BERKELEY – The California women's tennis team returns to the cozy confines of the Hellman Tennis Complex this week to host three matches in three days against Arizona State, Arizona and Loyola Marymount. The 42nd-ranked Golden Bears (5-6, 2-2 Pac-12) take on the No. 26 Sun Devils (12-3, 2-1 Pac-12) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, the 44th-ranked Wildcats (14-7, 1-2) on Saturday at noon and, in a nonconference contest, the No. 62 Lions (6-6) on Sunday at noon.
 
Admission is free for regular-season home tennis matches at Hellman. Click here for the live stream of the matches. Fans can also follow updates of all the Bears' competitions on Twitter at @CalWomensTennis.
 
Poll Position
Cal jumped 19 spots in this week's ITA team poll to No. 42. In the last ITA singles poll, Jessica Alsola – who has won 11 consecutive times after winning twice in L.A. last week – was ranked 40th. The duo of Alsola and Katja Wiersholm (15-8) is ranked 15th in doubles.
 
L.A. Story
Cal split its conference matches in Los Angeles last weekend, winning 5-2 at No. 30 UCLA on March 25 and falling 4-3 at No. 38 USC on March 26.
 
The 40th-ranked Jessica Alsola clinched the win in Westwood when she beat Kimmi Hance, 7-5, 6-3, at court-two singles. The 15th-ranked tandem of Alsola and fellow sophomore Katia Wiersholm also secured the doubles point with a big victory over the sixth-ranked Hance and Elise Wagle, 6-2, on court one.
 
Against the Trojans, the senior duo of Valentina Ivanov and Haley Giavara clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 triumph over Snow Han and Emma Charney on court one. But Cal dropped four of six singles matches in the loss to USC.
 
Last Time Vs. ASU, Arizona, LMU
In the 2021-22 season, Cal fell twice to Arizona State – 4-3 at ASU on April 1 and 4-3 in the Pac-12 Championship semifinals – and routed Arizona, 7-0 on April 2.
 
In Tucson, Arizona, the Bears won the doubles point when Erin Richardson and Julia Rosenqvist edged Kayla Meraz and Baylen Nevenhoven, 7-6(6), on court three. Valentina Ivanov later clinched the overall match with a court-four singles win over Midori Castillo-Meza, 6-3, 6-3.
 
In Cal's last match against Loyola Marymount, the Bears defeated the Lions, 6-1, in 2007. The 25th-ranked Zsuzsanna Fodor defeated Pavla Mesterova, 6-3, 6-2, at court-one singles to clinch the win.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Friday's match will mark Cal's first home contest since a 4-3 loss to No. 5 Michigan on March 1
• The Bears have a 3-2 home record
• Here are the Bears' all-time records against their next three opponents: 48-18 vs. ASU, 59-10 vs. Arizona and 5-0 vs. LMU
• Cal – which went 8-1 in the conference in the 2021-22 season – is the defending Pac-12 regular-season champion
• The Bears also won the Pac-12 Championship crown in the 2020-21 season
• Hannah Viller Moeller clinched Cal's first three victories this season, including the 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 21, the 4-1 win over Princeton in the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 27and the 5-1 result over SDSU on Feb. 24
• Haley Giavara ended fall 2022 in France, where the Cal senior and Team USA won the Master'U BNP Paribas Championship, with Cal head coach Amanda Augustus on the U.S. staff
• Sophomores Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm were outstanding in the fall, as the duo won the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the consolation doubles final at the ITA National Fall Championships
• Alsola, Wiersholm and Viller Moeller reached the singles quarterfinals at ITA regionals
• Also last fall, Alsola won the consolation singles title at the ITA All-American Championships, beating USD's Solymar Colling in the final, 6-2, 6-3
• Former two-time NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus – the 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and five-time ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year (including in 2021-22) – is in her 16th year as head coach at her alma mater
• Associate head coach Zack Warren – the 2022 ITA Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, who has collected four regional awards overall – is in his ninth year on the staff
• Sean Hill is in his first year as Cal's volunteer assistant coach, after playing as a graduate student for the Cal men's tennis team in 2022
   

Scouting the Sun Devils

• ASU split its last two matches, both on the road, losing 4-1 at No. 21 Washington on March 17 and routing Washington State, 7-0, on March 19
• In singles, Giulia Morlet is ranked 93rd and Chelsea Fontenel is ranked 125th
• Patricija Spaka and Domenika Turkovic are ranked 18th in doubles
• Sheila McInerney is in her 39th season as head coach of ASU

Scouting the Wildcats

• Arizona plays at No. 15 Stanford on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
• As with ASU, the Wildcats split their recent Pac-12 matches in Washington, winning 5-2 at Washington State on March 17 and losing 4-3 at No. 21 Washington on March 19
• Ryan Stotland is in his fifth year as Arizona's head coach

Scouting the Lions

• LMU plays twice before facing Cal – at Saint Mary's on Friday at 2 p.m. and at Pacific on Saturday at noon
• Veronika Miroshnichenko is ranked 81st in singles
• Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek are ranked 27th in doubles
• Agustin Moreno is in his eighth season as head coach of the Lions

Next Time
Cal competes at No. 3 Pepperdine on April 7 at 1:30 p.m. in its last nonconference match of the regular season and then plays a Pac-12 clash at No. 41 Oregon on April 9 at 11 a.m.
 
Stay Posted
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