OJAI, Calif. – Maya Jansen clinched California's semifinal victory over USC on Friday to send the second-seeded Golden Bears to Saturday's Pac-12 Championship final against a familiar foe in top-seeded Stanford. Jansen defeated Angela Kulikov 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Weil Tennis Academy courts to end a tight match with the sixth-seeded Trojans, who have now lost to Cal three times this season.
 
The Bears also beat USC, 4-3, on March 10 in Los Angeles, and they defeated the Trojans, 6-1, on Feb. 25 in Berkeley.
 
Cal, which now has a 17-4 record, will next play the defending NCAA champion Cardinal (20-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Libbey Park for the Pac-12 tournament title. This will mark the second match in eight days between the two rivals, as Stanford won the regular-season conference crown when it beat Cal, 4-3, on April 22 in Berkeley.
 
The Bears started off well in doubles on Friday. First the pair of seniors Denise Starr and Stephane Lin knocked off Jessica Failla and Sydney Van Alphen, 6-2, on court three and then the 36th-ranked pair of Jansen and senior Maegan Manasse beat the 48th-ranked Gabby Smith and Zoë Katz, 6-4. Cal could have won on court two, with junior Karla Popovic and sophomore Olivia Hauger leading the 80th-ranked Kulikov and Madison Westby 5-3, but the match was abandoned when the Bears won on one.
 
The Trojans tied the match at 1-1 in singles when Westby beat Hauger, 6-2, 6-2, on court four, and then the Bears took the lead back when the 124th-ranked Starr beat the 122nd-ranked Katz, 6-2, 7-6, on court three. The teams alternated wins throughout singles. That included on court two, on which Cal's 13th-ranked Popovic posted a rare loss to the 28th-ranked Smith, 6-3, 6-3, and on court six, with Cal sophomore Maria Smith topping Van Alphen, 7-6, 6-0, to hand Cal a 3-2 lead.
 
Next on court one, the 38th-ranked Manasse lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to the 37th-ranked Failla to knot the match at 3-3, before Jansen settled things.
 
"I'm proud of everyone for competing hard," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We had different matchups with USC than last time we played. In doubles we were one point away basically from sweeping the doubles, and I'm quite proud of them for that. We played really well in doubles today. Singles-wise, we let a couple of opportunities slip away. But I thought Maya finished the match really strong and gave it her best. It was a great team effort today again for the Bears."
 
On playing Stanford in the final, Augustus said, "Obviously we just played them a week ago. It will be a fantastic match, and it's great it's going to be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Hopefully everyone who can't be here in person can watch it on TV."

Pac-12 Championship – Semifinal Round
 
[2] No. 11/16 California (17-4) defeated [3] No. 23/27 USC (13-10), 4-3
April 28, 2017, in Ojai, Calif.
Weil Tennis Academy
 
Doubles
1. No. 36 Maegan Manasse/Maya Jansen (Cal) def. No. 48 Gabby Smith/Zoë Katz (USC), 6-4*
2. Olivia Hauger/Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. No. 80 Angela Kulikov/Madison Westby (USC), 5-3 Unfinished
3. Denise Starr/Stephane Lin (Cal) def. Jessica Failla/Sydney Van Alphen (USC), 6-2
 
Cal won the doubles point.
 
Order of finish: 3, 1*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 37 Jessica Failla (USC) def. No. 38 Maegan Manasse (Cal), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 28 Gabby Smith (USC) def. No. 13 Karla Popovic (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
3. No. 124 Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 122 Zoë Katz (USC), 6-2, 7-6
4. Madison Westby (USC) def. Olivia Hauger (Cal), 6-2, 6-2
5. Maya Jansen (Cal) def. Angela Kulikov (USC), 1-6, 6-4, 6-4^
6. Maria Smith (Cal) def. Sydney Van Alphen (USC), 7-6, 6-0
 
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 6, 1, 5^
 
^Clinched the overall match