No. 48 Cal will return to Hellman Tennis Complex this weekend for a three-match home stand, hosting Boston College and Saint Mary\u2019s on Friday before a key conference matchup against No. 36 SMU on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Cal enters the weekend looking to build momentum after splitting last week\u2019s matches. The Bears fell 4-1 to No. 3 Virginia before bouncing back with a dominant 4-0 sweep over Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n
For junior Alex Aney, maintaining momentum comes down to staying focused on the present.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just staying in the present, enjoying every match, not thinking about what happened before and not thinking about what\u2019s happening in the future,\u201d Aney said. \u201cReally enjoying the moment, trusting my game and learning more with every match. Enjoying the process is a big part of success in the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
That mindset reflects what the team has learned about itself in recent weeks. The Bears have focused heavily on energy and chemistry as they continue to grow throughout the season.<\/p>\n
Cal has had the whole week to prepare to bring that energy and hone in on fundamentals ahead of this weekend\u2019s important matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the team\u2019s learned a lot about itself \u2014 how we can compete better and how important our energy is for team chemistry,\u201d Aney said. \u201cWe all know that we\u2019re capable of playing great tennis and beating everyone, but the way we compete and the energy we bring are critical to performing on a day-to-day basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s schedule includes a conference matchup against Boston College \u2014 which currently sits at 0-4 in conference play \u2014 as well as a meeting with Saint Mary\u2019s, which will be the second matchup between the Bears and Gaels this season.<\/p>\n
The weekend will culminate Sunday against No. 36 SMU, one of the stronger ACC teams. The Mustangs hold a 13-6 overall record and a 3-1 conference record, highlighted by wins over North Carolina and Duke.<\/p>\n
SMU also features one of the nation\u2019s top players. Senior Trevor Svajda \u2014 currently ranked No. 2 in the country in singles \u2014 leads the Mustangs\u2019 lineup and presents a marquee matchup in Berkeley.<\/p>\n
As conference play continues, the team\u2019s focus is not solely on rankings or results, but on continuous improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing that we can do is step on court every day with the best attitude and keep learning from every match,\u201d Aney said. \u201cAs much as we want to win, we can\u2019t ask ourselves to control something that\u2019s out of our control. The most important thing we can do is be the best version of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s matches are the final three matches of the Bears\u2019 five-match homestand. The home crowd in Berkeley could play a pivotal role in maintaining energy against tough opponents.<\/p>\n
When spectators watch the Bears compete, Aney hopes they notice the team\u2019s resilience and competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to see a whole team of warriors,\u201d Aney said. \u201cGuys who choose to compete and choose to love adversity and the challenge every match holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
With three matches scheduled at Hellman Tennis Complex this weekend, Cal fans will have multiple chances to watch the Bears in action at home.<\/p>\n
Cal begins the weekend on Friday at 11 a.m. before playing Saint Mary\u2019s at 3 p.m. the same day. The Bears will close out the weekend with a noon matchup against SMU on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a fun team,\u201d Aney said. \u201cWe\u2019ll fight our asses off, we\u2019ll compete hard, we\u2019ll have fun and show energy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No. 48 Cal will return to Hellman Tennis Complex this weekend for a three-match home stand, hosting Boston…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[23325,100017,11604,73375,10109,100016,23324,100019,100018,92482,6138,143,145,144,79287,43329,100020,14424,62361],"class_list":{"0":"post-218139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-acc","9":"tag-alex-aney","10":"tag-bears","11":"tag-boston-college","12":"tag-cal","13":"tag-cal-mens-tennis","14":"tag-duke","15":"tag-gaels","16":"tag-hellman-tennis-complex","17":"tag-mustangs","18":"tag-north-carolina","19":"tag-oakland","20":"tag-oakland-headlines","21":"tag-oakland-news","22":"tag-saint-marys","23":"tag-smu","24":"tag-trevor-svajda","25":"tag-virginia","26":"tag-virginia-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}