No. 9 Cal Beats UCSB 6-1 In Opener
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Katja Wiersholm earned the first clinching win of her career and the ninth-ranked California women's tennis team started the dual-match season 1-0 when the Golden Bears defeated host UC Santa Barbara, 6-1, on Friday afternoon at the Arnhold Tennis Center.
A freshman, Wiersholm beat the Gauchos' Kira Reuter, 2-6, 6-0, 6-2, at court-five singles clinch.
"It was fun to play a dual match again," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "It's been since last May since we played one, so for everyone – the coaching staff included – it was fun to get back in the saddle again."
"You could really feel a difference compared to the hidden duals we played in in Hawaii and in our own tournament," Rosenqvist said. "You could feel the energy from the other team as well. This was a good start. Now we're getting ready to go and compete as well as we can tomorrow."
In doubles, UCSB won two out of three matches to take the point. Cal's veteran duo of Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov posted a 7-5, court-two win over Reuter and Amelia Honer. But the Gauchos wrapped up doubles when Filippa Bruu-Syversen and Camille Kiss beat Wiersholm and Hannah Viller Moeller in a close court-three result, 7-6(3).
Cal quickly tied the match when senior Julia Rosenqvist beat Honer, 6-2, 6-3, and then took a 2-1 lead when Hannah Viller Moeller bested the Gauchos' Bruu-Syversen, 6-2, 6-3. The 110th-ranked Jessica Alsola put Cal up 3-1 with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kiss on court four, and then Wiersholm wrapped up the win. Cal added a pair of three-set victories from Ivanov and Giavara to complete the scoring.
"In doubles we didn't get going as quickly as we would've liked," Augustus said. "We started playing better near the end of the doubles, but we need to get going a little sooner, and we'll work on that for tomorrow. We battled well in the singles, and getting wins on all six courts in singles was a very, very good start to dual-match play for our team."
The Bears battled the Gauchos in the debut of the Arhnold Tennis Center, UCSB's new facility.
"We're happy to help them showcase their new facility today and hopefully help keep tennis strong on the West Coast," Augustus said.
Cal next plays at No. 2 Pepperdine on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Malibu.
No. 9 California (1-0) defeated UC Santa Barbara (0-1), 6-1
Jan. 21, 2022, in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Arnhold Tennis Center
Doubles
1. Shaknova Khatamova/Elizaveta Volodko (UCSB) def. No. 27 Jessica Alsola/Erin Richardson (Cal), 6-2
2. Haley Giavara/Valentina Ivanov (Cal) def. Ameila Honer/Kira Reuter (UCSB), 7-5
3. Filippa Bruu-Syversen/Camille Kiss (UCSB) def. Hannah Viller Moeller/Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 7-6(3)*
Order of finish – 1, 2, 3*
* Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. Haley Giavara (Cal) def. Shaknova Khatamova (UCSB), 6-4, 6-7(4),7-5
2. No. 108 Valentina Ivanov (Cal) def. Elizaveta Volodko (UCSB), 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(3)
3. No. 110 Jessica Alsola (Cal) def. Camille Kiss (UCSB), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. Amelia Honer (UCSB), 6-2, 6-3
5. Katja Wiersholm (Cal) def. Kira Reuter (UCSB), 2-6, 6-0, 6-2^
6. Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) def. Filippa Bruu-Syversen (UCSB), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish – 4, 6, 3, 5^, 1, 2
^Clinched the overall match