No. 12 Cal Falls To No. 4 Pepperdine

Lan Mi won in singles on Sunday in Malibu.

WTEN3/17/2024 5:37 PM | By: Cal Athletics

MALIBU – California women’s tennis junior Lan Mi earned her team-best 29th singles win of the season, but the 12th-ranked Golden Bears fell to fourth-ranked Pepperdine, 6-1, on Sunday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
 
After the Bears’ first loss since falling to Pepperdine, 4-2, on Feb. 10, Cal’s record stands at 8-3. Pepperdine – which improved to 9-3 – plays Cal for a third time this season in Berkeley on April 6.
 
The match featured a close battle for the doubles point. Cal’s Valentina Ivanov and Jessica Alsola claimed the first win, defeating Nikki Redelijk and Vivian Yang, 6-4, on court two. On court three, Cal’s Katja Wiersholm and Tiziana-Marie Schomburg – in just their second match as a duo – fell to the Waves’ Jasmine Conway and Lisa Zaar, 7-5. Court one decided the point, with Cal’s 14th-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika falling to the second-ranked Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen, 7-6(3). Pepperdine led 1-0.
 
Early singles losses left Cal trailing 3-0, until Pepperdine clinched its win with the 100th-ranked Tjen beating Cal’s 35th-ranked Alsola, 6-4, 6-4, on court three. The Waves led 4-0.
 
Mi bested Yang, 7-5, 7-6(5), on court six to make the score 4-1 and improve her record to 29-4.
 
Pepperdine won the last two matches to complete the scoring.
 
“We had a very tight doubles point,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “We played them much better in doubles than a few weeks ago. The match was a lot closer than the final score shows. But I do think, had we gotten that doubles point, we would’ve had momentum going into the singles. We really needed to close out the doubles point. On a lot of the courts in singles, just a handful of points separated us from Pepperdine. There was high-level tennis on a lot of the courts today.
 
“With yesterday’s win in San Diego, we had a good weekend overall, and I’m pleased with where the team’s at.”
 
Cal starts a seven-match homestand this week, with the Bears hosting Hawaii on Thursday, Colorado on Friday and Utah on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
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