4 Bears Earn NCAA Individual Invites

BERKELEY – When they're finished with their California women's tennis team commitments in the upcoming NCAA Championship, four Golden Bears will focus on the NCAA individual tournaments in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika were chosen for the NCAA Doubles Championship while Viller Moeller, Valentina Ivanov and Katja Wiersholm were named to the NCAA Singles Championship, the NCAA announced Tuesday. Both tournaments are scheduled to run May 20-25 after the NCAA team event ends May 19 in Stillwater.
 
This marks the first time each of the Bears will compete in her respective postseason tournament. Ivanov and Wiersholm previously played in the NCAA Doubles Championship, with Ivanov partnering with Haley Giavara in 2021 and Wiersholm teaming with Jessica Alsola in 2023.
 
Competing in the doubles field of 32, Mushika, a freshman, and Viller Moeller, a senior, have earned a No. 18 ranking and compiled a 25-11 record prior to the start of the NCAA team tournament. The pair had a strong start to the season, winning the top doubles title in the Cal Fall Invitational and capturing the crown in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships. The two Bears reached the round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships, with their loss at nationals representing their lone setback in the fall, when they finished 11-1.
 
In singles, Viller Moeller is ranked 41st with a 22-21 record in her final season at Cal. In the fall, the Copenhagen, Denmark, product won the singles title in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships and reached the singles quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championships. At last week's Pac-12 Championship, she defeated Chelsea Fontenel, 6-3, 6-3, on court one to clinch 10th-ranked Cal's 5-0 win over 27th-ranked Arizona State in the quarterfinals.
 
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Ivanov was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 26 for her part in the Bears' wins over Hawaii, Colorado and Utah. The senior won all three of her singles matches – clinching the 6-1 thumping of the Buffaloes – and paired with Alsola to capture all three of their doubles matches. In early April, Ivanov competed for New Zealand in the Billie Jean King Cup, and last Friday she beat 25th-ranked Kimmi Hance, 6-0, 6-2, in Cal's 4-2 triumph over UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship semifinals. Currently ranked 52nd, Ivanov owns a 16-9 record.
 
Ranked 44th, Wiersholm has a 25-6 record and has clinched four Cal wins this season, including a 5-2 result at Washington, the 4-0 season-opening win over Illinois, a 6-1 thrashing of Utah and a 4-3 win over UCLA. She's won five of her last six singles matches heading into the NCAA Championship. Early in the season, the junior won the top-flight singles title at the Cal Fall Invitational and advanced to the quarterfinals at ITA regionals.
 
Tenth-seeded Cal (18-6) begins play in the NCAA Championship on Friday, when the Bears host Sacramento State, Auburn and BYU in a regional at the Hellman Tennis Complex. In Friday's first round, Cal plays Sac State at 2 p.m. PT, with BYU and Auburn slated to play at 11 a.m. Friday's winners meet in a second-round match at noon Saturday, with that winner advancing to NCAA Super Regionals.
 
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