BERKELEY – California returns to action when it hosts the annual Cal Nike Fall Invitational from Friday through Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts. Thirteen schools will send players to join the Golden Bears in competing in three flights of singles and doubles tournaments over the three-day event.
 
The field of 14 consists of Cal, Arizona State, BYU, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Fresno State, Nevada, Pacific, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and UCLA.
 
Admission to all Cal regular-season tournaments and dual matches is free to the public – at the Hellman Tennis Complex and at the Channing Tennis Courts. Fans can also watch the Hellman live stream – which encompasses six courts – from this page and follow @CalWomensTennis on Twitter for scoring updates.
 
Please check here on Thursday evening for the link to the draws.
 
The Cal Nike Fall Invitational represents the first home competition for newcomer Maya Jansen and freshmen Alexis Nelson and Juliette Lawler. A fifth-year senior, Jansen joined Cal after winning two NCAA doubles titles at Alabama.
 
LAST TIME: BEARS OPEN SEASON AT HALL OF FAME
The Bears began their season playing in the inaugural Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational, winning four out of six matches on Sept. 18 to end their run in the three-day tournament in Newport, Rhode Island.
 
Senior Denise Starr defeated Harvard's June Lee, 6-3, 4-6, 10-7, while Cal senior Stephane Lin beat another Crimson player, Nika Besker, 6-4, 6-3, on the event's last day. Junior Karla Popovic finished the tournament unbeaten in singles at 3-0, posting a 6-1, 7-6(7) result against Oklahoma State's Katarina Stresnakova.
 
Cal's Maria Smith ended at 2-1 in the tournament with a 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 victory over Georgia Tech's Nadia Gizdova, while freshman Alexis Nelson also finished 2-1 in Newport with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Oklahoma State's Carla Tur Mari.

LAST YEAR AT THE CAL NIKE FALL INVITATIONAL
Cal's Maegan Manasse repeated as both the top-flight singles and doubles champion as the Cal Nike Fall Invitational came to a close on Oct. 5, 2015, at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts.
 
The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Golden Bear junior defeated second-seeded and 16th-ranked senior teammate Klara Fabikova, 6-1, 6-1, in the Blue Flight Singles final.
 
Earlier Manasse teamed with teammate Denise Starr to claim the Blue Flight Doubles crown. The Cal juniors – seeded No. 1 in the tournament and ranked third in the Oracle/ITA preseason poll – beat Arizona State's fourth-seeded Alex Osborne and Ebony Panoho, 8-1, in the final.
 
Cal won another doubles title when sophomore Lyann Hoang and freshman Olivia Hauger – the top seed in the Gold Flight – defeated San Jose State's Marine Dans and Sybille Gauvain, 8-7(7), in the Gold final.

POLL POSITION
Cal earned five spots in the 2016-17 Oracle/ITA preseason rankings, with seniors Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr – the 2016 NCAA doubles finalists – claiming Cal's highest rank at No. 3. The All-Americans, who posted a 23-11 record in 2015-16, ended last season ranked fourth.
 
Manasse, who was also a singles All-American and the Pac-12 singles champion as a junior, garnered a No. 7 preseason singles ranking. She ended last year ranked ninth. Starr, who had a final ranking of 88th and a 27-7 record as a junior, is 62nd to start her senior season, and sophomore Olivia Hauger (30-6 and ranked 121st to end her freshman year) is now 86th. Karla Popovic, who compiled a 37-7 record (including 23-0 in dual matches) as a sophomore – opens her junior season ranked 90th.
 
NEXT TIME
The Bears compete in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, California. The All-American begins with pre-qualifying matches from Oct. 1-2, continues with qualifying matches from Oct. 4-5 and concludes with the main draw from Oct. 6-9.