Cal Sends Bears To Fall Nationals, ASU Invite
BERKELEY – The California women's tennis team will send Golden Bears to two tournaments this week, as Jessica Alsola and Erin Richardson play in the ITA National Fall Championships and a five-Bear crew of Julia Rosenqvist, Valentina Ivanov, Hannah Viller Moeller, Jada Bui and Makenna Thiel competes in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. Fall nationals run from Thursday through Sunday at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, while the ASU tournament is slated for Friday through Sunday at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
The pair of Richardson and Alsola is an at-large entrant to the 32-team doubles field in San Diego, and the Bears will play Florida's Carly Briggs and Marlee Zein in the first round on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Alsola wound up as the top alternate for the 32-player singles field but was not chosen for the main draw at fall nationals.
To view the singles and doubles draws in San Diego, please click here.
Live scores for fall nationals are available by clicking here, and the live stream from San Diego is available here. Live scores for the ASU Thunderbird Invitational are available by clicking here.
For more information about the ITA National Fall Championships, please visit the official website here.
Poll Position
Three Bears earned spots in the ITA preseason rankings. In singles, Haley Giavara is ranked 17th, Julia Rosenqvist is 106th and Valentina Ivanov is 119th. The pair of Giavara and Ivanov is ranked 14th in doubles. Additionally, Cal freshman Jessica Alsola is ranked seventh in the ITA Newcomers poll.
Last Spring At The Barnes Tennis Center
Cal had a memorable trip to the Barnes Tennis Center last spring, when the Bears defeated top-seeded UCLA, 4-2, in the Pac-12 final to capture their first conference tournament crown. Cal's Julia Rosenqvist defeated the Bruins' Elysia Bolton, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1, at court-three singles to secure the April 26 victory.
The third-seeded Golden Bears, who took home the 2014 conference title prior to the inception of the Pac-12 tournament, also earned the Pac-12's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Last Time: Bears At ITA NW Regionals
Cal freshman Jessica Alsola had a big impact in her first ITA Northwest Regional Championships, reaching the semifinals of both the singles and doubles draws at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center. The fourth-seeded Alsola won five matches to reach the singles semifinals, but she fell to the Cardinal's fifth-seeded Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-2, 7-5, on Oct. 26.
Alsola paired with Cal junior Erin Richardson in doubles, with the third-seeded duo beating Yana Gurevich and Arianna Stavropoulos of UC Davis, 8-4, in the quarterfinals. But in the semifinals, the Bears fell to the Cardinal's top-seeded Angelica Blake and Connie Ma, 8-7(7).
Several Bears shone in singles. Besides Alsola, Julia Rosenqvist and Jada Bui reached the round of 16, and the trio of Richardson, Viller Moeller and Thiel advanced to the round of 32.
Last Time At Fall Nationals & ASU Thunderbird Invite
Cal freshman Haley Giavara paired with senior Anna Bright to reach the doubles semifinals of the 2019 ITA National Fall Championships, but the Bears fell to N.C. State's top-ranked and top-seeded Anna Rogers and Alana Smith, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5.
All three Bears – Bright, Giavara and freshman Valentina Ivanov – who competed at fall nationals did well. Along with Bright and Giavara reaching the final four in what was their second tournament as a doubles team, the three Bears all competed in the singles main draw. Giavara in particular stood out, winning three times – twice against opponents ranked in the top 10 – to reach the singles quarterfinals.
In the 2019 ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Cal closed the fall half of the regular season by winning five of seven matches on the tournament's final day. Cal junior Julia Rosenqvist, ranked 24th in the nation, finished unbeaten in singles at ASU with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ohio State's Irina Cantos Siemers.
Rosenqvist also paired with Jasie Dunk to win in doubles, with the Cal duo defeating Michigan's Chiara Lommer and Anca Craciun, 6-3. Cal seniors Katerina Stloukalova and Alexis Nelson lost in doubles to the Wolverines' Nicole Hammond and Bella Lorenzini, 6-3.
Also in singles, Dunk held off Michigan's Lanie Van Lange, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(3), Stloukalova upended Ohio State's Cindy Chen, 6-2, 6-1, and Jessica Zeynel defeated Texas Tech's Isa Di Laura, 6-2, 6-1. Nelson fell to Michigan's Lera Patiuk, 6-2, 6-4.
Next Time
Cal opens the New Year at the 2022 Hawaii Invitational from Jan. 7-9 in Honolulu.