The California Golden Bears women’s tennis team, ranked 15th nationally, will begin its dual-match season at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Austin, Texas. The team is seeking a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Cal opens against No. 25 Baylor on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center. If victorious, the Bears will face either host and 17th-ranked Texas or Arizona for a chance to advance to the national tournament in February. The Texas event is one of 14 regional tournaments held across the country; winners from each site will join co-hosts Northwestern and Illinois at the national indoor championship.
Matches can be followed via live stream at https://calbea.rs/4bKktUT and live scores at https://calbea.rs/469qLtF.
In addition to their team ranking, several Cal players are featured in individual ITA rankings released in November: Berta Passola Folch (No. 9), Naomi Xu (No. 63), Mao Mushika (No. 73), and Greta Greco Lucchina (No. 92) in singles; Greco Lucchina/Mushika (No. 77) and Laura Cilekova/Mushika (No. 80) in doubles.
Berta Passola Folch had a strong fall season, reaching the final of the NCAA Singles Championship and earning her first All-America honor after qualifying by advancing to the semifinals at the ITA West Sectional Championships in Seattle. She has won 10 of her last 11 singles matches.
Greta Greco Lucchina also qualified for NCAA singles through a playoff win at ITA West Sectionals, joining Passola Folch at nationals. Four Bears competed in NCAA singles last November, including Mao Mushika, who reached the semifinals of the ITA Conference Masters Championships to qualify for nationals and previously earned doubles All-America honors with former teammate Jessica Alsola.
Earlier this fall, Mushika teamed up with Greco Lucchina to win the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Berkeley, securing a spot in the NCAA Doubles Championship. Naomi Xu also advanced to NCAAs after reaching the singles final during regionals.
The team is led by interim head coach Kris Kwinta, who is serving his fifth season as Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis at Cal. Assistant coaches Stephanie Kusano Wallace and Jean Lozano are both former Cal All-Americans.
At their most recent event—the annual Cal Winter Invitational—the Bears won 19 out of 25 matches held at Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts. Berta Passola Folch secured two singles victories, including one over Stanford’s Monika Ekstrand. In doubles play, Mao Mushika and Laura Cilekova defeated Cal Poly’s Candela Aparisi and Natalie Lynch.
Last year during ITA Kickoff Weekend, Cal defeated Grand Canyon before falling to Oklahoma in Berkeley despite wins over ranked opponents in both doubles and singles competition.
Cal’s next home matches are scheduled against UCLA on January 30 and USC on January 31 at Hellman Tennis Complex.
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