Cal Edged By LMU – California Golden Bears Athletics

Jessica Alsola has lost just three sets during her 14-match winning streak.

BERKELEY – Playing its third dual match in three days, the No. 42 California women’s tennis team fell to No. 62 Loyola Marymount, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Golden Bear sophomore Jessica Alsola claimed her 14th consecutive singles win in the loss.
 
Cal’s record stands at 7-7 after the nonconference result. The Lions improved to 9-6.
 
The Bears’ court-three pair of Erin Richardson and Hannah Viller Moeller did well in a 6-1 win over Anna Paradisi and Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik. But Cal’s 15th-ranked Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm lost to Veronika Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek, 6-3. Valentina Ivanov and Haley Giavara then lost for the first time this season, as the Lions’ Wiktoria Rutkowska and Isabella Tcherkes-Zade beat Cal’s senior duo 7-5 on court two to clinch the doubles point.
 
In singles, Wiersholm faced Voracek again, with the Cal sophomore prevailing, 7-5, 6-0, to tie the match at 1-1. But Richardson lost a three-setter to Rutkowska, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, and the Lions regained the lead at 2-1.
 
The 40th-ranked Alsola – who defeated Rogozinska-Dzik, 6-3, 6-4, on court two – has lost just three sets during her win streak. Her victory tied the match, 2-2, until Ivanov upended Paradisi, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, to give the Bears a 3-2 advantage. Cal needed to win one of the last two matches to defeat the Lions.
 
But Giavara fell to Miroshnichenko on court one, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, and then Viller Moeller lost to Tcherkes-Zade, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, on court five to complete the Lions’ win.
 
Before facing LMU, Cal collected Pac-12 wins over No. 26 Arizona State, 6-1, on Friday and over No. 44 Arizona, 7-0, on Saturday. The Bears added the contest with LMU in recent weeks after a few of their home matches were rained out.
 
“I think this is the first time in a while that we’ve played three matches over three days, but we needed the matches,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “To come away with two conference wins and two nationally ranked wins is going to help us overall and help in the Pac-12 standings. Credit to LMU. The Lions also had three matches this weekend, and they closed out the match a little better than we did.
 
“We get a lot out of this weekend and played a…