Bears Host Cal Fall Invitational
BERKELEY – The California women's tennis team opens the 2021-22 season when it hosts the Cal Fall Invitational from Friday through Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex and the Channing Tennis Courts. Fourteen teams, including the Golden Bears, will vie for singles and doubles titles at the annual event.
The teams joining the Bears in the Cal Fall Invitational are Arizona State, BYU, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Nevada, Pacific, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, San Diego State, San Francisco and Utah.
Please check back here on Friday morning for the singles and doubles draws.
Matches are open to the public and admission is free at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts for non-postseason events.
Fans can also follow the matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex via the live stream and live scores here. Live scores and live video are not available at the Channing Tennis Courts. Match updates are available on Twitter @CalWomensTennis.
Under current state and local public health guidelines, fans are strongly encouraged to wear facial coverings in crowded outdoor areas when in attendance at home events this season. Facial coverings are required at all times in indoor spaces (such as restrooms) for guests ages 2 and up regardless of vaccination status, unless actively eating or drinking.
Poll Position
Three Bears earned spots in the ITA preseason rankings. In singles, Haley Giavara is ranked 17th, Julia Rosenqvist is 106th and Valentina Ivanov is 119th. The pair of Giavara and Ivanov is ranked 14th in doubles. Additionally, Cal freshman Jessica Alsola is ranked seventh in the ITA Newcomers poll.
Bears Earn Invites To ITA All-American
Haley Giavara, Valentina Ivanov and Jessica Alsola earned berths in the ITA All-American Championships, the ITA announced on Sept. 7. The duo of Giavara and Ivanov is in the main draw's field of 32 for the All-American, which is scheduled for Oct. 4-10 in Charleston, South Carolina. The ITA named Giavara, Ivanov and Alsola to the All-American qualifying singles field as well, and Giavara is the first alternate for the singles main draw.
New Bears
Cal welcomed two new Bears to the program in Jessica Alsola and Makenna Thiel. Tennis Recruiting Network tabbed Alsola as high as third in its national rankings, and she was the site's top recruit from the state of California. Tennis Recruiting rated Thiel as the 29th top national recruit and No. 7 from the Golden State.
2020-21 Season In Review
Cal produced another strong season in 2020-21, with the Bears reaching the third round of the NCAA team tournament after winning the Pac-12 championship. They posted a 19-7 dual-match record that included an NCAA first-round win over San Jose State, 4-0, and a second-round victory over Kentucky, 4-2, with both matches taking place in Berkeley. Freshman Hannah Viller Moeller clinched the win over the Spartans with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Lara Marco Mas, and Jada Bui clinched against the Wildcats with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Elizabeth Stevens, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Cal fell to top-seeded North Carolina, 4-0, in the round of 16 in Orlando, Florida.
Haley Giavara capped another excellent season with appearances in both individual postseason tournaments in Orlando. In the NCAA Singles Championship, Haley Giavara fell to Virginia's third-ranked – and eventual NCAA champion – Emma Navarro, 7-6(3), 6-2, in the round of 64. In NCAA doubles, Ivanov and Giavara lost to Virginia's 21st-ranked tandem of Navarro and Rosie Johanson, 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-7, in the round of 32.
At the Pac-12 tournament in late April, Cal beat Oregon, 4-1, in the first round, stopped No. 25 Stanford, 4-1, in the semifinals and then defeated top-seeded UCLA, 4-2, in the final to claim its first championship in the conference tournament and earn the Pac-12's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Julia Rosenqvist provided the clinching win over the Bruins with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 result over Elysia Bolton at court-three singles.
Last Time At The Cal Fall Invitational
In the 2019 Cal Fall Invitational, the Bears captured three titles as the event came to a close on Sept. 29, with Julia Rosenqvist winning the top-flight titles in singles, Rosenqvist and Jasie Dunk claiming the top doubles title, and Katerina Stloukalova adding another singles crown.
The third-seeded Dunk and Rosenqvist edged another Cal duo, the fourth-seeded Anna Bright and freshman Erin Richardson, 8-7(5), in the day's first completed final at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Rosenqvist later dispatched the 68th-ranked Mariia Kozyreva of Saint Mary's in the Blue singles final, 6-4, 6-3. Stloukalova defeated Gonzaga's Cate Broermanin the gold singles final, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Next Time
Cal competes in the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational from Oct. 1-3 in Moraga, California.