Big Weekend: Cal Women's Tennis beats Stanford to win Pac-12 crown; Cal Softball takes Big Series over Stanford
Big Series (Softball), Big Splash (Women's Water Polo), and Big Slams (Men's and Women's Tennis) were all this weekend
With several regular seasons wrapping up, it was a busy time for the Cal vs. Stanford rivalry this past weekend. Bears and Cardinal battled it out on the diamond, pool, and tennis courts.
Big Series: Cal Softball (24-18, 6-9 in Pac-12) takes 2 out 3 over No.24 Stanford (27-12, 6-6 in Pac-12)
Where: Levine-Fricke Field (Berkeley, CA)
When:
Game 1: Thursday
Game 2: Friday
Game 3: Saturday
All Games on the Pac-12 Network
Game 1: Cal 5, Stanford 2
With star slugger Makena Smith back after missing the last 13 games due to an injury, Cal used a 5-run 4th inning to take the series opener. Smith went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. D'Asha Saiki had given the Bears a 3-1 lead with her two-out double before Smith added two insurance runs.
Cal ace Sona Halajian improved to 15-5 with a complete game allowing only one earned run while scattering 3 hits around 3 walks. Stanford ace Alana Vawter fell to 15-5 on the season.
Game 2: Cal 6, Stanford 5 (10 innings)
Cal Bears led most of game 2, but Stanford struck back with runs in 6th and 7th inning to tie the game at 4-4. In extra innings, Cal had the better early chances to walk-off but could not get the clutch hit. In the 10th inning, only after Stanford went ahead on a bloop two-out single did the Bears find the clutch hit to tie the game. The Bears then attempted a suicide squeeze…
Makena Smith’s return sparked the Bears yet again. The Cal slugger hit a solo homer in B5 and went 1 for 2 with 3 walks and 2 runs scored. Haylei Archer nearly went the distance but got into trouble in both T6 (allowing two runs) and then T7 and left with the bases loaded and just one out. Stanford were able to tie the game with a sacrifice fly off Sona Halajian. Cardinal got a two-out hit to go up 5-4 in T10, Bears answered right away with Amari Bradley hitting a double with two on base. Unfortunately, the potential winning run was thrown out at home. The Bears prevailed one batter later on a failed suicide attempt that struck gold when Stanford threw the ball away to allow the speedy Bradley to score the winning run.
It’s fun to see how much Cal Softball head coach (and alumna) Chelsea Spencer was pumped up after this win!
Game 3: Cal 1, Stanford 5
There would be no Big Series sweep for the Bears in 2022. Stanford got two early runs against Haylei Archer. Stanford ace Alana Vawter was able to go the distance while only allowing a solo homer to Cal freshman Acacia Anders.
Cal Softball has shown that the Bears have stepped up from just an NCAA tournament team to a potential borderline top-25 team (kind of like Stanford) in 2022. Bears will next travel to Oxford, Ohio for a non-conference series at Miami (Ohio) before returning to Pac-12 play against ASU.
Big Splash: No.6 Cal Women’s Water Polo (15-4, 3-3 in MPSF) fall short at No.2 Stanford (19-2, 5-1 in MPSF)
Where: Avery Aquatic Center (Stanford, CA)
When: Saturday, Noon PT
TV: Pac-12 Network
In this regular season finale, Cal could use a big win to bolster their postseason resume. Earlier this season, Cal won 10-9 in sudden-death overtime in the Stanford Invitational. Stanford’s team includes a number of USA Olympians who won Gold last summer in Tokyo. Cal counters with a team of International Olympians and USA Junior Team members.
On Saturday, Cal Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead but Stanford would not go away. The match was mostly tied or within a goal until Stanford went up by 3 late in the 3rd quarter to get the 11-8 win.
While the Bears needed the Big Splash win more, they will get more chances to improve their resume for an NCAA at-large bid at the MPSF Tournament in Los Angeles next weekend.
Big Slam: No.7 Cal Women’s Tennis (15-6, 8-1 in Pac-12) defeats No.17 Stanford (14-5, 7-2 in Pac-12)
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex (Berkeley, CA)
When: Saturday, Noon PT (part 1 of the doubleheader)
Cal and Stanford came into this match tied for 2nd in the conference standings behind UCLA, but the Pac-12 regular season title was still up for grab.
When it was all over, Cal found themselves not only a Big Slam champion but also the 2022 Pac-12 Regular Season champions!
A UCLA loss to USC also on Saturday opened the door for the Bears. Cal actually never played UCLA in the regular season this year because that dual meet was canceled due to a COVID situation on the Bruins. Cal Bears were awarded an extra win (but no loss for UCLA) which made them the sole Pac-12 regular season champions with a better 8-1 Pac-12 record to UCLA’s 7-1 record.
Senior Julia Rosenqvist got to win the clinching point of what turned out to be a Cal 5-2 Big Slam victory.
For the dual, Cal took the doubles point and got another point when Haley Giavara won on No.1 Singles. Cal freshman Jessica Alsola lost on No.2 Singles, but Erin Richardson and Julia Rosenqvist both won their matches on No.6 and No.3 Singles, respectively, in straight sets.
After the win was clinched, Katja Wiersholm lost on No.3 Singles in the 3rd set while Hannah Viller Moeller won her 3rd set on No.5 Singles.
No. 7 California (15-6, 8-1 Pac-12) defeated No. 17 Stanford (14-5, 7-2 Pac-12), 5-2
April 16, 2022, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 47 Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (Cal) vs. No. 12 Angelica Blake/Connie Ma (Stanford), 3-4 (Unfinished)
2. Haley Giavara/Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) def. Sara Choy/Alexandra Yepifanova (Stanford), 6-3*
3. Julia Rosenqvist/Erin Richardson (Cal) def. Niluka Madurawe/Valencia Xu (Stanford), 6-3
Order of Finish – 3, 2*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 97 Haley Giavara (Cal) def. No. 19 Connie Ma (Stanford), 6-1, 6-0
2. No. 20 Alexandra Yepifanova (Stanford) def. No. 59 Jessica Alsola (Cal), 6-2, 6-0
3. Angelica Blake (Stanford) def. No. 124 Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1
4. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. India Houghton (Stanford), 7-6(8), 6-3^
5. Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) def. No. 112 Valencia Xu (Stanford), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. Erin Richardson (Cal) def. Sara Choy (Stanford), 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish – 1, 2, 6, 4^, 5, 3
^Clinched the overall match
Up next for the Bears will be the Pac-12 Championships, where the Golden Bears are the reigning champions.
Big Slam: No.45 Cal Men’s Tennis (11-9, 2-6 in Pac-12) fells to No.16 Stanford (16-4, 6-2 in Pac-12)
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex (Berkeley, CA)
When: Saturday, Not before 3:30 PM PT (part 2 of the doubleheader)
Cal had lost the non-conference matchup at The Farm 4-0 earlier this season. While the Bears are the underdogs in this dual, this Stanford team has dropped a few meets (all to teams ranked in the teens) this year. This is the regular season finale.
Like the Cal women, the Bears took the doubles point, but things quickly went Stanford’s way in singles. While the Bears were ahead in the two abandoned singles matches, they lost four singles matches in straight sets to drop the dual.
No. 16 Stanford (16-4, 6-2 Pac-12) defeated No. 45 California (11-9, 2-6 Pac-12), 4-1
April 16, 2022, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 42 Yuta Kikuchi/Philip Hjorth (Cal) def. No. 64 Axel Geller/Tomas Kopczynski (Stanford), 7-6(4)*
2. Carl Emil Overbeck/Derrick Chen (Cal) vs. Max Basing/Arthur Fery (Stanford), 6-6 (Unfinished)
3. Sean Hill/Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) def. Alexandre Rotsaert/Sangeet Sridhar (Stanford), 6-3
Order of Finish – 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 9 Arthur Fery (Stanford) def. No. 66 Yuta Kikuchi (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
2. No. 52 Max Basing (Stanford) def. Philip Hjorth (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
3. Axel Geller (Stanford) vs. Sean Hill (Cal), 7-6(3), 4-3 (Unfinished)
4. No. 97 Alexandre Rotsaert (Stanford) def. Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal), 6-2, 7-6(5)
5. Sangeet Sridhar (Stanford) vs. Derrick Chen (Cal), 2-6, 6-4, 3-1 (Unfinished)
6. Aryan Chaudhary (Stanford) def. Lucas Magnaudet (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish – 6, 1, 2, 4^
^Clinched the overall match
GO BEARS! BEAT STANFORD!
Here's the update: Stanford sucks.
https://twitter.com/CalSB/status/1515124811156008960?s=20&t=c-ZbdBIINX5lTFTJgCisRw
Cal softball wins game 2 against the 'furd in 10 innings!!
Go Bears!