The 14th-ranked California women's tennis team opens the dual-match season Friday when it hosts the two-day ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears welcome No. 17 Oklahoma, Grand Canyon and San Diego State to Berkeley, with the winner of the event advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship hosted by Illinois and Northwestern in February.
 
On Friday, Cal plays Grand Canyon at 11 a.m. PT and the Sooners face SDSU at 2 p.m. The losing teams play in a consolation match Saturday at 10 a.m., and Friday's winners battle in Saturday's 1 p.m. final for the right to reach national indoors.
 
No. 14 Cal (0-0) vs. GCU (1-0)
When: Friday, 11 a.m. PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: PlaySight Live Stream
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
NO. 17 Oklahoma (2-0) vs. San Diego State (1-0)
When: Friday, 2 p.m. PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: PlaySight Live Stream
 
Poll Position
Fourteenth-ranked Cal is one of seven ACC teams appearing in Wednesday's ITA team poll, including No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Virginia, No. 7 Duke, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 10 NC State and No. 24 Florida State.
 
Four Bears are ranked in the ITA singles poll – No. 35 Katja Wiersholm, No. 63 Lan Mi, No. 71 Mao Mushika and No. 81 Berta Passola Folch. Two Cal pairs are ranked in doubles – No. 24 Alsola and Mushika and No. 48 Mi and Passola Folch.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal is coming off playing in the Cal Winter Invitational, which the Bears hosted Jan. 10-12 in Berkeley, and the Rainbow Wahine Spring Invitational, which Hawaii hosted from Jan. 3-5 in Honolulu
• The Bears won 11 of 12 matches on the last day of the Cal Winter Invite, going 7-1 in singles and 4-0 in doubles
• All-American Katja Wiersholm brings a record of 9-3 into the GCU match after winning both her singles matches in the annual Cal tournament
• Wiersholm was one of four Bears – including Mao Mushika, Lan Mi and Jessica Alsola – who competed in the NCAA individual championships at Baylor
• Wiersholm advanced to the NCAA singles round of 16 to earn All-America singles honors in Waco, Texas
• Alsola, who paired with Mushika at NCAA doubles in Waco, has a 3-2 doubles record with Mushika and is 7-6 in singles
• Berta Passola Folch, a junior who went 3-0 in the Cal Winter Invite, is 11-5 in singles
• Mushika, a sophomore with a 12-5 singles mark, reached the second round of NCAA singles last fall
• Mi, a senior who has a 12-4 singles record, also advanced to the NCAA singles second round at Baylor
• Freshman Greta Greco Lucchina, who joined the Bears in January, could make her dual-match debut in the ITA Kickoff Weekend
• Amanda Augustus – a Cal Athletics Hall of Famer, two-time NCAA doubles champion, 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and five-time ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year – is in her 18th year as head coach at her alma mater

• Assistant coach and former Cal women's tennis player Stephanie Kusano Wallace is in her first year on the Cal staff

 
Scouting the Antelopes

• Grand Canyon won its season opener over UC San Diego 6-1 last Sunday in Phoenix
• Bella Crossman clinched the victory over UCSD at court-four singles with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Naomi Nguyen
• Dania Deaifi was named the WAC Singles Player of the Week for posting a straight set singles win against UCSD
• Gala Arangio and Valentina Del Marco, who clinched the doubles point vs. the Tritons, were named the WAC Doubles Team of the Week
• Last season the Antelopes had a 22-3 record, won the WAC regular-season crown and captured the WAC tournament title
• GSU lost to San Diego 4-0 in the first round of last year's NCAA Championship
• Dané Vorster is in her first season as GCU's head coach

 
Scouting the Sooners

• After playing in the Miami Invitational from Jan. 10-12 in Florida, Oklahoma started the dual-match season last Friday, defeating Wichita State 4-0 and Wyoming 7-0 at home
• Four Sooners are ranked in singles: No. 14 Julia Garcia Ruiz, No. 43 Alina Shcherbinina, No. 66 Emma Staker and No. 68 Ava Catanzarite
• Two Oklahoma doubles pairs are ranked: No. 28 Shcherbinina and Cara Mester as well as No. 30 Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel
• Audra Cohen is in her ninth season as head coach at Oklahoma, which was voted second in the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Poll
• Cohen led the Sooners to a 19-7 record (11-2 Big 12) and the NCAA Championship second round, in which Oklahoma lost to Texas A&M 4-0

 
Scouting SDSU

• San Diego State beat Point Loma 6-1 in its dual-match opener
• Zoe Olmos clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-4 result over Emely Valencia at court-four singles
• SDSU was 16-7 (7-2 MWC) and won the Mountain West tournament title last season
• San Diego State lost to 4-0 to UCLA in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Championship
• Peter Mattera is in his 32nd season at the helm of the SDSU program

 
Next Time
Cal hosts No. 6 UCLA on Feb. 1 at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
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