The Cal softball team’s season ended the same way it began — with a fine-tuned pitching performance from Jolene Henderson, a dreadful offensive game and a heartbreaking loss. On Feb. 8, when Cal was regarded as one of the best teams in the nation, it fell to upstart Kentucky, 3-1, Read More…
Close just doesn’t cut it in sports. In the end, that’s where No. 8 Cal came against No. 1 Florida in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Bears nearly pulled the upset in a much more competitive match than the final 4-2 score would suggest. But Read More…
The Cal men’s tennis team experienced a dose of deja vu this past week at the NCAAs. The Bears ended their NCAA team championship run the same way they ended it last year — with a Sweet 16 loss to Virginia. At the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Urbana, Ill., Read More…
Despite the cautious preseason predictions from coach David Esquer, it was impossible to witness the promising signs emerging from the early slate of contests and dismiss them as meaningless. There was a sweep over a quality Big-10 opponent to kick off the 2013 campaign. There was an eight-game winning streak Read More…
The Cal men’s tennis team finds itself in an all-too-familiar situation to start off the NCAA round of 16. Just like last May, the Bears had just clinched their NCAA round-of-32 match to secure their position in the Sweet 16 rankings. The Cal squad topped both Florida State and Denver Read More…
Last Thursday, when Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson announced he will retire after this season, a soccer correspondent on SportsCenter drew the analogy that Ferguson is like “Bill Belichick in about 12 years’ time, with three or four more Super Bowls.” A flattering analogy, but it only paints half the Read More…
For the Cal women’s tennis team, advancing to the Sweet 16 was never a goal. It was an expectation. The team has made the Sweet 16 for seven consecutive years — including the last six, with Amanda Augustus as head coach. The Bears’ regular season, like the six seasons before Read More…
Despite a nine-game losing streak and a fifth-place finish in the Pac-12, the Cal softball team might just be the team that nobody wants to face in the postseason. Due in large part to Jolene Henderson’s healthy return to the circle, the Bears (36-17) finally resemble the team they were Read More…
For the Cal rugby team, 2013 was a season of redemption. Last year, the Bears failed to make the playoffs, suffered two losses for the first time since 2009 and played all their matches on the road. It was not a normal season for the 26-time national champions. “A lot Read More…
No matter what situation this weekend threw at the Cal men’s tennis team, the Bears managed to handle it. And they handled it well. For the third year in a row, the Bears clinched their round-of-32 match to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. But for the first time in Read More…
