
Fans can follow live updates of the Big slam on Twitter @CalWomensTennis.

With the Pac-12 Networks televising both matches on Saturday, the Hellman live stream will not be in use.

Cal Tennis Team Banquet on May 2
Please join the Cal men's and women's tennis teams on May 2 when they host their annual banquet and awards presentation from 6:30-9 p.m. at the University Club at California Memorial Stadium. Reservations are $50 per attendee. In order for us to best prepare, please RSVP with payment by Wednesday, April 26. For additional information, or if you have questions, please click here or contact Tyler Huntley by email at tylermhuntley@berkeley.edu.
 
Poll Position
Cal is again ranked 16th in Tuesday's Oracle/ITA team poll and was ranked ninth in last week's USTA Top 25. The USTA will release its new poll on Wednesday.
 
In the Tuesday Oracle/ITA singles polls, junior Karla Popovic is ranked 18th, Manasse is ranked 52nd and sophomore Olivia Hauger is ranked 111th in singles. In doubles, Manasse and Jansen are ranked 31st, and Starr and freshman Alexis Nelson are ranked 74th.
 
Manasse Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
Maegan Manasse earned the sixth Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of her career on Monday, when the Conference office lauded the California women's tennis star for her play in the Golden Bears' last two victories.
 
The senior All-American won four times in Cal's past two wins, both of which were 7-0 routs of the Washington schools at the Hellman Tennis Complex. She posted two upset wins against Washington on April 14. First, the 51st-ranked duo of Manasse and Maya Jansen knocked off UW's 35th-ranked pair of Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi, 6-1, at court-one doubles. Later, the 65th-ranked Manasse topped No. 35 Stacey Fung, 6-1, 6-3, to clinch the overall match.
 
On April 15, after they took part in Cal's Senior Day ceremony, Manasse and Jansen beat Washington State's Aneta Miksovska and Victoria Matejevic, 6-0, in doubles. Manasse capped her weekend with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Barbora Michalkova in singles.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Karla Popovic (35-3 in singles) is on an eight-match winning streak, though she had a better winning streak when she started the season 21-0; Popovic was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Feb. 27
• 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 22-6 doubles record
• Current Pac-12 Player of the Week Maegan Manasse has an 13-5 singles record; the four-time All-American won the singles and – with Maya Jansen – doubles titles at this year's Cal Winter Invitational
• Olivia Hauger is 25-7 in singles, including 9-2 on court four; her 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over Julia Eshet clinched Cal's 4-3 win at Oregon on April 8
• Hauger collected the March 20 Pac-12 Player of the Week accolade for her play in Cal's wins over Arizona and Arizona State
• Jansen, a two-time NCAA champion in doubles, and Manasse have a 10-4 record
• In singles, Jansen has a 20-6 record, including 10-0 on court five; she earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on Feb. 13 for her play at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor championship
• Jansen also clinched the April 5, 7-0 victory over Sacramento State with her court-four singles win
• The doubles team of Denise Starr and Alexis Nelson is 6-0
• Starr, a two-time All-American in doubles, is 18-11 in singles, including 5-1 on court two and 6-3 on court three
• Sophomore Maria Smith (26-12 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 Stanford

• The Cardinal's only two losses this season were at No. 1 Florida, 4-1, on Feb. 19 and at No. 17 Pepperdine, 5-2, on April 12
• Stanford was ranked fourth in last week's USTA Top 25
• Six Cardinal players are ranked in singles: No. 23 Melissa Lord, No. 41 Caroline Doyle, No. 53 Taylor Davidson, No. 71 Emma Higuchi, No. 86 Caroline Lampl and No. 122 Emily Arbuthnott
• In doubles, Doyle and Lord are ranked 40th
• Lele Forood is in her 17th year as Stanford's head coach

Next Time
Cal competes in the Pac-12 Championship from April 26-29 in Ojai, California.