BERKELEY – With a return trip to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship on the line, eighth-ranked California – the defending national indoor champion – hosts one of 15 ITA Kick-Off Weekends around the nation and starts its dual-match season on Sunday and Monday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears (0-0) play Xavier on Sunday at 10 a.m., while Missouri faces Old Dominion at 1 p.m. on Sunday, the first day of the qualifying tournament.
 
The two winners play at 1 p.m. on Monday, after a 10 a.m. consolation match. The overall champion joins 15 other teams – including host Yale – at national indoors from Feb. 10-13 in New Haven, Connecticut.
 
For live streaming and scoring for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Hellman, please visit this CalBears.com page http://www.calbears.com/sports/2013/7/10/208646366.aspx, which includes links to each of the six courts. Fans can also follow the action from @CalWomensTennis on Twitter.
 
Poll Position
Eighth-ranked Cal is one of five Pac-12 Conference teams – including No. 4 Stanford, No. 18 USC, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 24 UCLA – appearing in the Jan. 25 top 25 Oracle/ITA Rankings.
 
In singles, junior Karla Popovic is ranked 17th, while senior Maegan Manasse is tied for 49th. The pair of Popovic and sophomore Olivia Hauger is ranked 38th, while senior Denise Starr and sophomore Maria Smith (4-3) are ranked 40th in doubles.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Popovic (now with a 22-1 singles record) was unbeaten most of the fall; she suffered her only loss against Ohio State's third-ranked Francesca DiLorenzo in the round of 16 of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships; DiLorenzo went on to win the title
• Popovic won the singles title and paired with sophomore Olivia Hauger to capture the doubles crown at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in the fall; the Bears have an 11-3 doubles record
• Manasse has a 7-1 singles record so far this season; the four-time All-American won the singles and – with Maya Jansen – doubles titles at the recent Cal Winter Invitational (see below)
• Manasse and Jansen have a 3-0 record after playing for the first time in doubles together at the Cal Winter Invitational
• Jansen, a graduate student, is in her first year at Cal after completing her undergraduate degree and winning two NCAA doubles titles at Alabama
• Starr and Smith are 4-3 in doubles
• Starr and Manasse – last season's NCAA doubles runners-up – compiled a 4-3 record in the fall
• Cal alumna Amanda Augustus (class of 1999) – the 2016 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year and a two-time NCAA doubles champion in her playing days– is in her 10th season as head coach of the Bears
• Zack Warren in in his third year as the Cal women's tennis assistant coach

 
Scouting the Field

• Xavier is 0-1 after losing, 5-2, at Purdue on Jan. 22
• Old Dominion has a 1-0 record after beating Temple, 6-1, on Jan. 14 at home
• ODU's Holly Hutchinson is ranked 97th in singles
• Missouri, like Cal, is opening its dual-match season on Friday

 
Last Year: Hauger Clinches Cal's First National Team Title
At last season's ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship at the University of Wisconsin, then-freshman Olivia Hauger defeated North Carolina's Marika Akkerman to clinch No. 6 Cal's first national team title. The fourth-seeded Bears wrapped up the victory over the third-seeded, fifth-ranked – and defending champion – Tar Heels, 4-3, once Hauger prevailed in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, on court five.
 
Cal's run at indoors included an opening 4-0 victory over the host Badgers, a 4-1 win over No. 7 Virginia in the quarterfinal round and a 4-3 thriller against No. 16 Ohio State in the semifinals.
 
Last Time: Manasse Wins Singles & Doubles At Winter Invite
Maegan Manasse captured both the singles and doubles championships in the recent Cal Winter Invitational. The Cal star defeated Jana McCord of Saint Mary's, 6-4, 6-4, to finish 3-0 at No. 1 singles, while the pair of Manasse and Maya Jansen beat Cal Poly's Seriana Saltzen and Susanne Boyden, 6-1, to post a 3-0 record at No. 1 doubles on Jan. 15 at Hellman.
 
Next Time
Cal plays at No. 3 Pepperdine on Feb. 3 at 1:30 p.m. and then plays at San Diego State on Feb. 5 at noon.