No. 14 Cal Plays SDSU, No. 18 UCLA In SoCal

The 14th-ranked California women's tennis team travels to Southern California to play San Diego State on Sunday and No. 18 UCLA on Monday.

This marks the first scheduled meeting of the season between the Golden Bears and Bruins, who are also set to face each other March 30 in Berkeley.

Rain is expected in Los Angeles on Monday, so please check CalBears.com and the @CalWomensTennis Twitter page for potential match updates.

Match information

At San Diego State (4-1)
When: Sunday, Feb. 18, Noon PT
Where: Aztec Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Watch: Livestream

At UCLA (2-3)
When: Monday, Feb. 19, 1:30 p.m. PT
Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Watch: Livestream/Live Scores

Last Time Out: Bears Best Huskies To End Trip To ITA Indoors
Cal won its last match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, beating host and 21st-ranked Washington, 4-1, in a consolation match, after losing to fifth-ranked Michigan, 4-2, in the first round of the main draw and to sixth-ranked Pepperdine, 4-2, in the first round of the consolation draw.

Against the Huskies, Cal claimed the doubles point when Valentina Ivanov and Jessica Alsola beat Sarah-Maude Fortin and Erika Matsuda, 7-5, on court two. Freshman Mao Mushika eventually clinched the Bears' overall victory when she defeated Melissa Sakar, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, at court-four singles.

Last Time Vs. SDSU, UCLA
Cal beat both San Diego State and UCLA last season, with the Bears topping SDSU, 5-1, in Berkeley – Hannah Viller Moeller beat Alicia Melosch 6-3, 6-3 to clinch – and besting the Bruins, 5-2, in Los Angeles. Jessica Alsola clinched that result over UCLA with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Kimmi Hance. The Bears improved to 45-7 in the all-time series with San Diego State. UCLA holds a 50-39 advantage in the all-time series with Cal.

Poll Position
Cal improved by one spot when it moved to No. 14 in the Feb. 14 ITA team rankings. In the Feb. 7 ITA individual polls, Bears garnered seven rankings – Doubles: No. 16 Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika. Singles: No. 19 Katja Wiersholm, No. 21 Hannah Viller Moeller, No. 22 Jessica Alsola, No. 51 Valentina Ivanov, No. 71 Lan Mi and No. 105 Berta Passola Folch. The ITA will release new team and individual rankings Tuesday.

Scouting the Bears

Hannah Viller Moeller – who is currently 15-9 in singles – won the singles title in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and built a 13-2 record to earn her No. 12 ranking in the fall
Viller Moeller capped the first half of the season by reaching the singles quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championships
The 14th-ranked Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika – who have a 19-4 doubles record – won the title of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships
In the fall, Jessica Alsola (now 15-8) reached the consolation final of the ITA National Fall Championships, advanced through the qualifying rounds to the singles main draw of the ITA All-American Championships – in which she reached the quarterfinals – and reached the round of 16 in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships

Katja Wiersholm (15-3) had an impressive start to 2023-24, including winning the top-flight singles title at the Cal Fall Invitational and advancing to the quarterfinals at regionals
Valentina Ivanov – who has a singles record of 8-3 – was 7-0 before suffering her first loss (to Julia Garcia Ruiz, 6-1, 6-2) in a 4-3 win at Oklahoma in the ITA Kickoff Weekend
Lan Mi (24-3) had won 16 straight singles matches before falling to Piper Charney, 6-1, 6-7(9), 6-3, in Cal's 4-2 loss to Michigan at ITA indoors
Mi, a junior, won the top-flight singles crown at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational in October
A product of Barcelona, Spain, Berta Passola Folch has a 14-6 singles record
Cal Athletics Hall of Famer and 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 – is in her 17th year as head coach at her alma mater
Assistant coach and former Cal men's tennis player Sean Hill is in his second year on the Cal staff

Scouting SDSU

San Diego State hosts Long Beach State on Friday at 1 p.m. PT
SDSU won its fourth straight dual match in a 7-0 rout of Hawaii on Wednesday
Zoe Olmos clinched the win over Hawaii with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Hannah Galindo at court-six singles
Andjela Skrobonja and Andreea Velcea secured the doubles point against the Rainbow Wahine with a 6-1 court-two win over Sheena Masuda and Nikola Homolkova
After losing to No. 6 Pepperdine, 4-0, in the season opener, SDSU beat LMU, 4-2, UC San Diego, 5-2, and Maryland, 4-2, before besting Hawaii
Peter Mattera is in his 32nd season as head coach of SDSU

Scouting UCLA

After beating No. 6 Texas, 5-2, in their season opener, the Bruins have lost three of four – 4-3 to then-No. 3 (and now No. 1) Oklahoma State, 4-0 to No. 17 Duke and 4-0 at No. 12 Ohio State
UCLA won 4-0 at Iowa State after falling to OSU
Two Bruins are ranked in singles in No. 81 Bianca Jolie Fernandez and No. 113 Elise Wagle
The pair of Miller and Jaedan Brown is ranked fifth in doubles
Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th year as UCLA's head coach

Next Time
Cal hosts its first home dual match of the season when the Bears welcome UC Santa Barbara to the Hellman Tennis Complex for a nonconference match on Feb. 25.

Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalWomensTennis), Instagram (@CalWomensTennis) and Facebook (/CalWomensTennis/).)

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Alsola

Valentina Ivanov

Lan Mi

Mao Mushika

Berta Passola Folch

Hannah Viller Moeller

Katja Wiersholm

California Golden Bears Athletics