BERKELEY – The 10th-ranked California women's tennis team outlasted No. 45 Utah and the rain to claim its third 6-1 victory in three days at home, with Katja Wiersholm clinching the Pac-12 Conference win Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Wiersholm's doubles duo also clinched the doubles point for Cal for a third consecutive match.
 
The Golden Bears' record improved to 11-3 (4-0 Pac-12) after a three-day stretch that included a 6-1 win over Hawaii on Thursday and a 6-1 win over Colorado on Friday at Hellman. Utah has a 10-5 record (2-2).
 
Saturday's match was originally slated to start at noon PT but was delayed several times by rain before starting just before 2:30 p.m.
 
"I was really happy we were able to get the match in today," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "I want to acknowledge the grounds crew, our event staff and everyone for helping us dry the courts three different times to get the courts ready.
 
"Playing these three matches was a good test for us, because later in the season at Pac-12s and NCAAs you might have to play three matches in a row, so you have to be ready for it. This is part of our preparation, and we handled it well. We competed really well as a team today despite the circumstances, because sometimes it happens that you don't know exactly what time your match is going to start. That's being resilient. I'm proud of the effort this week. We're moving forward and getting better each week as a team."
 
"It was definitely a situation you have to mentally prepare for," Wiersholm said of playing three matches in three days. "You have to work on your routines and rituals. But I'm really grateful for the schedule we have this year, especially to have these three matches at home. If you want to win NCAAs, once you get to the quarters, you have to win three matches in a row, and they're going to be very tough matches. And same thing with the Pac-12 tournament. It's just really awesome to have a weekend like this, going into spring break, when we could just put our heads down and focus on tennis."
 
In doubles against Utah, Cal's court-two pair of senior Valentina Ivanov and junior Jessica Alsola won 6-0 over Sara Akid and Kaila Barksdale. Wiersholm partnered with freshman Tiziana-Marie Schomburg to clinch the doubles point on court three, with the Bears defeating Samantha Horwood and Kat Lyman, 6-3.
 
Cal led 1-0.
 
For the second straight day, Lan Mi opened singles with a win for the Bears, with the junior besting Utah's Akid, 6-3, 6-0, to boost the lead to 2-0. Ivanov, ranked 57th, followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the 100th-ranked Marcela Lopez on court one, and Cal led 3-0.
 
With a slight drizzle starting late in Wiersholm's match, the 53rd-ranked junior topped Emma Kamper, 6-2, 6-1, on court four to give the Bears the official win with a 4-0 lead. That marked the second clinching win of the season for Wiersholm, who also clinched the season-opening, 4-0 victory over Illinois.
 
"This one was definitely a special one because we had to wait out the rain, and as I was playing my last game, it started coming down a bit," Wiersholm said. "For myself and my team, I just wanted to put the match away, get it done, so then the rest of us could keep playing and not have any worries if the rain kept coming."
 
Seconds later, senior Hannah Viller Moeller, ranked 38th, bested Barksdale on court two, 6-2, 6-2, to make the score 5-0.
 
The rain soon stopped.
 
The last two singles contests of the day each went to a match tiebreaker. Cal freshman Mao Mushika, ranked 125th, edged Ana Cruz, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(7), on court five, and then Alsola, ranked 54th, fell to Lyman, 2-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(8), on court three to complete the 6-1 match.
 
Cal continues its homestand and conference action against USC next Friday and UCLA next Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
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