No. 9 Cal Hosts Big Slam In Regular-Season Finale

BERKELEY – The ninth-ranked California women's tennis team hosts the regular-season finale vs. third-ranked Stanford in Friday's Big Slam at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Prior to the Big Slam, the Golden Bears will celebrate the careers of Valentina Ivanov and Hannah Viller Moeller in their Senior Day ceremony.
 
The Big Slam is Cal's last home match of the regular season, though the Bears could host a couple of rounds of the upcoming NCAA Championship given their success this season.
 
Friday will also decide the regular-season champion of the Pac-12 Conference. If Cal defeats the Cardinal, it would share the regular-season title with whichever Los Angeles team – UCLA or USC – wins that match between rivals also on Friday. Typically, the team that wins the regular-season conference title also earns the top seed in the subsequent Pac-12 Championship. But if Cal ties UCLA or USC for the title, head-to-head results between the Bears and their co-champion would determine seeding in the conference tournament. Cal defeated UCLA, 4-3, on March 30 at Hellman but lost to USC, 4-3, on March 31 in Berkeley.
 
Match Details
 
No. 9 Cal (16-4, 8-1 Pac-12) vs No. 3 Stanford (18-2, 7-1)
When: Friday, April 19, 1:30 p.m. PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: Livestream
Scores: StatBroadcast
 
Last Time: Cal Sweeps Washington Teams
Cal won at 26th-ranked Washington last Friday and routed Washington State on Saturday to go 2-0 on its trip to the Evergreen State.
 
Against the Huskies, Katja Wiersholm clinched the 5-2 victory, with the Seattle-area product defeating the 88th-ranked Alexia Jacobs, 6-4, 6-1, at court-two singles. Jessica Alsola clinched the 6-1 rout of WSU the next day, with the 72nd-ranked Cal junior topping Yura Nakagawa, 6-4, 6-4, on court three.
 
Last Time Vs. Stanford
Twenty-seventh-ranked Cal fell to seventh-ranked Stanford, 6-1, on The Farm in 2023. Cal star Haley Giavara won in her last Big Slam, defeating 16th-ranked Connie Ma, 6-4, 6-1.
 
Poll Position
Cal remained at No. 9 in this week's ITA poll after beating Washington and Washington State. The duo of Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika is ranked 26th in doubles. In singles, four Bears are ranked – No. 38 Viller Moeller, No 45 Katja Wiersholm, No. 49 Valentina Ivanov and No. 81 Jessica Alsola.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Valentina Ivanov is back in Berkeley after playing for New Zealand in the Billie Jean King Cup last week
• With a 15-7 singles record, Ivanov has gone 3-1 in her last four matches at court-one singles
• Named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 26, Ivanov has a 17-6 doubles record, including a 14-4 mark with Jessica Alsola
• Two of Ivanov's singles wins clinched Cal victories over San Diego and Colorado
• Katja Wiersholm improved to 25-5 in singles and 18-11 in doubles last week
• Wiersholm has clinched a total of four Cal wins, including recent result at Washington, the 4-0 season-opening win over Illinois, a 6-1 thrashing of Utah and a 4-3 win over UCLA
• The junior also won the top-flight singles title at the Cal Fall Invitational and advanced to the quarterfinals at regionals
• Mao Mushika is tied with Wiersholm for the team lead in clinching wins on the season and has a 24-8 singles record
• The first-year Bear has clinched a 4-3 thriller over No. 3 Pepperdine, a 6-1 rout of Hawaii, a 4-1 win over No. 21 Washington at national indoors and a 5-2 win over No. 41 Arizona in the Pac-12 opener
• Mushika also has partnered with Hannah Viller Moeller all season to post a 25-9 doubles record
• The duo won the title of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships
• Viller Moeller has a 21-18 singles record after splitting her matches in Washington
• In the fall, the senior won the singles title in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the singles quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championships
• In the fall, Jessica Alsola (now 22-15) reached the consolation final of the ITA National Fall Championships, advanced through the qualifying rounds to the singles main draw of the ITA All-American Championships – in which she reached the quarterfinals – and reached the round of 16 in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships
• Also 25-8 in doubles, Alsola is 14-4 (including 13-4 at court-two doubles) when partnered with senior Valentina Ivanov

• Lan Mi, who posted a 16-match win streak in singles between mid-October and late January, has clinched three Cal wins – a 5-2 win at San Diego State, a 6-1 rout of UCSB and, in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Oklahoma, a 4-3 win over No. 16 Oklahoma that qualified the Bears for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
• A junior who has a team-best singles record of 37-5, Mi won the top-flight singles crown at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational in October
• Along with Wiersholm's four clinching wins, Mushika's four, Mi's three, Ivanov's two and Alsola's two, Cal's other clinching win came courtesy of Berta Passola Folch, who secured Cal's 4-3 result at No. 30 Arizona State
• A product of Barcelona, Spain, Passola Folch – who's won seven of her last eight singles matches – has a 20-7 singles record
• This season marks Cal's last run in the Pac-12, as the Bears will compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) beginning next year
• Cal is one of nine Pac-12 teams ranked in Tuesday's ITA team poll
• Cal Athletics Hall of Famer and two-time NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus – the 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and five-time ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year – is in her 17th year as head coach at her alma mater
• Assistant coach and former Cal men's tennis player Sean Hill is in his second year on the Cal staff

Scouting the Cardinal

• Like Cal, Stanford comes into the Big Slam having won four straight dual matches
• In the Cardinal's most recent matches, it won 7-0 at Washington State and 6-1 at No. 26 Washington
• In singles, Connie Ma is ranked 10th, Alexandra Yepifanova is ranked 32nd and Angelica Blake is ranked 35th
• The doubles pair of Ma and Yepifanova is ranked 24th
• Lele Forood is in her 24th season as head coach of Stanford

Next Time
Cal plays in the Pac-12 Championship from April 24-27 in Ojai.
 
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