OJAI – Playing in the Pac-12 Championship for the last time, the 10th-ranked California women's tennis team lost to third-ranked Stanford 4-0 in the final Saturday at Libbey Park.
 
Cal (18-6) awaits Monday's 3:30 p.m. PT NCAA selection show to learn its next opponent, while Stanford (22-2) earns the Pac-12's automatic entry into the NCAA Championship.

"This was a high-level final featuring two top-10 teams," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "Stanford played well. We didn't play as well as we wanted to. This result won't take away from all the good we did this week in the wins over Arizona State and UCLA.
 
"We're excited to see the selection show in a couple of days. The NCAA tournament is the most important tournament of the year, and we've been building toward it all season."
 
Stanford won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal clinched on court three, with Cal's Katja Wiersholm and Berta Passola Folch falling to Katherine Hui and Valencia Xu, 6-4.
 
In singles, Cal had some success in the bottom half of the order, with courts five and six earning the two first-set wins the Bears had on the day. Passola Folch won 6-4 over Xu in the first set on court six, and then Lan Mi captured the first set on court five over Hui 6-2. Playing on court four, Cal freshman Mao Mushika suffered a narrow, 7-6 loss in the first set against Stanford's 121st-ranked Alexis Blokhina.
 
But after losses to the Cardinal on courts one and three, Cal trailed 3-0. Stanford clinched against the Bears on court two, with Cal's 52nd-ranked Valentina Ivanov falling to the ninth-ranked Connie Ma, 6-3, 6-1.

With Cal moving on to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, Saturday marked the last time the Bears will play in the Pac-12 Championship in Ojai. The conference tournament has been played in Ojai for numerous years at the same time as a collection of other college, community college, high school and junior tournaments – though the Bears won the Pac-12 championship in 2021 when the tournament was briefly played in San Diego.
 
"This is a really, really special event," Augustus said. "It's a fantastic example of the community coming together at all levels of tennis to highlight collegiate tennis. The Pac-12 has been showcased here for many years. It was an honor to have our program compete in the last final. Hopefully someday the Bears will get to play in Ojai again."
 
Pac-12 Championship – Final
 
[2] No. 3 Stanford (22-2) def. [4] No. 10 California (18-6), 4-0
April 27, 2024, in Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park

Doubles
1. No. 20 Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (Stanford) def. No. 18 Hannah Viller Moeller/Mao Mushika (Cal), 6-2
2. Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (Stanford) vs. No. 56 Jessica Alsola/Valentina Ivanov (Cal), 5-5 UNF
3. Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (Stanford) def. Berta Passola Folch/Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 6-4*

Order of finish: 1, 3*
*Clinched the doubles point for Stanford
 
Singles
1. No. 34 Angelica Blake (Stanford) def. No. 41 Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal), 6-0, 6-1
2. No. 9 Connie Ma (Stanford) def. No. 52 Valentina Ivanov (Cal), 6-3, 6-1^
3. No. 30 Alexandra Yepifanova (Stanford) def. No. 82 Jessica Alsola (Cal), 6-0, 6-2
4. No. 121 Alexis Blokhina (Stanford) vs. Mao Mushika (Cal), 7-6(5), 1-4 UNF
5. Katherine Hui (Stanford) vs. Lan Mi (Cal), 6-2, 4-5 UNF
6. Berta Passola Folch (Cal) vs. Valencia Xu (Stanford), 6-4, 2-5 UNF
 
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2^
^Clinched Stanford's overall win
 
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