BERKELEY – Led by Pac-12 Player of the Week Valentina Ivanov, the 11th-ranked California women's tennis team welcomes ninth-ranked USC and 17th-ranked UCLA to the Hellman Tennis Complex in a pair of Pac-12 Conference matches this week.
 
Cal, USC and UCLA boast 4-0 Pac-12 records to lead the conference along with Stanford, which has played one less conference match at 3-0.
 
With rain possible Friday and Saturday, please check the team's CalBears.com schedule along with the Golden Bears' X (formerly Twitter) account, @CalWomensTennis, for updates.
 
Match Details
 
No. 11 Cal (11-3, 4-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 9 USC (13-5, 4-0)
When: Friday, March 29, 1:30 p.m. PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: Livestream
Scores: StatInput
Admission: Free
 
No. 11 Cal (11-3, 4-Pac-12) vs. No. 17 UCLA (10-3, 4-0)
When: Saturday, March 30, Noon­­ PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: Livestream
Scores: StatInput
Admission: Free
 
Ivanov Named Pac-12 Player Of The Week
Valentina Ivanov was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for her part in the Bears' wins over Hawaii, Colorado and No. 45 Utah last week, the conference office announced Tuesday. The veteran Bear won all three of her singles matches – clinching the 6-1 thumping of the Buffaloes – and paired with Jessica Alsola to capture all three of their doubles matches.
 
This marks Cal's first conference weekly honor of the season.
 
Ivanov and the Bears played their opponents over three consecutive days at the Hellman Tennis Complex, where the veteran defeated Hawaii's Ana Vilcek, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(8), Colorado's Aya El Sayed, 6-3, 6-3, and Utah's 100th-ranked Marcela Lopez, 6-4, 6-2, in singles. Ivanov played the last two contests on court one, lifting her record on the top court to 3-1 and her overall record to 14-6. Ivanov's clinching win against Colorado was her second of the season, as she also clinched Cal's 4-3 triumph over No. 15 San Diego on March 16.
 
Playing at court-two doubles last week, Ivanov and Alsola beat the Rainbow Wahine's Vilcek and Nikola Homolkova, 6-1, Colorado's Elys Ventura and Mila Stanojevic, 6-3, and the Utes' Sara Akid and Kaila Barksdale, 6-0, as Cal captured the doubles point in all three matches. Ivanov is 15-6 in doubles.
 
Last Time: Cal Goes 3 For 3 At Home
Cal won three dual matches in three days at Hellman, beating Hawaii, 6-1, Colorado, 6-1, and No. 45 Utah, 6-1.
 
Against Hawaii on Thursday, first-year Bear Mao Mushika clinched for the third time this season in the Bears' win, with Mushika defeating Sheena Masuda, 6-0, 6-3, to decide the match. Katja Wiersholm and Tiziana-Marie Schomburg topped Anna Kern and Hannah Galindo, 6-4, on court three to clinch the doubles point.
 
On Friday, Wiersholm partnered with Berta Passola Folch to beat Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo, 6-4, and clinch the doubles point against the Buffaloes. Valentina Ivanov bested Aya El Sayed, 6-3, 6-3, to give Cal a 4-0 lead and clinch the eventual 6-1 victory.
 
Against the Utes, Wiersholm paired with Schomburg again to defeat Samantha Horwood and Kat Lyman, 6-3, and clinch the doubles point. A junior ranked 53rd in singles, Wiersholm later topped Emma Kamper, 6-2, 6-1, on court four to give the Bears the official win with a 4-0 lead.
 
Last Time Vs. USC, UCLA
Cal beat UCLA once but lost twice against USC last year.
 
On March 25 in Los Angeles, Jessica Alsola paired with Katja Wiersholm to capture the doubles point, with the 15th-ranked duo beating sixth-ranked Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle, 6-2, on court one. The 40th-ranked Alsola later bested the 78th-ranked Hance, 7-5, 6-3, to clinch the overall match.
 
The next day, Cal fell in a close battle with the Trojans, 4-3, despite Alsola beating the 83rd-ranked Snow Han, 6-4, 6-1, for her 11th consecutive singles win. Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov secured the doubles point for Cal with a 6-2 win over Han and Emma Charney, 6-2.
 
Cal met USC again in the Pac-12 Championship semifinals, but the Trojans prevailed, 4-2, with Alsola again beating Han, 6-1, 6-2, and Hannah Viller Moeller topping Sloane Morra, 6-1, 6-1.
 
Poll Position
Despite winning all three dual matches last week – including a victory over 45th-ranked Utah – Cal dropped one spot in this week's ITA team poll to No. 11. In the most recent ITA doubles poll, Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika were ranked No. 23 in doubles. Six Bears were ranked in singles in No. 38 Viller Moeller, No. 53 Katja Wiersholm, No. 54 Jessica Alsola, No. 57 Valentina Ivanov, No. 120 Berta Passola Folch and No. 125 Mushika.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Hannah Viller Moeller – who is 18-15 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 22-6 doubles record – won the title of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships
• Mushika is 20-6 in singles
• In the fall, Jessica Alsola (now 18-13) 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 (20-4) 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

• 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 who has a team-best singles record of 32-4, Mi won the top-flight singles crown at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational in October and has lost just twice in singles in 2024
• Along with Mi's three clinching wins and Valentina Ivanov's two (vs. USD and Colorado), Cal's other clinching wins came courtesy of Mushika, who clinched the result over Colorado, a 4-1 win over No. 21 Washington at national indoors and a 5-2 win over No. 41 Arizona in the Pac-12 opener; Wiersholm, who clinched against Utah and in Cal's 4-0 win over Illinois in the ITA Kickoff Weekend; and Berta Passola Folch, who secured 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

Scouting the Trojans

• In its last two matches, USC lost at third-ranked Pepperdine, 4-0, on Saturday and beat Hawaii, 4-0, at home Sunday
• Four Trojans are ranked in singles in No. 28 Emma Charney, No. 61 Grace Piper, No. 93 Snow Han and No. 108 Eryn Cayetano
• In doubles, Cayetano and Charney are ranked 15th, while Piper and Parker Fry are ranked 42nd
• Alison Swain is in her seventh year as head coach of USC

Scouting the Bruins

• UCLA plays at No. 4 Stanford on Friday
• In singles, Tian Fangran is ranked 59th, Bianca Fernandez is ranked 72nd and Kimmi Hance is ranked 89th
• Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer are ranked 80th in doubles
• Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th year as UCLA's head coach

Women's Tennis Tops Newmark Awards
The Cal women's tennis team claimed the Women's Small Team honor and posted the top overall GPA (3.704) in this season's Newmark Awards, which were presented in October. The Newmark Awards are given annually to the Cal teams with the top cumulative grade-point average during the previous year. They were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark to honor team academic achievements at Cal, and each award comes with a $7,000 stipend that goes into each winning program's operating budget. Kent Newmark competed on the tennis and track & field teams at Cal before graduating in 1960.
 
Next Time
Cal closes its current homestand with matches against No. 66 Oregon on April 6 and No. 3 Pepperdine on April 7.
 
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