STANFORD, Calif. – Monday's main draw singles and doubles semifinals had a Big Match feel to them at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, with three Cal women's tennis players battling their Stanford counterparts on the Farm. But the Golden Bears lost to the Cardinal to close out their regional campaign at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
 
Cal's fifth-seeded Valentina Ivanov, taking on the top-seeded and sixth-ranked Michaela Gordon, lost 6-4, 7-5, in her semifinal. The fourth-seeded pair of Anna Bright and Haley Giavara fell to Stanford's second-seeded Emily Abuthnott and Angelica Blake, 6-2, 6-1, in doubles.
 
"Overall we had a very good tournament," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We had five or six in the round of 16 and three in the quarterfinals of the singles, and having three players playing on the second to last day of the tournament was great. We would've preferred today to go much better. But the wins we picked up throughout the tournament continued our progress this fall, and I feel like we had good performances from the entire team."
 
At stake at regionals was qualification to the upcoming Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, with regional singles finalists and doubles champions earning automatic bids. Several Bears could still claim at-large berths to fall nationals, which will feature a singles field of 64 and a doubles field of 32 pairs. The ITA will reveal its singles and doubles fields closer to the start of the tournament.
 
Regionals also gave the Cal coaches another chance to tinker with doubles pairings and allowed the Bears to beef up their individual records.
 
"We've tried some different combinations in all the fall events so far, as usual, and then when we look to the spring, we'll assess what we saw and put together our three best doubles teams," Augustus added. "With a couple of tournaments to go this fall, there are still good opportunities in singles and doubles for people to improve their national rankings in singles and doubles. Hopefully when the end of the fall comes, there are lots of Bears ranked in singles and doubles nationally, and I think we're on track for that."
 
Fall nationals will run Nov. 6-10 in Newport Beach, California. From Nov. 8-10, some Bears will also compete in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Arizona.