New season, new coach and a strong start.

The Cal women’s tennis fall season started in full swing at ITA All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina, with three Bears traveling to the East Coast under new head coach Maggie Kane’s leadership.

Senior Mao Mushika reached the singles round of 32 in the main draw and the consolation round of 16. She entered directly into the main draw with an impressive preseason No. 51 ITA singles ranking.

Mushika also teamed up with junior Naomi Xu, advancing from prequalifying rounds all the way to the main draw, reaching the doubles round of 32. This was the pair’s first tournament together as a doubles team.

“I was excited to see them play together because I know that they have really strong doubles skills overall and a very high doubles IQ in terms of playing smart and having a lot of shots,” Kane said.

But the pair’s partnership wasn’t Cal’s only debut in Cary.

Freshman Nika Hurkacz made her collegiate debut with a win over Michigan State’s Ellie Blackford. Hurkacz played five matches, reaching the first qualifying round and winning her qualifying consolation match.

“The All American Tournament is always a really strong tournament,” Kane said. “All the best players in college are competing there, so it was really great to see our team right away playing in that environment with really tough competition.”

As the Bears head back to the West Coast, Cal women’s tennis is preparing for an exciting weekend ahead.

Xu and Hurkacz will compete again, alongside sophomores Laura Cilekova and Mille Johanna Moerk at the Battle in the Bay Classic at San Francisco’s California Tennis Club.

Running Oct. 1-4, the tournament features some of the country’s top tennis programs and represents another opportunity for the Bears to prepare ahead of the NCAA Individual Championships.

“I think the goal is to qualify for NCAA individuals. That’s a great achievement.” Kane said. “But how we do that is just to try to get as many quality matches as we can … and to try to translate things that they’ve been working on in practice into matches and keep developing.”

For the rest of the fall season, a new coaching staff means new possibilities for the Bears.

Kane’s staff will focus on exploring and testing each player’s potential ahead of the NCAAs in November.

“In the fall, we want to see a lot of different pairings in tournaments and in practice as well to help us prepare,” Kane said. “As a new coaching staff, we just want to see the possibilities … we just want to see all of the possibilities for spring coming up.”