Mao Mushika, Berta Passola Folch, Greta Greco Lucchina and Tiziana-Marie Schomburg will represent the California women's tennis team in the fall's final two qualifying tournaments for the upcoming NCAA individual championships starting Thursday. Mushika will compete in the singles draw of the ITA Conference Masters Championships in San Diego, while Passola Folch, Greco Lucchina and Schomburg will play in singles at the ITA West Sectional Championships in Seattle. Both tournaments conclude Sunday.
 
The four singles semifinalists in the masters championships advance to the NCAA Singles Championship, while six players – the four semifinalists plus two quarterfinal playoff winners – qualify for NCAA singles from sectionals. Last season, now former Golden Bear Katja Wiersholm reached the masters singles quarterfinals to earn her spot to NCAAs. In last season's sectionals, Mushika qualified for NCAAs by reaching the semifinals, while erstwhile Bear Lan Mi advanced by winning the playoff.
 
Three Bears have already qualified for this year's NCAA individual championships. Mushika and Greco Lucchina punched their tickets for Orlando and the NCAA Doubles Championship by capturing the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Berkeley. Cal sophomore Naomi Xu qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship when she advanced to the singles final at regionals.
 
ITA Conference Masters Championships
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Barnes Tennis Center, San Diego, Calif.
Watch: PlaySight (selected courts)
Live Scores: Scorebuzzer
Draws: ITA Website
 
ITA West Sectional Championships
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Nordstrom Tennis Center, Seattle, Wash.
Watch: Washington Website
Live Scores: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Draws: ITA Website
 
Scouting the Bears

• Junior Mao Mushika (7-3 record) – a Japan native ranked 17th in the ITA preseason singles poll – competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship in each of her first two years at Cal and also played in the NCAA Singles Championship in 2024
• Senior Berta Passola Folch (8-3) – who is ranked 113th in singles – was one win from qualifying for NCAA singles in this season's ITA All-American Championships; the Spaniard was two wins away from qualifying for NCAA singles last year in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships
• Greta Greco Lucchina (8-2) – a sophomore ranked 125th in singles – will play in her first NCAA individual championship in doubles in Orlando; the Italian has competed in all four of the previous tournaments on Cal's fall schedule
• Tiziana-Marie Schomburg (4-3), a junior, is coming off of a performance at the Dennis Rizza Intercollegiate Classic in SoCal, where the Germany product went 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles
• Cal is lead by interim head coach Kris Kwinta – who is also the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis – along with assistant coaches and Cal women's tennis alumnae Stephanie Kusano Wallace and Jean Lozano

 
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 advanced 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.
 
Next Time
Qualified Bears will compete in the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments from Nov. 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
 
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