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Cal Hosts SJSU In NCAA Regional Friday

by calbears.com
May 6, 2021
Haley Giavara (left) and Valentina Ivanov (right) have already earned their way to Orlando.

BERKELEY – California women's tennis starts the 64-team NCAA Championship when the 13th-ranked and 16th-seeded Golden Bears (17-6) host one of 16 NCAA regionals this week at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Pac-12 champion Cal takes on the Mountain West champion San Jose State Spartans (15-1) in the first round on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Prior to that match, Kentucky (15-8) plays Syracuse (8-11) at 10 a.m. in another first-round contest at Hellman.
 
Friday's winners play each other on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hellman for the right to advance to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, for the round of 16 and the remainder of the postseason.
 
Cal boasts a 9-1 home record this season, with its lone Hellman loss coming in the Bears' regular-season finale on April 4. Even in defeat, Cal battled to a close, 4-3 finish against No. 7 Pepperdine.
 
Fans can watch the three NCAA tournament matches on the free Hellman Tennis Complex live stream – which includes live scores – by clicking here. Match updates for all three matches will also be available on Twitter @CalWomensTennis.
 
Giavara & Ivanov Bound For Orlando
Two Golden Bears – Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov – have already earned their way to Orlando for the NCAA individual championships. Giavara (12-10 record) earned a spot in the 64-player NCAA Singles Championship. Cal's court-one doubles pair of Giavara and Ivanov (12-6) will also compete in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship.
 
The NCAA individual tournaments will start on May 23, after the end of the team tournament on May 22, and conclude on May 28.
 
Poll Position
Cal remained at No. 13 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25 and came in at No. 17 in the Oracle ITA computerized rankings this week. Cal sophomore Haley Giavara, an All-American as a freshman, is ranked 31st in the Oracle ITA singles poll this week. She has a 12-10 record.
 
Also in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25, Kentucky is ranked 24th, while the Oracle ITA computerized poll has the Wildcats at No. 26 and Syracuse at No. 42.
 
Last Time: Bears Capture Pac-12 Championship
Cal won its first Pac-12 tournament championship and the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship when the Bears ousted top-seeded UCLA, 4-2, on April 26 in San Diego. Senior Julia Rosenqvist clinched the victory when she defeated Elysia Bolton, 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-1, at court-three singles.
 
The Bears had previously won the conference title in 2014, before the inception of the Pac-12 team tournament.
 
Against the Bruins at the Barnes Tennis Center, Cal trailed dropped the doubles point to trail 1-0. But the Bears bounced back in a big way in singles.

On court one, Giavara, ranked 62nd, faced a familiar opponent in the eighth-ranked Forbes, who had beaten the Cal sophomore in all three of the teams' previous meetings this season. The Bruin also took a 3-0 lead in the first set in San Diego. But Giavara, a San Diego native, clawed her way back to win the set. She later used a powerful forehand to close out the match, 6-4, 6-2, and tie the final, 1-1.

Cal senior Anna Bright followed with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Annette Goulak on court six to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. But UCLA's Vivian Wolff soon topped Bui on court four to tie the contest, 2-2.
 
The Bears grabbed the lead back at 3-2 when Hannah Viller Moeller, another talented Bear playing in her first Pac-12 Championship, beat Sasha Vagramov, 6-2, 6-3, on court five.
 
The final came down to three-setters on court two – on which Ivanov battled the 50th-ranked Jada Hart – and on court three, with Rosenqvist eventually deciding the match.
 
Scouting Cal

  • The Bears' doubles pair of Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov had a notable win this year when it upset Elysia Bolton and Jada Hart – who were then-ranked No. 1 – 6-4 on Feb. 20.
  • Senior Julia Rosenqvist has a 14-7 singles record.
  • Ivanov is 10-8 in singles.
  • Freshman Jada Bui has a 10-6 singles mark.
  • Hannah Viller Moeller has gone 14-7 in singles.
  • Senior Anna Bright, who lost once in each of the last three months, is 18-3 in singles.
  • The court-two doubles tandem of Viller Moeller and Bright is 11-6.
  • Former two-time NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus is in her 14th year as head coach at her alma mater.

 
Scouting San Jose State

  • The Spartans won the Mountain West Conference championship, defeating San Diego State, 4-1, on April 24 to finish with an 8-1 conference record and secure the crown.
  • SJSU's only loss was at UNLV, 4-2, on April 23.
  • Irene Muradyan (13-1) was named the Mountain West Conference Co-Freshman of the Year.
  • Muradyan and Alba Pedrero Galindo earned All-Mountain West kudos in singles.
  • Savannah Sendar and Lara Marco Mas were named All-MW in doubles.
  • The 2021 Mountain West Coach of the Year, Chad Skorukpa is in his sixth season as head coach of the Spartans.

Scouting Kentucky

  • The Wildcats last played in the SEC quarterfinals, falling to No. 3 Georgia, 4-0, on April 21.
  • Kentucky posted a 6-7 conference record.
  • Akvile Parazinskaite and Fiona Arrese (15-2) form the nation's top-ranked doubles team.
  • Two Wildcats are ranked in singles in No. 28 Parazinskaite (19-10) and No. 115 Lesedi Jacobs (11-8).
  • Carlos Drada is in his 16th season as head coach at Kentucky.

Scouting Syracuse

  • The Orange won, 4-3, at San Francisco on May 2 in its last match.
  • Syracuse finished 5-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
  • The Orange lost to Wake Forest, 5-0, in the second round of the ACC Tournament on April 22.
  • Viktoriya Kanapatskaya (11-5) is ranked 11th in singles.
  • In doubles, Kanapatskaya and Natalie Novotna are ranked 38th, while Miranda Ramirez and Guzal Yusupova are ranked 78th.
  • Kanapatskaya, a freshman, was named to the All-ACC first team.
  • Younes Limam is in his seventh season as head coach at Syracuse. 

2019 NCAA Tournament Review
In the last NCAA team tournament in 2019, Cal reached the round of 32 after beating Long Beach State in the opening round of 64. Anna Bright beat Lalita Devarakonda, 6-3, 7-5, to clinch the win at court-four singles. After securing the doubles point, Cal also got singles victories from Julia Rosenqvist, Olivia Hauger and Maria Smith.
 
Cal lost to Pepperdine, 4-0, in the second round.
 
In the NCAA singles tournament, Julia Rosenqvist won her opener to advance but fell in the round of 32. Olivia Hauger, now Cal's volunteer assistant coach, lost in the round of 64 in her last collegiate match.
 
Rosenqvist also paired with Hana Mraz in the NCAA Doubles Championship, with the Bears falling in the round of 32.
 
Giavara Named March 23 Pac-12 Player Of The Week
Haley Giavara earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on March 23 after the Cal star led the Bears to a sweep of Arizona and No. 25 Arizona State in Berkeley.
 
This marked the first career weekly conference accolade for the San Diego product. It is also Cal's second Pac-12 honor of 2021, with Valentina Ivanov claiming the award on Feb. 23.
 
In Cal's 7-0 rout of the Wildcats on March 19, the 18th-ranked Giavara defeated Jelena Lukic, 7-5, 7-6(5), at court-one singles. Earlier, the 40th-ranked pair of Giavara and Ivanov beat Lukic and Khim Iglupas, 6-2, to help the Bears claim the doubles point.
 
On March 20, Giavara bested ASU's 37th-ranked Ilze Hattingh, 6-3, 6-2, as Cal cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Sun Devils.

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