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No. 4 Cal Travels To No. 20 Michigan

by calbears.com
Feb 7, 2022
After Valentina Ivanov and the Bears play in Michigan, they stay in the midwest to compete in national indoors.

BERKELEY – Fourth-ranked California women's tennis hits the road to play at No. 20 Michigan on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET at the Varsity Tennis Center.
 
The Golden Bears bring a 4-0 record to Ann Arbor, where Cal head coach Amanda Augustus coached for two seasons before taking charge of her alma mater's program. The Wolverines have a 3-2 record. Tuesday will mark only the second dual match between Cal and Michigan. The Bears have a 1-0 series record after blanking the Wolverines' 4-0 in 2013
 
Fans can follow the Michigan live scores by clicking here and can follow updates of Cal matches at @CalWomensTennis.
 
Tuesday's indoor match is the Bears' final contest before they compete in the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship, which starts Friday, Feb. 11, and ends Monday, Feb. 14., in Madison, Wisconsin. The ITA is slated to reveal the national indoor draw on Tuesday.
 
Cal won its first national team title at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship in 2016, when the Bears defeated North Carolina, 4-3, in the final in Madison.
 
Poll Position
Cal is ranked fourth in the latest ITA poll and ranked sixth in the first Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25 poll of the season. The ITA ranks Michigan 20th, while the Wolverines are 17th in the Tennis Channel/USTA rankings. New rankings come out on Wednesday.
 
Last Time: Cal Sweeps Past BYU, Vandy In ITA Kickoff Weekend
Cal advanced to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship when it shut out both its opponents the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley. The Bears beat BYU, 4-0, on Jan. 28 and then blanked Vanderbilt, 4-0, on Jan. 29 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
Against the Cougars, Haley Giavara led a dominant display by the Bears, defeating Leah Heimuli, 6-4, 6-4, at court-one singles to clinch the win. Giavara also clinched doubles with Valentina Ivanov, as the Bears bested Heimuli and Helen Jiao, 6-2, on court one.
 
The next day, Cal senior Julia Rosenqvist clinched the 4-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the ITA Kickoff Weekend final, propelling Cal – and, for the first time, Rosenqvist – to national indoors. Rosenqvist defeated the Commodores' 119th-ranked Holly Staff, 7-6(3), 6-2, at court-four singles to end the match. Earlier, Cal freshmen Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm beat Marcella Cruz and Yufei Long, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point on court two.
 
Scouting the Bears

  • Jessica Alsola earned her first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor (see below) on Jan. 25
  • Alsola is ranked 110th in singles and at 21-2 has the most singles wins for the Bears
  • The pair of Alsola and Erin Richardson (10-4) – which reached the round of 16 in the ITA National Fall Championships in November – is ranked 27th
  • Haley Giavara, who competed in both the 2021 NCAA singles and (with Valentina Ivanov) NCAA doubles tournaments, has a 6-3 singles record in 2021-22
  • Ivanov (10-4) is ranked 108th in the most recent ITA singles poll
  • Giavara and Ivanov have an 11-0 doubles record, including 2-0 on court one
  • Freshman Katja Wiersholm (9-0 in singles) clinched Cal's first two wins of the season against the Gauchos and Waves
  • Former two-time NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus – the 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year – is in her 15th year as head coach at her alma mater
  • Associate head coach Zack Warren – the 2021 ITA Northwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year – is in his eighth year on the staff.

Scouting the Wolverines

  • Michigan lost to No. 2 North Carolina, 5-2, on Sunday at home in its most recent match
  • Against the Tar Heels, the Wolverines' 17th-ranked Kari Miller upset fifth-ranked Cameron Morra, 6-0, 2-6, 6-1, and Gala Mesochoritou beat UNC's 57th-ranked Anika Yarlagadda, 6-3, 7-5
  • In a Jan. 30 ITA Kickoff Weekend consolation match, Michigan beat then-No. 12 Georgia Tech, 4-3, in Ann Arbor
  • Two more Wolverines are ranked in singles in No. 99 Julia Fliegner and No. 120 Nicole Hammond
  • Ronni Bernstein – who replaced Amanda Augustus as Michigan's head coach – is in her 15th season with the Wolverines

Jessica Alsola Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
Cal freshman Jessica Alsola earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on Jan. 25 after she helped the Golden Bears open the dual-match season 2-0 on the road. This is the first Pac-12 honor for Alsola and the first of the season for Cal.
 
Alsola picked up a big win in ninth-ranked Cal's 4-3 win over No. 2 Pepperdine on Jan. 22, defeating the 30th-ranked Victoria Flores at court-three singles, 6-3, 7-6(5), in Malibu. One day earlier, Alsola beat Camille Kiss, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, in Cal's 6-1 rout of UC Santa Barbara.
 
Along with her No. 110 singles ranking, Alsola is ranked seventh in the ITA Newcomer poll.
 
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalWomensTennis), Instagram (@CalWomensTennis) and Facebook (@CalWomensTennis).
 
Next Time
Cal competes in the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship from Feb. 11-14 at the University of Wisconsin.
 

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