BERKELEY – California takes on San Diego State at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and then hosts Santa Clara at Hellman at 12 p.m. on Saturday, as the No. 13/14 Golden Bears (1-1) look to bounce back from a loss to Texas at last week's ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Hellman.
SDSU brings a 3-0 record into Berkeley after routing UC Irvine, 7-0, in its last match. The Broncos are 0-1 after losing at UC Davis.
Admission is free for regular-season tennis at Hellman.
Live streams and scores are available at Hellman by clicking here. Fans can also follow Cal home matches by following the Bears on Twitter @calwomenstennis.
Bears Welcome Mraz, Rosenqvist
Head coach Amanda Augustus' squad got a jolt of talent with the addition of freshmen Julia Rosenqvist and Hana Mraz this month. Mraz hails from Kranj, Slovenia, and Rosenqvist is from Onsala, Sweden.
Hana Mraz (left) and Julia Rosenqvist (right).
The 19-year-old Rosenqvist played singles in the 2016 Wimbledon Junior Championships and reached the singles quarterfinals and the doubles round of 32 at the 2015 European Junior Championships. The 18-year-old Mraz has a career-best combined ITF juniors ranking of 42nd. She took third place in singles at the 2014 European Junior Championships 16 & Under tournament in Moscow.
Poll Position
Cal is ranked 13th in the first USTA College Tennis Top 25 poll of the season, which came out on Wednesday
The Bears are ranked No. 14 in Wednesday's Oracle ITA team poll. In the most recent Oracle ITA singles poll, Bright (22-6 record) was ranked 27th, junior Olivia Hauger (12-4) was ranked 40th and senior Karla Popovic (1-2) – a 2016-17 singles All-American – was ranked 45th. The Oracle ITA doubles rankings puts the pair of Popovic and Hauger (8-2) at No. 39.
Last Time Out: Bears Split At ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Then-No. 11 Cal lost to then-No. 12 Texas, 4-3, in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final on Jan. 27 at Hellman. The Bears won their dual-match season opener on Jan. 26 by beating UNLV 4-3 in the Kick-Off Weekend opener, as sophomore Alexis Nelson clinched with a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory over Samantha Li at court-five singles.
Hauger and fellow Cal junior Maria Smith were unbeaten in doubles and singles over the two matches, with each going 2-0 in singles. They also paired up to win one out of two doubles matches, beating the Rebels' Li and Anna Bogoslavets, 6-1, on court two. The Bears were leading their court-two clash with the Longhorns' Bianca Turati and Bojana Markovic 4-3, but the match went unfinished after UT clinched the doubles point.
Next Time
The Bears host UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. to conclude a five-match homestand at Hellman.
