As AAPI Heritage Month comes to a close, Cal Athletics highlights the work of women's tennis alumna Maegan Manasse, a Filipino American and professional athlete who also volunteers for the charitable organization Serving Up Hope.
 
Maegan Manasse has always had big talent and a big heart.
 
A former star of the California women's tennis team, Manasse was a five-time All-American who helped the Golden Bears win the 2016 ITA National Team Indoor Championship and the 2014 Pac-12 championship. She also partnered with Denise Starr to reach the 2016 NCAA Doubles Championship final, win the 2015 ITA All-American Championships doubles title and claim the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year honor. 
 
That 2015-16 season was a tremendous year in which Cal reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship and was ranked No. 1 much of the spring, while Manasse was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year. In 2014-15, Manasse earned the first of her three All-Pac-12 First-Team honors and became just the third player ranked No. 1 in singles during the tenure of Cal head coach Amanda Augustus.
 
Now 28, Manasse – who graduated from Cal in 2018 – is a professional player who has won seven ITF doubles titles. One of those titles came from a 25K Newport Beach tournament in 2021, when she paired with two-time Grand Slam champion Vania King, who retired soon after that victory.
 
Manasse later worked with King on another important project when she joined the board of directors of King's nonprofit, Serving Up Hope. The mission of the charitable organization, its website says, "is to provide sustainable tennis programs for underprivileged children and support communities in sustaining and leading those programs into the future."
 
Joining Serving Up Hope made a world of sense to the Cal alum, who graduated with a degree in social welfare and whose favorite college course focused on nonprofits.
 
"I was playing with Vania, and she had this idea of bringing tennis to underserved communities, and I was in the right place at the right time," Manasse said. "Tennis is one thing I know well, but I always dreamt of being part of a nonprofit, and I had this opportunity essentially fall into my lap. I couldn't say no."
 
Along with the numerous accolades for her outstanding play, Manasse claimed the USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award at the 2015 USTA/ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. She also volunteered with the UC Berkeley Food Pantry and with BearTrax while in Berkeley. Similar to Serving Up Hope, BearTrax offers tennis coaching and academic tutoring to underserved youth, with Cal tennis players from both the men's and women's teams participating in the program at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
"Maegan has always been and always will be an outstanding representative of our women's tennis team," Augustus said. "A national champion and leader on and off the court, she has outstanding sportsmanship and character. She cares deeply about her teammates, coaches, family, friends and the world around her. Grounded yet passionate, she has found an outlet to give back to others through the sport she loves. She is grateful, humble and very accomplished, and she will always pay it forward. Maegan is a true Golden Bear!"
 
King created her organization in 2019, with Serving Up Hope initially coaching tennis and providing STEM education in Kampala, Uganda. The program soon spread to several communities in the United States, including in Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and southern Florida.
 
Currently on hiatus from the pro tour due to an elbow injury, Manasse remains busy by working for Serving Up Hope and coaching as a WTA Touring Professional for the Orinda Country Club in the Bay Area. She is the secretary of Serving Up Hope and has helped out in many areas, including playing in fundraising events as her elbow allows.
 
"Maegan has been an invaluable part of Serving Up Hope, from being a founding board member and officer," King said. "Not only has she has assisted with strategic direction; she has supported our program development, fundraising, event planning and marketing. Ever since the beginning of Serving Up Hope, Maegan has been an integral part in developing our nonprofit into what it is today."
 
For more information on Serving Up Hope, please visit the organization's website or follow the nonprofit on Twitter @serveuphopeorg, Instagram @servinguphopeorg and Facebook @ServingUpHope.