No. 19 Cal Returns To Play Thursday At Hellman

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BERKELEY – The California women's tennis team returns to action for the first time in nine months when the 19th-ranked Golden Bears host Saint Mary's on Thursday at 12 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Bears continue play on Saturday and Sunday when they compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
 
The remainder of Cal's schedule will be announced soon.
 
Under current health protocols, fans are not allowed to attend Cal Athletics home events. Fans can watch home tennis matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex through Cal's live stream. Please click here to reach the CalBears.com live-stream page, from which you can select which of the six Hellman courts you would like to view.
 
In the four-team ITA Kickoff Weekend in Los Angeles, Cal plays host and second-ranked UCLA on Saturday, with the winner taking on the Texas A&M-Washington State victor on Sunday for the right to advance to the Oracle ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Saturday's losing teams will play against each other in a consolation match on Sunday. Fans can watch the action and keep track of the scores in Los Angeles on UCLA's live stream here.
 
The national indoor tournament is slated to take place Feb. 5-7 at Oklahoma State.
 
In Cal's last dual match, the Bears routed USC, 6-1, on March 7, 2020, in Berkeley, before the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the premature end of the 2019-20 season. Cal ended the year with a 3-4 record and a No. 38 ranking.
 
Bears In The Polls
Cal currently holds a No. 19 ranking from the Oracle ITA preseason poll. Three Bears are also ranked in singles and two Cal pairs are ranked in doubles. Haley Giavara – a singles All-American and the ITA Northwest Regional Rookie of the Year in 2019-20 – is ranked 18th, Valentina Giavara sits at No. 26 and Julia Rosenqvist is ranked 43rd. In doubles, the duo of Giavara and Ivanov is ranked 40th, and the team of Rosenqvist and Anna Bright is 43rd.
 
In her stellar first year as a Bear, Giavara finished 19-7 in singles and 13-7 in doubles. The San Diegan also held a No. 15 ranking in the last singles poll and was ranked 31st in doubles partnered with Bright. Giavara defeated four opponents ranked in the top 10, including UCLA's ninth-ranked Elysia Bolton, 6-4, 7-6(5).
 
Ivanov likewise had a strong debut in 2019-20, posting a 16-7 singles record and claiming a No. 34 ranking. The New Zealand native won her last three matches of the season, including a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over UCLA's 17th-ranked Jada Hart. Ivanov teamed with Giavara to compile a 3-2 record in doubles.
 
Rosenqvist, a senior, had a 15-7 record and a No. 57 ranking in singles and a 13-8 doubles mark as a junior. The Swede beat a couple of ranked opponents in USC's 44th-ranked Eryn Cayetano, 7-6(7), 5-7, 1-0(9), and No. 63 Sonia Smagina of Kansas, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, and didn't drop a set in capturing the singles title of the Cal Winter Invitational. Bright, another senior, was 17-10 in doubles last season and paired with Giavara to earn a No. 31 ranking and 9-4 record. In the fall of 2019, Bright and Giavara forged their way to the doubles semifinals of both the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
 
Bears Welcome Newcomers To Berkeley
Three new Bears and one familiar face have joined the Cal team this year. Freshmen Jada Bui, Hannah Viller Moeller and Cami Brown are the newcomers, while former Cal star Olivia Hauger is back as the Bears' volunteer assistant coach.
 
A 10-time Canadian champion who's competed in the Junior Australian Open and Junior French Open, Bui holds a career-best ITF junior ranking of 56. Viller Moeller, who hails from Copenhagen, played for the Danish Fed Cup team in 2019, played in junior qualifying for all four Grand Slams in 2018, reaching the singles main draw of the Australian Open. Ranked as high as No. 52 in national recruiting polls, Brown is a product of Irvine, California, and was named the 2018 Orange County Register Girls Tennis Player of the Year.
 
Hauger completed her Cal career in 2019 after a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championship and was ranked 56th in singles to close out her senior year.