Cal Hosts Trio Over 3 Days At Hellman

Valentina Ivanov won twice in doubles last weekend in Los Angeles.

WTEN3/29/2023 4:32 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The California women’s tennis team returns to the cozy confines of the Hellman Tennis Complex this week to host three matches in three days against Arizona State, Arizona and Loyola Marymount. The 42nd-ranked Golden Bears (5-6, 2-2 Pac-12) take on the No. 26 Sun Devils (12-3, 2-1 Pac-12) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, the 44th-ranked Wildcats (14-7, 1-2) on Saturday at noon and, in a nonconference contest, the No. 62 Lions (6-6) on Sunday at noon.
 
Admission is free for regular-season home tennis matches at Hellman. Click here for the live stream of the matches. Fans can also follow updates of all the Bears’ competitions on Twitter at @CalWomensTennis.
 
Poll Position
Cal jumped 19 spots in this week’s ITA team poll to No. 42. In the last ITA singles poll, Jessica Alsola – who has won 11 consecutive times after winning twice in L.A. last week – was ranked 40th. The duo of Alsola and Katja Wiersholm (15-8) is ranked 15th in doubles.
 
L.A. Story
Cal split its conference matches in Los Angeles last weekend, winning 5-2 at No. 30 UCLA on March 25 and falling 4-3 at No. 38 USC on March 26.
 
The 40th-ranked Jessica Alsola clinched the win in Westwood when she beat Kimmi Hance, 7-5, 6-3, at court-two singles. The 15th-ranked tandem of Alsola and fellow sophomore Katia Wiersholm also secured the doubles point with a big victory over the sixth-ranked Hance and Elise Wagle, 6-2, on court one.
 
Against the Trojans, the senior duo of Valentina Ivanov and Haley Giavara clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 triumph over Snow Han and Emma Charney on court one. But Cal dropped four of six singles matches in the loss to USC.
 
Last Time Vs. ASU, Arizona, LMU
In the 2021-22 season, Cal fell twice to Arizona State – 4-3 at ASU on April 1 and 4-3 in the Pac-12 Championship semifinals – and routed Arizona, 7-0 on April 2.
 
In Tucson, Arizona, the Bears won the doubles point when Erin Richardson and Julia Rosenqvist edged Kayla Meraz and Baylen Nevenhoven, 7-6(6), on court three. Valentina Ivanov later clinched the overall match with a court-four singles win over Midori Castillo-Meza, 6-3, 6-3.
 
In Cal’s last match against Loyola Marymount, the…