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Doubles champs Jessica Alsola (left) and Katja Wiersholm (right) pose with head coach Amanda Augustus after Tuesday’s win.
STANFORD, Calif. – Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm captured the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships on Tuesday at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The California women’s tennis duo, seeded second in the tournament, defeated Portland’s seventh-seeded Sally Pethybridge and Iva Zelic, 6-2, 6-3.
The two Golden Bears also come away from the Farm with a doubles berth in the Nov. 2-6 ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego by virtue of winning Monday’s semifinal.
“I’m proud of them,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “They did a really good job today and came out with purpose. It’s a big deal to get their first collegiate doubles title together. They’ve collected a lot of good wins between the ITA All-American Championships and this tournament. I’m excited to see them compete in San Diego and try to win another one.”
“It’s so exciting to win, especially in my first regional championships,” said Wiersholm, who joined the Cal program last spring. “I missed out on the fall 2021 season, so I’ve enjoyed being out there this week.”
Said Alsola, “It’s feels really great to win it with Katja. We complement each other really well.”
Earlier in October, Wiersholm and Alsola reached the consolation doubles semifinals at the All-American tournament in Cary, North Carolina, where Alsola also won the consolation singles title.
“Getting those extra matches in the All-American were super beneficial to us,” Wiersholm said. “We got into a groove heading into regionals.”
“We got some good matches against ranked doubles players at the All-American, and that helped us figure out our game for regionals,” Alsola said.
This marked the second straight year in which Alsola got as far as the doubles semifinals at ITA regionals, as the sophomore teamed with Erin Richardson to reach the semis in 2021.
Several Bears competed in the ITA regionals, with three Cal doubles teams reaching the doubles semifinals and three Bears (Alsola, Wiersholm and Hannah Viller Moeller) advancing to the singles quarterfinals. Richardson and Makenna Thiel had some impressive doubles victories, with the…
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