Saturday, March 16
San Diego, CA
10:00 AM
California
at
San Diego
Ranked 36th in singles, Cal junior Katja Wiersholm has lost just twice in 2024.
Photo by: Robert Edwards/KLC fotos
3/14/2024 3:35 PM | Women's Tennis
BERKELEY – Riding a five-match win streak, the 12th-ranked California women's tennis team returns to nonconference action this weekend when the Golden Bears play at 15th-ranked San Diego and, for the second time this season, fourth-ranked Pepperdine.
Match Details
No. 12 Cal (7-2) at No. 15 San Diego (8-3)
When: Saturday, March 16, 10 a.m. PT
Where: Hogan Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Watch: Livestream
Scores: Sidearm
No. 12 Cal (7-2) at No. 4 Pepperdine (8-3)
When: Saturday, March 17, 11 a.m. PT
Where: Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Malibu, Calif.
Watch: Livestream/Live Stats
Last Time: Cal Sweeps Arizona Teams
The Golden Bears opened Pac-12 Conference play 2-0 after defeating No. 41 Arizona, 5-2, on Saturday and No. 30 Arizona State, 4-3, on Sunday in the Grand Canyon State.
Against the Wildcats, the 92nd-ranked Mao Mushika defeated Brandelyn Fulgenzi, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, to clinch and give Cal a 4-1 lead at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The teams split the last two matches to complete the scoring. Mushika is tied with Jessica Alsola and Berta Passola Folch (who clinched against ASU) for the team's second-most singles wins at 17 apiece.
Passola Folch and Katja Wiersholm topped Teja Tirunelveli and Kayla Wilkins, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point against Arizona.
Cal trailed Arizona State, 1-0, after losing the doubles point for just the second time this season. The Bears bounced back in singles – with the 109th-ranked Lan Mi beating Patricija Spaka, 6-1, 6-0, the 23rd-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller defeating Marianna Argyrokastriti, 6-1, 6-1, and the 46th-ranked Ivanov prevailing, 7-6(4), 6-3, over Chelsea Fontenel – to take a 3-1 lead. A clash of two nationally ranked players on court three – the 35th-ranked Alsola lost to ASU's 103rd-ranked Emilija Tverijonaite, 6-3, 7-6(6) – brought the score to 3-2.
Passola Folch clinched the overall victory with ASU, as the 107th-ranked sophomore bested Hanford, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to give Cal a 4-2 lead. The last match ended with Mushika falling to Svetac, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), to make the final score 4-3.
Last Time Vs. USD, Pepperdine
In Cal's last meeting with San Diego, Jessica Alsola beat the Toreros' Claudia de las Heras, 6-3, 6-1, for 11th-ranked Cal, but USD beat the Bears, 4-1, in the final of the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley. With the victory, the Toreros advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Cal played Pepperdine in the first of three matches in the 2023-24 season when the teams clashed in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 10. Lan Mi bested Jasmine Conway, 6-2, 6-4, and the 19th-ranked Katja Wiersholm topped the 89th-ranked Anna Campana, 6-4, 6-3, in singles for the Bears. But the Waves clinched their 4-2 win when the 15th-ranked Lisa Zaar completed a 6-2, 7-5 win over Cal's 21st-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller.
Poll Position
After beating Arizona and Arizona State to run its dual-match win streak to five, Cal improved five spots to No. 12 in this week's ITA team poll. In the most recent ITA individual polls, Cal earned nine rankings, including the pair of Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika moving to No. 14 and the duo of Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm earning the No. 62 spot in the doubles poll. In singles, seven Bears are ranked in No. 23 Viller Moeller, No. 35 Alsola, No. 36 Wiersholm, No. 46 Valentina Ivanov, No. 92 Mushika, No. 107 Berta Passola Folch and No. 109 Lan Mi.
Scouting the Bears
After playing just one home dual match – a 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 25 – to this point this season, the Bears play three home dual matches in three days when they host Hawaii next Thursday, Colorado on March 22 and Utah on March 23 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The three matches are part of a seven-match homestand for the Bears.
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalWomensTennis), Instagram (@CalWomensTennis) and Facebook (/CalWomensTennis/).
Match Details
No. 12 Cal (7-2) at No. 15 San Diego (8-3)
When: Saturday, March 16, 10 a.m. PT
Where: Hogan Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Watch: Livestream
Scores: Sidearm
No. 12 Cal (7-2) at No. 4 Pepperdine (8-3)
When: Saturday, March 17, 11 a.m. PT
Where: Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Malibu, Calif.
Watch: Livestream/Live Stats
Last Time: Cal Sweeps Arizona Teams
The Golden Bears opened Pac-12 Conference play 2-0 after defeating No. 41 Arizona, 5-2, on Saturday and No. 30 Arizona State, 4-3, on Sunday in the Grand Canyon State.
Against the Wildcats, the 92nd-ranked Mao Mushika defeated Brandelyn Fulgenzi, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, to clinch and give Cal a 4-1 lead at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The teams split the last two matches to complete the scoring. Mushika is tied with Jessica Alsola and Berta Passola Folch (who clinched against ASU) for the team's second-most singles wins at 17 apiece.
Passola Folch and Katja Wiersholm topped Teja Tirunelveli and Kayla Wilkins, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point against Arizona.
Cal trailed Arizona State, 1-0, after losing the doubles point for just the second time this season. The Bears bounced back in singles – with the 109th-ranked Lan Mi beating Patricija Spaka, 6-1, 6-0, the 23rd-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller defeating Marianna Argyrokastriti, 6-1, 6-1, and the 46th-ranked Ivanov prevailing, 7-6(4), 6-3, over Chelsea Fontenel – to take a 3-1 lead. A clash of two nationally ranked players on court three – the 35th-ranked Alsola lost to ASU's 103rd-ranked Emilija Tverijonaite, 6-3, 7-6(6) – brought the score to 3-2.
Passola Folch clinched the overall victory with ASU, as the 107th-ranked sophomore bested Hanford, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, to give Cal a 4-2 lead. The last match ended with Mushika falling to Svetac, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), to make the final score 4-3.
Last Time Vs. USD, Pepperdine
In Cal's last meeting with San Diego, Jessica Alsola beat the Toreros' Claudia de las Heras, 6-3, 6-1, for 11th-ranked Cal, but USD beat the Bears, 4-1, in the final of the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley. With the victory, the Toreros advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Cal played Pepperdine in the first of three matches in the 2023-24 season when the teams clashed in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 10. Lan Mi bested Jasmine Conway, 6-2, 6-4, and the 19th-ranked Katja Wiersholm topped the 89th-ranked Anna Campana, 6-4, 6-3, in singles for the Bears. But the Waves clinched their 4-2 win when the 15th-ranked Lisa Zaar completed a 6-2, 7-5 win over Cal's 21st-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller.
Poll Position
After beating Arizona and Arizona State to run its dual-match win streak to five, Cal improved five spots to No. 12 in this week's ITA team poll. In the most recent ITA individual polls, Cal earned nine rankings, including the pair of Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika moving to No. 14 and the duo of Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm earning the No. 62 spot in the doubles poll. In singles, seven Bears are ranked in No. 23 Viller Moeller, No. 35 Alsola, No. 36 Wiersholm, No. 46 Valentina Ivanov, No. 92 Mushika, No. 107 Berta Passola Folch and No. 109 Lan Mi.
Scouting the Bears
- Sunday's match marks Cal and Pepperdine's second match this season
- The Bears and Waves play for a third time this year on April 6 in Berkeley
- Hannah Viller Moeller – who is 16-12 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
- Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika – who have a 21-5 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 17-9) 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 (16-3) 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 10-5 – opened her season 7-0 before suffering her first loss (to Julia Garcia Ruiz, 6-1, 6-2) in a 4-3 win at No. 16 Oklahoma in the ITA Kickoff Weekend
- Lan Mi, who posted a 16-match win streak in singles between mid-October and late January, has clinched three of Cal's five wins – a 5-2 win at San Diego State, a 6-1 rout of UCSB and, in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Oklahoma, a 4-3 win over No. 16 Oklahoma that qualified the Bears for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
- A junior transfer from Cornell who leads Cal in singles wins, Mi (28-3) won the top-flight singles crown at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational in October and has lost just once in singles in 2024
- Cal's other clinching wins came courtesy of Mushika, who clinched a 4-1 win over No. 21 Washington at national indoors and the win over No. 41 Arizona in the Pac-12 opener; Wiersholm, who clinched Cal's 4-0 win over Illinois in the ITA Kickoff Weekend; and Berta Passola Folch, who clinched Cal's 4-3 result at No. 30 Arizona State
- A product of Barcelona, Spain, Passola Folch has a 17-6 singles record
- This season marks Cal's last run in the Pac-12, as the Bears – who finished second in the conference last season with a 7-3 record – will compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) beginning next year
- 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
- USD hosts SMU on Friday
- The Toreros have won three straight – 4-0 at Rice, 5-2 vs. No. 67 San Diego State and 6-1 at UC Santa Barbara
- Two Toreros are ranked in singles in No. 47 Mia Mack and No. 59 Clauda de las Heras
- The duo of Kristina Nordikyan and Kailey Evans is ranked 72nd in doubles
- Nadia Abadala is in her second season as head coach at San Diego
- Pepperdine dropped its last match – a 4-2 loss at No. 2 Michigan – to snap a six-match win streak
- Five Waves are ranked in singles in No. 6 Savannah Broadus, No. 13 Lisa Zaar, No. 99 Nikki Redelijk, No. 100 Janice Tjen and No. 117 Anna Campana
- The doubles pair of Tjen and Broadus is ranked second
- Per Nilsson is in his 10th year as head coach of the Waves
After playing just one home dual match – a 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 25 – to this point this season, the Bears play three home dual matches in three days when they host Hawaii next Thursday, Colorado on March 22 and Utah on March 23 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The three matches are part of a seven-match homestand for the Bears.
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalWomensTennis), Instagram (@CalWomensTennis) and Facebook (/CalWomensTennis/).
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Saturday, February 23
Thursday, September 28
Sunday, June 18
Sunday, June 18
