BERKELEY – Maya Jansen posted a 6-0, 7-6(0) win over Missouri's Amina Ismail to clinch No. 8 California's 4-0 victory over the Tigers in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final on Monday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The win qualified the Golden Bears for a return trip to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, which Cal won last season for the first national team title in program history.
 
Yale will host this year's national indoor tournament from Feb. 10-13 in New Haven, Connecticut.
 
"One of our goals is to make it there, so it's pretty exciting we accomplished that," Jansen said. "And we're just pretty pumped to play at national indoors."
 
Cal improved to 2-0 with the win over Missouri, which now has a 1-1 record.'
 
Also on Monday at Hellman, Old Dominion (2-1) defeated Xavier (0-2) in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
 
The final started late – at 1:50 instead of 1 p.m. – due to the late finish of ODU's victory. But the Bears started quickly, with Jansen and Maegan Manasse beating Clare Raley and Bea Machado Santos, 6-1, on court one. Cal's 38th-ranked pair of Olivia Hauger and Karla Popovic followed with a 6-2 win on court two to clinch the doubles point against Ismail and Brianna Lashway.
 
The pairing of Jansen and Manasse – which features players who played in the last three NCAA doubles finals – is still relatively new. But the two Bears are unbeaten so far at 5-0.
 
"It's really easy," Jansen said of the partnership. "We play really well together. Our game styles match up well. We've been practicing a lot and kind of fine tuning some things. It's pretty enjoyable right now."
 
Cal won five of six first sets in singles, including on court six, with sophomore Maria Smith eventually shutting out Raley, 6-0, 6-0, to give Cal a 2-0 lead. Manasse followed with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Santos on court one, before Jansen ended the day with her court-five win.
 
"I thought we played good doubles today, and I was pleased to see that," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "The first match went a little long, and that's always a good thing to see how you will respond. That happens all the time. It'll happen at the rest of the indoor tournament. I thought we came out really ready to go in the doubles, really aggressive, on all three courts. That was good to see. This was not a familiar opponent for us, similar to yesterday. I thought we did a really good job of making adjustments.
 
"In the singles, Missouri really fought hard, so that was good for us to work on some things. I'm definitely happy to get another victory at Hellman. We'll be on the road for a couple weeks, and we'll fine tune a few things. I'm pleased to be heading into the next rounds of the indoor tournament."
 
The Bear next play at No. 3 Pepperdine on Feb. 3 and at San Diego State on Feb. 5 before heading to national indoors.
 
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 30, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Final
 
No. 8 California (2-0) defeated Missouri (1-1), 4-0
 
Doubles
1. Maya Jansen/Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. Clare Raley/Bea Machado Santos (Missouri), 6-1
2. No. 38 Olivia Hauger/Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Amina Ismail/Brianna Lashway (Missouri), 6-2
3. Alexis Nelson/Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Tate Schroeder/Cassidy Spearman (Missouri), 4-3 Abandoned
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 1, 2*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 49 Maegan Manasse (Cal) def. Bea Machado Santos (Missouri), 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 17 Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. Brianna Lashway (Missouri), 7-6(10), 4-0 Abandoned
3. Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Cassidy Spearman (Missouri), 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 Abandoned
4. Olivia Hauger (Cal) vs. Tate Schroeder (Missouri), 7-5, 2-3 Abandoned
5. Maya Jansen (Cal) def. Amina Ismail (Missouri), 6-0, 7-6(0)
6. Maria Smith (Cal) def. Clare Raley (Missouri), 6-0, 6-0
 
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 5^
 
^Clinched the overall match
 
Consolation Match
 
Old Dominion (2-1) defeated Xavier (0-3), 4-1
 
Doubles
1. Natalya Malenko/Nataliia Vlasova (ODU) def. Cristina Di Lorenzo/Lauren Ghidotti (Xavier), 7-6(11)
2. Sophia Abelson/Sydney Liggins (Xavier) def. Ingrid Vojcinakova/Adrian Rajkovia (ODU), 6-3
3. Borislava Botusharova/Marijana Novakovic (ODU) def. Rachael Reichenbach/Lauren Fitz-Randolph (Xavier), 6-2
 
ODU won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. Borislava Botusharova (ODU) def. Sydney Liggins (Xavier), 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-6(7)
2. Ingrid Vojcinakova (ODU) def. Cristina Di Lorenzo (Xavier), 6-3, 7-5
3. Lauren Ghidotti (Xavier) def. Nataliia Vlasova (ODU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Eliska Petrackova (ODU) vs. Rachael Reichenbach (Xavier), 1-6, 7-5, 5-5 Abandoned
5. Adriana Rajkovic (ODU) vs. Vanina Iordanova (Xavier) 7-5, 6-7(5), 3-2 Abandoned
6. Natalya Malenko (ODU) def. Lauren Fitz-Randolph (Xavier), 6-4, 6-4
 
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 3, 1^
 
^Clinched the overall match