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Giavara, Alsola Open NCAA Singles Monday

May 22, 2022
Haley Giavara (left) and Jessica Alsola (right)

BERKELEY – California women's tennis stars Haley Giavara and Jessica Alsola start play in the NCAA Singles Championship on Monday at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The postseason tournament concludes with the final on May 28 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Urbana.
 
Giavara, a junior ranked 63rd in the ITA singles poll, faces Oklahoma State's 20th-ranked Lisa Marie Rioux at 4 p.m. CT in Monday's opening round of 64. Alsola, a freshman ranked 71st, plays Duke's ninth-ranked and No. 9-16-seeded Chloe Beck at 7 p.m. CT. With the Bears placed in separate parts of the bracket, they could wind up playing each other in the final.
 
Both Bears reached the main draw as alternates, with Giavara originally designated the tournament's first alternate and Alsola named the fifth alternate.
 
The two Bears were key contributors to the Cal team's regular-season Pac-12 championship and to the Bears' deep run in the NCAA Championship. As the host of first- and second-round action in Berkeley, 11th-seeded/ranked Cal defeated Northern Arizona, 4-0, on May 6 in the team tournament's opening round of 64 and then beat No. 34 Texas Tech, 4-0, in the May 7 second round. Cal fell to sixth-seeded/ranked N.C. State, 4-0, in the round of 16 on May 14.
 
Fans can follow the action and scores from all the NCAA tournament matches by using the TennisONE app to view the live stream; download the TennisONE app here. Fans can also follow updates of Cal matches on Twitter at @CalWomensTennis.
 
Haley Giavara
A San Diego product, Haley Giavara posted a singles record of 16-14 so far in the 2021-22 season and joined Jessica Alsola on the All-Pac-12 second team. Giavara has come on strong in singles late in the year, with notable victories including a 6-1, 6-0 win over Stanford's 26th-ranked Connie Ma in the Bears' April 16 regular-season finale, a 6-3, 6-3 win over Utah's 123rd-ranked Linda Huang in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals on April 21 and a 6-2, 6-0 win against Texas Tech's 21st-ranked Margarita Skriabina in the NCAA team championship's round of 32.
 
Giavara – who competed at court-one singles in every dual match this season – earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on April 19 for her play in the Bears' April 16 victory over Stanford that clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title and Cal's top seed in the Pac-12 Championship. The award marked the second career Pac-12 weekly honor for Giavara. Ranked 97th in singles at the time, Giavara defeated the Cardinal's then-No. 19 Ma, 6-1, 6-0, and partnered with Hannah Viller Moeller to beat Sara Choy and Alexandra Yepifanova, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point.
 
Also a talented doubles player, Giavara posted a 17-7 record with Valentina Ivanov, with the pair ranked 31st in the most recent ITA doubles poll.
 
Giavara competed in her first NCAA Singles Championship in 2021, with the debutante falling to Virginia's third-seeded Emma Navarro, 7-6(3), 6-2, in the round of 64. The Bear finished her sophomore season ranked 50th. An ITA singles All-American and the ITA Northwest Regional Rookie of the Year as a freshman, Giavara was ranked 15th to end the 2019-20 season.
 
Jessica Alsola
Jessica Alsola – who joined Haley Giavara on the All-Pac-12 second team – has had a superb freshman season. She's posted a record of 32-9 – leading Cal in singles wins – earned a No. 71 ranking and is ranked No. 7 in the ITA Newcomer poll. Alsola has a 15-7 record in dual matches, including an 11-5 mark on court two.
 
In the fall, she reached the semifinals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, with a big win over Stanford's 87th-ranked Angelica Blake, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. The Fresno product earned her first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on Jan. 25 after she helped the Bears open the dual-match season 2-0 on the road. 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.
 
Alsola's other notable wins including a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Pepperdine's 17th-ranked Lisa Zaar and a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 result over No. 40 Kylie Collins of Texas. She also defeated Olivia Peet, 6-2, 6-0, in Cal's NCAA second-round win over Texas Tech.
 
In doubles, Alsola had success with two different partners. In the fall, she paired with Erin Richardson to reach the second round of the ITA National Fall Championships, after they advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships. The duo (10-4 record) is ranked 59th. Alsola partnered with Katja Wiersholm (9-3) most of the spring, with the freshmen earning a No. 90 ranking.
 
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