The California women’s tennis team, ranked No. 23, will finish its regular season this week by hosting No. 36 Stanford on Tuesday and traveling to play Southern Methodist University (SMU) on Friday, according to an April 6 announcement from the team. The outcomes of these matches could affect California’s seeding in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship.
California currently holds sixth place in the conference standings with seven points, while Stanford is tied with SMU and Clemson for seventh place at six points each. If these positions remain unchanged, California would receive byes in the first two rounds of the ACC tournament and begin play on April 16. Moving into one of the top four spots would give them a third bye and a start date of April 17 in the quarterfinals.
In last season’s matchups, then-freshman Sophie Hernandez clinched California’s win over Stanford with a straight-sets victory over Morgan Shaffer, securing a narrow 4-3 result for the Golden Bears. Against SMU last year, former Bear Lan Mi secured a decisive point as California won decisively at home.
Recently, California lost to ninth-ranked Virginia but rebounded by defeating Virginia Tech at home. Senior Berta Passola Folch was honored during Senior Day before her singles win against Virginia’s Vivian Yang. Freshman Mille Johanna Moerk clinched Sunday’s victory against Virginia Tech.
The team’s lineup features several highly ranked players: Passola Folch is ranked No. 11 nationally in singles with a record of 27-6; Johanne Svendsen is No. 29; Mao Mushika is No. 84; and Naomi Xu is No.104 according to recent ITA rankings. Two doubles pairs are also nationally ranked.
California is led by interim head coach Kris Kwinta along with assistant coaches Stephanie Kusano Wallace and Jean Lozano.
Stanford enters Tuesday’s match after splitting results last weekend—defeating Virginia Tech but losing to Virginia—while SMU has recently recorded four consecutive dual-match wins under head coach Kelcy McKenna’s leadership.
Following this week’s matches, California will compete in the ACC Championship scheduled for April 14–19.
