CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Playing against its highest-ranked opponent this season, the 26th-ranked California women's tennis team prevailed 4-1 over No. 2 Virginia on Friday to claim its seventh consecutive win. Sophomore Mao Mushika won in straight sets at court-one singles to clinch the victory at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar's Head Resort.
 
Cal improved to 8-4, including 5-0 in the ACC. The Cavaliers are 12-4 (4-2).
 
The Golden Bears earned the doubles point after three hard-fought matches. Berta Passola Folch and Naomi Xu won the first one 6-4 over the Cavs' Isabelle Lacy and Sara Ziodato on court three. On court two, the Bears' Lan Mi and Greta Greco Lucchina fell 6-4 to 28th-ranked Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu, the older sister of Cal's Naomi Xu. In the deciding match featuring two talented tandems on court one, Cal's 12th-ranked Jessica Alsola and Mao Mushika trailed top-ranked Melodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky 4-1 before they rebounded to defeat the Virginia pair 7-6(4) and give the Bears' a 1-0 lead.
 
In the first completed singles match of the day, Passola Folch bested Collard 6-4, 6-4 on court four, and then Mi – ranked 90th – also won 6-4, 6-4 on court three over 18th-ranked Chervinsky to make the score 3-0.
 
Virginia got on the scoreboard at 3-1 when Genis Salas beat Greco Lucchina 6-4, 6-2 on court five.
 
But Mushika – Cal's top-ranked singles player at No. 37 – posted her second impressive result of the day with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over 24th-ranked Ziodato to end the match.
 
Cal's match was part of a doubleheader that included the No. 14 Cal men's tennis team's 4-3 win against No. 6 Virginia.
 
"It was a tremendous day," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We had to wait till after the finish of the men's match, but we came out and the girls were really ready to go. We started a tiny bit slow on a couple of courts in doubles then got it together. The comeback on court one was critical. They played a really good second half of that doubles match. The doubles point was super important.
 
"The level of play on every singles court was very high and I was proud of how our team competed. Everybody – whether they played today or not – did a great job of helping the team get this big victory today. Mao came up with a big clinch and Lan really closed out her opponent well. Virginia is ranked No. 2 in the nation for a reason. That is a well-coached team and they competed hard. It was a very good team victory today for the Bears."
 
"We had a lot of energy from our warmup," Mushika added. "We were down in doubles and came back, and we brought that momentum into singles. In singles, my opponent had a good serve and was very aggressive. I just stayed focused when I needed to and I think I did that well."
 
The Bears next play at No. 54 Virginia Tech on Sunday at 8 a.m. PT