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Mao Mushika earned her 17th singles win of the season to clinch Cal’s victory over the Wildcats.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Mao Mushika won a three-setter to hand the No. 17 California women’s tennis team an eventual 5-2 victory over No. 41 Arizona on Friday in the Golden Bears’ Pac-12 Conference opener.
Cal improved its record to 6-2 (1-0 Pac-12) as the Bears’ snapped the Wildcats’ four-match win streak. Arizona is 11-6 (0-1).
A freshman ranked 92nd in singles, Mushika defeated Brandelyn Fulgenzi, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, to give Cal a 4-1 lead at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The teams split the last two matches to complete the scoring.
Mushika – who clinched her second Cal win of the season Friday – is tied with Jessica Alsola for the team’s second-most singles wins at 17 apiece. The young Bear has lost just once in singles in eight dual matches this season.
“Mao is a joy to have around,” Cal head coach Augustus said. “We all really enjoy having her as a teammate and as a player on the team. She has a great personality, and I think she really likes the team matches in college tennis.”
The Bears took a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. First, Jessica Alsola and Valentina Ivanov beat the Wildcats’ Belen Nevenhoven and Martyna Ostryzygalo, 6-3, and then Cal’s Berta Passola Folch and Katja Wiersholm topped Teja Tirunelveli and Kayla Wilkins, 6-2, to clinch the point.
In singles, Cal’s 109th-ranked Lan Mi earned her team-best 27th win to give the Bears a 2-0 lead, beating Tanvi Narendran, 6-2, 6-2, on court six.
Playing on court one for the first time this season, Cal 46th-ranked Valentina Ivanov lost a tight match to the 123rd-ranked Reece Carter, 6-4, 7-5, to make the score 2-1.
Wiersholm followed with a win on court four, as the 36th-ranked Cal junior bested the Wildcats’ Midori Castillo-Meza, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to increase the lead to 3-1.
Seconds after Mushika’s triumph on court five secured the overall win, the 35th-ranked Alsola beat Ostrzygalo, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, on court three to give Cal a 5-1 advantage.
Another three-setter ended the day, as Cal’s 23rd-ranked Hannah Viller Moeller fell to Wilkins, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, on court two to make the score 5-2.
“It’s fun to start this part of the season,” Augustus said. “Everybody settled in nicely and competed…
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