Bears Head To Saint Mary’s Fall Invite

Makenna Thiel and the Bears compete in the Gaels’ annual tournament this week.

WTEN10/25/2023 10:43 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – Five members of the California women’s tennis team will compete in the Saint Mary’s Fall Invitational running Friday through Sunday at the Korth Tennis Complex in Moraga. Cami Brown, Lan Mi, Berta Passola Folch, Tiziana-Marie Schomburg and Makenna Thiel will represent the Golden Bears in the Gaels’ annual event, with players vying for singles and doubles titles.
 
The draw will be posted on this ITA page closer to the start of the tournament.
 
Cal Named Newmark Award Winner
On Wednesday, the Cal women’s tennis team was named a Newmark Award winner in the women’s small team category for posting a team grade-point average of 3.704 in 2022-23. Head coach Amanda Augustus‘ program also posted the top overall GPA among all Cal teams.
 

The Newmark Awards are awarded annually to the teams at Cal with the top cumulative grade-point average during the previous year. They were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark to honor team academic achievements at Cal and come with a $7,000 stipend that goes into each winning program’s operating budget. Kent Newmark competed on the tennis and track & field teams at Cal before graduating in 1960.
 
4 Bears Qualify For Fall Nationals
Cal senior Hannah Viller Moeller closed the ITA Northwest Regional Championships with a flourish when she captured the singles title and – with freshman Mao Mushika – the doubles title Oct. 17 at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Bears defeated teammates Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm in the doubles final, after Viller Moeller dispatched the Cardinal’s Connie Ma in singles. All four Bears qualified for the ITA National Fall Championships in November by reaching the doubles final. Viller Moeller also qualified for fall nationals in singles.
 
Bears Earn National Rankings
The doubles pair of Katja Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola – which had a 16-14 record and was ranked 18th to end 2022-23 – is ranked ninth in the 2023-24 ITA preseason rankings. Last year, the duo competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, falling in the round of 32, and the Bears also reached the consolation doubles semifinals of the 2022 ITA All-American.
 
In singles,…