Why are we in such steep decline...? I understand Peter Wright "retired" suddenly a couple years ago and the new Coach has yet to gain traction. But Amanda Augusta is still in charge of the Women and she is elite. Why the steep decline?

I'm responding to this, not because I have a great answer, but to show someone else cares about about Cal tennis.
Last I looked, the men were ranked 28th in the country. We've been better but this doesn't seem to be a deep decline.
The women have a ranking in the 60's, clearly not good, but they just beat no. 33 UCLA and barely lost (4/3) to no. 38 USC. I saw them play once this year; they looked better than their ranking.

First of all, look at the low rankings for UCLA, USC & Cal. I guess the one player, Julia Rosenqvist (6-1), that graduated from last season really hurt the six singles lineup. Jada Bui also transferred out and was the #4 singles player the prior season but was injured most of last year. DNP.

2022-23 Women's Tennis Roster - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)

It appears that the freshman from Switzerland is playing better in the #6 singles spot. Viller Moeller has been losing regularly this season whether in the #4 or #5 slot. She used to win regularly. Ivanov just returned (injury) to active duty and has been placed at #4. I had kind of given up on her last season when she dropped from the top of the lineup toward the bottom.

New team photos are up. The top row is the heart of the team for the future with three sophs & a frosh. Sophs, Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm, are the two top players. Only Viller Moeller can positively contribute next season from the upperclassmen. Cami Brown (IMO) is the weakest player on the roster and the three others are seniors that will be gone. Bears have one recruit that I'm aware of and she is not highly ranked. She has a similar ranking to Makenna Thiel. HC Augustus has had good success with European players so I would like to see her land an impact foreignor to fill a top three position in the singles lineup. Hailey Giavara needs to be replaced out of the senior group.

Is the transfer portal alive and well in this sport? If so, Cal could go there to get some help. GO BEARS!

DWM81 said:

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Why are we in such steep decline...? I understand Peter Wright "retired" suddenly a couple years ago and the new Coach has yet to gain traction. But Amanda Augusta is still in charge of the Women and she is elite. Why the steep decline?

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Steep decline? A bit harsh, I'd say. If you look on CalBears.com, you'd see that they were:

12th-ranked going into this season but now stand at 5-6; 2-2 in conference. I'm wondering if some injuries have come into play during this season.

18-8; 8-1 conference play; last season
19-7; 7-3 conference play; the previous season.

It is never easy to stay mentally and physically sharp when one is not able to regularly practice and play matches. The rain has taken its toll on Cal. There are no indoor courts other than the bay club in pleasanton and Fremont indoor and burlingame. I doubt they even use them as that makes the clubs not have many courts available and is expensive. ivanov has been injured and yes jada transferred but she did not play much. As good as the sophs are they have to play up and that has weakened the bottom of the lineup. the Freshman has helped but she still is a freshman. The top players are not going to Cal and UCLA and USC as they used to. Stanford still gets many top players. They are going to the south and east coast. Even the arizona schools. Cal has historically recruited out of the US with players from other countries. They have had a balanced lineup with the 3,4,5,6 players being very good. The ones and twos have been equally good but not the top 30 in the nation. Jessica now is close, but Katja is not. This team can compete in the pac 12 but not nationals. Hopefully in the next two years. Amanda will surround the soph players with very good players who will make Cal better. Transfer portal could help, though they have not ultilized it. NIL money? I donate some, but not sure what tennis has available.

Haley Giavara is a very good player and plays #1 to support the team. If Haley played any other spot, she would be winning alot more. Haley is a seasoned player. put Katja at # 1 and she would not win as many matches as Hailey. Put jessica at # 1 and maybe she could win a few more, maybe not. Give the sophs more time to improve without putting more pressure on them. if ivanov is playing now and I have not looked recently. that would move hannah to #5 and the freshman Berta to #6. that would help them alot more. I did not look at the USC and UCLA matchups yet so I don't know. Ok so just looked at both matches and yes ivanov is playing and that makes doubles point very winnable now. ivanov is playing #4 and Hannah at # 5 and Berta #6. Much stronger lineup, which is probably their best. If ivanov had not been injured, she would be playing # 3 and moved Katja to # 4. Just really good to see Valentina back playing. give her more time for singles and she will be winning again. Cal will miss both Haley and Valentina next year. They will need 3 new strong players who can be in the middle of the lineup. preferably at # 2 and # 4. Katja can then play at #3 and jessica at # 1. By the way Haley lost to # 5 and # 23 ranked players in three sets. She plays very well for not even being ranked.

Jada Bui played well for Cal at the 4th singles spot the year before last. She was injured for the majority of last season like Ivanov was this year. The Canadian came back late last season but the coach decided not to use her and upset their existing lineup. Jada would have been at least #4 this year but could have improved and possibly moved higher up the lineup. Without Rosenqvist, Bui & Ivanov (majority of the season), the Bear lineup has not been as tough as usual.

Thank you for the detailed responses...

Cal women lost in the semi-finals of the conference tournament to U$C.