BERKELEY – The 27th-ranked California women's tennis team concludes the regular season when the Golden Bears (11-7, 7-2 Pac-12) take on No. 7 Stanford (17-2, 9-0) in the Big Slam on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PDT on The Farm. The match pits last year's Pac-12 regular-season champion, Cal, against this year's regular-season conference champ in the Cardinal.
 
The Bears bring a four-match winning streak to the Taube Family Tennis Center, while Stanford has won 14 straight.
 
The live stream and live scores for Saturday's match are available by clicking here. Fans can also follow updates of all Cal matches on Twitter at @CalWomensTennis.
 
Poll Position
Cal moved to No. 27 in Tuesday's ITA team poll. The sophomore duo team of Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm (16-11) remained at No. 9 in doubles and Alsola (27-3) – who has won 18 consecutive singles matches – also stayed at No. 48 in singles.
 
Bears Sweep Washington Teams
Cal drubbed each of the Washington teams 6-1 in the Bears' last two matches, with Katja Wiersholm clinching both victories at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Against Washington State last Friday, the ninth-ranked pair of Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola defeated the 53rd-ranked Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse, 6-4, to secure the doubles point. Later, Wiersholm bested Tse, 7-6(5), 6-1, to hand Cal the overall win.
 
Before playing No. 19 Washington on Saturday, Cal celebrated the careers of Haley Giavara and Erin Richardson in its Senior Day ceremony. The Bears dominated the Huskies in singles, with highlights including Giavara – in perhaps her last match at Hellman – beating the 101st-ranked Hikaru Sato, 6-1, 6-2, the 48th-ranked Alsola defeating Astrid Olsen, 6-0, 6-1, to win her 18th straight singles match, and Wiersholm topping Sarah-Maude Fortin, 6-3, 6-1, to clinch and close Cal's regular-season home schedule.
 
Last Time Vs. Stanford
Cal wrapped up last season's Pac-12 regular-season championship when the Bears defeated Stanford, 5-2, on April 16  in Berkeley. Then-senior Julia Rosenqvist clinched the victory with a 7-6(8), 6-3 win over India Houghton. Rosenqvist – playing on Senior Day – also paired with Erin Richardson to beat the Cardinal's Niluka Madurawe and Valencia Xu, 6-3, in doubles.
 
Scouting the Bears

• With a win on Friday, Cal would lock up sole possession of second place in the conference and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Championship
• The Bears could also claim the No. 2 seed with a loss to the Cardinal, depending on other results around the conference
• Cal has a 17-75 record in the all-time series with Stanford
• 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; the Dane clinched her fourth Cal win on March 31, when the Bears beat No. 26 Arizona State, 6-1
• 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
• 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 San Diego's Solymar Colling in the final, 6-2, 6-3
• Cal Athletics Hall of Famer and 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 Cardinal

• Stanford also beat both Washington schools last week, defeating Washington, 6-1, on Friday and topping WSU, 4-1, to claim the Pac-12 regular-season title on Saturday
• The Cardinal last lost on Feb. 11 to No. 4 Duke, 4-3, in a consolation match in the ITA National Team Indoor championship
• Four Stanford players are ranked in singles: No. 16 Connie Ma, No. 24 Alexandra Yepifanova, No. 43 Angelica Blake and No. 82 Alexis Blokhina
• In doubles, Blake and Blokhina are ranked 20th while the duo of Yepifanova and Valencia Xu is ranked 88th
• Lele Forood is in her 23rd season as Stanford's head coach

Next Time
Cal competes in the Pac-12 Championship from April 26-29 in Ojai.
 
Stay Posted
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