BERKELEY – Maya Jansen clinched her third match of the season when the California graduate student won at court-four singles in the No. 7/18 Golden Bears' eventual 6-1 victory over No. 26 USC on Saturday at a chilly Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
Cal improved its record to 6-2, while USC dropped to 3-3 after the nonconference dual match. Saturday's win gave Cal a sweep of the Los Angeles schools in Berkeley, as the Bears defeated UCLA, 6-1, on Friday at Hellman.
 
"I wanted to see how we'd respond with matches on back to back days," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We did a really good job. I'm pleased to see us back outdoors. It wasn't that warm, but it was dry, and we were just happy to get out there and compete. I thought it was a really good team effort both days. Definitely happy to have two more wins in the books."
 
The Bears will face the same two teams in two weeks, as they face USC in their 10 Pac-12 opener on March 10 and then play UCLA on March 11 in Los Angeles.
 
Interestingly, only Jansen and sophomore Olivia Hauger have clinched in Cal's six dual-match wins – three times apiece. Also, only the pair of Hauger and junior Karla Popovic has clinched the doubles point in Cal's wins, including on Saturday. Senior Denise Starr and freshman Alexis Nelson clinched the doubles point for the Bears in their loss to Oklahoma State in the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship.
 
"I feel like I finally got back into a rhythm again," Jansen said of her recent play. "I'm finally getting my stride back. We've had some really good practices, and that's helped a lot."
 
In doubles on Saturday, the duo of Jansen and Starr – playing for only the second time together – upset the 21st-ranked team of Madison Westby and Zoë Katz, 6-4, on court one. Nelson and senior Stephane Lin then lost to the Trojans' Gabby Smith and Angela Kulikov, 6-3, on court three, leaving court two to settle the point.
 
That match pit Cal's 50th-ranked pair of Hauger and Popovic against the 45th-ranked Valdes and Jessica Failla, and it featured some long rallies and excellent shotmaking from both sides. Not surprisingly the evenly matched affair went to a tiebreaker, with the Bears prevailing, 7-6(3), to take the point.
 
Starr doubled Cal's lead with a quick, 6-2, 6-0, upset of the 80th-ranked Katz on court two, and sophomore Maria Smith soon followed, with her backhand volley ending a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kulikov on court five. Jansen then topped Valdes, 6-4, 6-3, to clinch the match with Cal leading 4-0. The teams played out the final matches, with Cal winning two out of three to complete the 6-1 result.

No. 7/18 Cal (6-2) defeated No. 26 USC (3-3), 6-1
Feb. 25, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Maya Jansen/Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 21 Madison Westby/Zoë Katz (USC), 6-4
2. No. 50 Olivia Hauger/Karla Popovic (Cal) def. No. 45 Rianna Valdes/Jessica Failla (USC), 7-6(3)
3. Gabby Smith/Angela Kulikov (USC) def. Alexis Nelson/Stephane Lin (Cal), 6-3
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 23 Karla Popovic (Cal) def. No. 33 Gabby Smith (USC), 7-6(5), 6-1
2. Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 80 Zoë Katz (USC), 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 55 Jessica Failla (USC) def. No. 90 Olivia Hauger (Cal), 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(8)
4. Maya Jansen (Cal) def. Rianna Valdes (USC), 6-4, 6-3
5. Maria Smith (USC) def. Angela Kulikov (USC), 6-1, 6-1
6. Stephane Lin (Cal) def. Sydney Van Alphen (USC), 7-6(7), 4-6, 1-0(8)
 
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4^, 1, 3, 6
 
^Clinched the overall match