CARY, N.C. – The California women's tennis pair of Jessica Alsola and Mao Mushika did something on Friday that's normally accomplished near the end of a season – qualify for an NCAA championship. The Golden Bears did that by winning their doubles quarterfinal in the ITA All-American Championships, which moved them into Saturday's semifinals at Cary Tennis Park and punched their tickets to the NCAA Doubles Championship in Waco, Texas, in November. The two Bears are also the first student-athletes from any Cal team to qualify for an NCAA championship during the 2024-25 school year.
 
The 16th-ranked Alsola and Mushika defeated Vanderbilt's 29th-ranked Celia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. The Bears next face UCLA's 15th-ranked Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle in the semifinals at 11 a.m. PT on Saturday. The winners of that match compete Sunday for the doubles crown.
 
Over the next two seasons, the NCAA doubles and singles championships – which normally take place in late May after the end of the NCAA team championship – will be held in late November, meaning players will now qualify for those tournaments much earlier than they used to, including through ITA All-Americans. The four semifinalists from the doubles main draw at All-Americans qualify for NCAA doubles, while the eight quarterfinalists from the singles main draw plus the two consolation singles finalists advance to NCAA singles.
 
Baylor will host this year's NCAA singles and doubles championships from Nov. 19-24 and will also host the NCAA team tournament in May.
 
BERKELEY – The Golden Bears hosted the first day of the Cal Fall Invitational on Friday and, despite having two teammates away in Cary, the five who competed on day one won 11 out of 12 matches.
 
"It was a good day for the Bears overall," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "This was a good opportunity for our two freshmen Bears, Sophie Hernandez and Naomi Xu, to play their first college matches and get their first college wins. We're excited to get our tournament going, have beautiful weather in Berkeley and have our Bears play lots of tennis all over the country."
 
In her first collegiate match, Hernandez paired with graduate student Cami Brown to defeat Santa Clara's Tian Yu Dong and Jillian Roa 8-6 in doubles, while in Xu's first match, she teamed with sophomore Tiziana-Marie Schomburg to defeat Sacramento State's Emilija Pranyte and Lou Baudouin 8-5.
 
In singles, Brown, Hernandez and senior Makenna Thiel each won twice, while Schomburg and Xu each won once.
 
Augustus lauded Alsola and Mushika for their success in North Carolina.
 
"We're obviously proud of them," Augustus said. "They're in the semifinals of a national championship, the first one of the year, and that's a good way to start the season. With this new pilot of having NCAA singles and doubles in November, it's nice to know they have that spot in November in doubles, and now they'll work on getting spots in singles. Our goal always is to always qualify as many Bears for the NCAA singles and doubles championships as we can, as well as get our seed the highest seed it can get for the NCAA team championship. It's exciting. It's a pretty good first tournament together for them."
 
The Cal Fall Invitational continues Saturday with matches beginning at 9 a.m. PT.

ITA All-American Championships – Cal Results
Sept. 27, 2024, in Cary, N.C.
Cary Tennis Park
 
Main Draw Doubles – Quarterfinal Round
No. 16 Jessica Alsola/Mao Mushika (Cal) def. No 29 Celia-Belle Mohr/Sophia Webster (Vanderbilt), 6-2, 6-2
 
Cal Fall Invitational – Cal Results
Sept. 27, 2024, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex/Channing Tennis Courts
 
Singles
 
Blue Flight Round of 32
[1] Tiziana-Marie Schomburg (Cal), Bye
[3] Naomi Xu (Cal), Bye
Sophie Hernandez (Cal) def. Olivia Wiese (Santa Clara), 6-0, 6-0
Makenna Thiel (Cal) def. Milena Mayorova (Pacific), 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
 
Blue Flight Round of 16
[1] Tiziana-Marie Schomburg (Cal) def. Emilija Pranyte (Sac. St.), 6-2, 7-5
[3] Naomi Xu (Cal) def. Lou Baudouin (Sac. St.), 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
Sophie Hernandez (Cal) def. [4] Catherine Walker (Sac. St.), 6-4, 6-2
Makenna Thiel (Cal) def. Iman Khan (Saint Mary's), 6-4, 6-3
 
Gold Flight Round of 32
Cami Brown (Cal) def. Leyanne Hirota (Pacific), 6-3, 6-2
 
Gold Flight Round of 16
Cami Brown (Cal) def. Cristina Mateos Losada (SJSU), 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4
 
Doubles
 
Flight A Round of 16
[1] Tiziana-Marie Schomburg/Naomi Xu (Cal), Bye
Makenna Thiel (Cal)/Madison Weekley (Saint Mary's), Bye
Cami Brown/Sophie Hernandez (Cal) def. Tian Yu Dong/Jillian Roa (Santa Clara), 8-6
 
Flight A Quarterfinal Round
[1] Tiziana-Marie Schomburg/Naomi Xu (Cal) def. Emilija Pranyte/Lou Baudouin (Sac. St.), 8-5
Makenna Thiel (Cal)/Madison Weekley (Saint Mary's) def. Marlene Foerster/Lou Anne Guerbert (Nevada), 8-7(3)
Olivia Rook/Iman Khan (Saint Mary's) def. Cami Brown/Sophie Hernandez (Cal), 8-5
 
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