Katja Wiersholm (left) and Jessica Alsola (right) continue play at fall nationals on Friday.
SAN DIEGO – Cal women’s tennis sophomores Katja Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola defeated the nation’s third-ranked doubles team in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Fall Championships on Thursday evening, as the Golden Bears upended Wake Forest’s Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth, 7-6(3), 6-1, at the Barnes Tennis Center.
The Bears’ win over the Demon Deacons – who won the doubles title at the 2021 ITA All-American Championships – evened the season series between the two pairs, who met earlier this fall in the 2022 ITA All-American Championships. In that Oct. 5 match, the Bears fell to the Wake pair, 6-2, 7-5, in the main draw round of 32.
Also on Thursday, Cal’s Erin Richardson and Makenna Thiel fell to Tulane’s 14th-ranked Charlotte Russell and Lahari Yelamanchili, 3-6, 6-3, 10-2, to end the tandem’s stay at fall nationals.
The national tournament concludes Sunday.
On Friday, as Alsola and Wiersholm continue play in San Diego, another group of Bears – including Valentina Ivanov, Hannah Viller Moeller and Cami Brown – starts play in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Arizona.
ITA National Fall Championships
Nov. 3, 2022, in San Diego, Calif.
Barnes Tennis Center
Consolation Draw Doubles – Round of 16 Qualifying
Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (Cal) def. [3] No. 3 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth (Wake Forest), 7-6(3), 6-1
No. 14 Charlotte Russell/Lahari Yelamanchili (Tulane) def. Erin Richardson/Makenna Thiel (Cal), 3-6, 6-3, 10-2
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