On a morning that couldn’t go right for California, the Golden Bears got the first break of the night at the hands of their cross-bay rivals Stanford. On paper and judging from prelims, Tennessee was the team to beat. Their top seed, however, did the Volunteers no favors. Cal’s Farida Osman and Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga set the early pace that left Tennessee and Arizona, literally, in their wake.
That gave Stanford’s Janet Hu the opportunity to pounce and pounce she did – surging to the lead with a 21.45 split over the second lap. Tennessee’s depth began to come to the fore with Maddy Banic bringing the Vols back into contention. Cal’s Valerie Hull kept the Bears in contention for what all figured would be second place. Twelve minutes later, the world had their answer. Stanford senior Julia Alma was called for an early start thus turning Stanford’s 0.08 win into a six-point bonus for Cal.
