BERKELEY – Hannah Viller Moeller clinched her third Cal women's tennis victory of 2023 on Friday afternoon, as the 66th-ranked Golden Bears defeated San Diego State, 5-1, at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
With the nonconference win, Cal evened its record at 3-3. SDSU is now 4-3.
 
Rain pushed the match back from its original start time of 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. To ensure that they could complete an official match, the teams started play with singles, and, ultimately, they did not play doubles.
 
"This is maybe the first full week of practice and competition we've had at home in a while, and I want to acknowledge our grounds staff for getting the courts ready for us to play today," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We were happy to get out there, especially considering there was snow in the Berkeley Hills this morning."
 
Cal freshman Berta Passola Folch won the fourth singles match of her young career, beating Rania Azziz, 6-2, 6-0, on court five, to give the Bears the early 1-0 lead. Haley Giavara followed with a 6-2, 6-1 win on court one – with the Cal senior wrapping up her triumph on a Tamara Arnold double fault – to make the score 2-0. Jessica Alsola, a sophomore ranked 36th, added another straight-set victory for the Bears with a 6-1, 6-4 result over Andjela Skrobonja on court two.
 
Viller Moeller secured the overall win when she bested Alicia Melosch, 6-3, 6-3 – the Aztec returned the Dane's big backhand long on match point – to give Cal a 4-0 lead over SDSU. The teams split the last two matches to make the final score 5-1.
 
"We did a really good job as a team," Augustus said. "It was great that we won the first set on every court, and it was nice to settle into a bit of a rhythm. Overall it was a good job by the whole team of just being ready to go, not knowing when we would start, getting out there and taking advantage of the opportunity to compete."
 
Cal next plays host to third-ranked Michigan on March 1 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
No. 66 California (3-3) 5, San Diego State (4-3) 1
Feb. 24, 2023, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Singles
1. Haley Giavara (Cal) def. Tamara Arnold (SDSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 36 Jessica Alsola (Cal) def. Andjela Skrobonja (SDSU), 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 104 Daria Detkovskaya (SDSU) def. No. 122 Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 4-6, 7-5, 10-8
4. Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) def. Alicia Melosch (SDSU), 6-3, 6-3*
5. Berta Passola Folch (Cal) def. Rania Azziz (SDSU), 6-2, 6-0
6. Makenna Thiel (Cal) def. Andreea Velcea (SDSU), 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
 
Order of Finish – 5, 1, 2, 4*, 6, 3
*Clinched the win