The California women's tennis team will send four players – Greta Greco Lucchina, Mille Johanna Moerk, Anya Murthy and Tiziana-Marie Schomburg - to compete in the Dennis Rizza Intercollegiate Classic from Friday through Sunday in Southern California.
 
This marks the fourth tournament of the fall for Greco Lucchina, a sophomore ranked 125th nationally in singles who has already qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship with her exploits in the recent ITA Northwest Regional Championships. With the fall half of the season winding to a close in November, the Dennis Rizza tournament is one of the last chances for the Bears to compete until the spring dual-match season.
 
Dennis Rizza Intercollegiate Classic
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: Jack Kramer Club, Rolling Hills Estates, CA
 
3 Bears Qualify For NCAAs At ITA Regionals
Three Bears – Naomi Xu, Mao Mushika and Greta Greco Lucchina – qualified for the NCAA individual championships through the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, which Cal hosted in mid-October. Xu punched her ticket to the NCAA Singles Championship by winning her semifinal match and reaching the final. She accomplished that feat by beating Mushika – the field's top seed who is ranked 17th in the nation and was a singles All-American last season – 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, before falling to Stanford's fifth-seeded Alyssa Ahn 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
 
The fifth-seeded Mushika and Greco Lucchina booked their tickets to the NCAA Doubles Championship when they defeated Washington State's second-seeded and 58th-ranked Eva Alvarez Sande/Maxine Murphy 4-6, 6-1, 1-0(10) in the title match at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
Greco Lucchina, Moerk Wins Titles At Cal Fall Invite
Two young Bears combined to capture three titles at the Cal Fall Invitational, with Greta Greco Lucchina and Millie Johanna Moerk winning the top-flight doubles final on the morning of Sept. 28 and then each claiming a singles title in the afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
The third-seeded Golden Bears defeated Sacramento State's second-seeded Reese Walker and Palina Saulevich 8-3 for the Blue doubles crown. Greco Lucchina bested Iman Khan of Saint Mary's 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the top-flight / Blue singles final to claim her second title of the tournament. Moerk won her second title of the tournament as well as her first collegiate singles title when she beat the Hornets' Walker 7-6(4), 2-6, 1-0(5) in the Blue consolation final.
 
Bears Start Season At ITA All-Americans
Cal junior All-American Mao Mushika and senior Berta Passola Folch were each one win away from qualifying for the NCAA Singles Championship at the ITA All-American Championships in September. But each Bear fell in the singles round of 16 on Sept. 26 at the season-opening tournament in Cary, North Carolina.
 
Mushika – seeded ninth and ranked 17th – lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to Stanford's fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Valerie Glozman – the eventual champion – while the 113th-ranked Passola Folch dropped a 7-6(4), 6-0 match to Ohio State's third-seeded and fifth-ranked Luciana Perry. The pair of Mushika and freshman Laura Cilekova also competed in main draw doubles in Cary but fell in their opening match.
 
Poll Position
Three Bears are ranked in the ITA preseason singles poll in No. 17 Mao Mushika (7-3), No. 113 Berta Passola Folch (8-3) and No. 125 Greta Greco Lucchina (5-2). Mushika and Laura Cilekova (1-2) sit at No. 13 in the preseason doubles rankings.
 
Next Time
Selected Bears will compete in the ITA Fall Masters Championships in San Diego or ITA West Sectional Championships in Seattle from Nov. 6-9. Both events are the final qualification tournaments for the NCAA individual championships, which are the season-ending tournaments for the fall. The NCAA singles and doubles tournaments will run from Nov. 18-23 in Orlando, Florida.
 
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Instagram (@CalWomensTennis), X (@CalWomensTennis) and Facebook (/CalWomensTennis/).