BERKELEY – In just its second dual match of the season, the 14th-ranked California women's tennis team faced a stiff test in 17th-ranked Oklahoma in the final of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Despite a late Cal rally, the Sooners topped the Golden Bears 4-1 and qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February.
 
Cal's record now stands at 1-1. Oklahoma improved to 4-0.
 
Also, in the consolation match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday morning at Hellman, San Diego State defeated Grand Canyon 5-1.
 
Doubles eventually came down to a hard-fought match between the Bears and Sooners on court one. Before that, Cal's senior duo of Katja Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola defeated 30th-ranked Julia Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel 6-2 on court two, and then the Bears' Tiziana-Marie Schomburg and Berta Passola Folch fell to Glorian Nahum and Salakthip Ounmuang 6-2 on court three. The contest on court one – with Cal's Greta Greco Lucchina and Mao Mushika battling OU's 28th-ranked Alina Shcherbinina and Cara Mester – was tight the whole way. The Cal tandem eventually trailed 6-5 before fighting back to force a tiebreaker, with their teammates and an energetic crowd cheering them on. In the end, however, the two Bears lost 7-6(3) and the Sooners took a 1-0 lead into singles.
 
After a pair of straight-set singles losses on courts six and five, Cal trailed 3-0. But the Bears rallied, with Alsola prevailing on court four 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 over 66th-ranked Emma Staker to make the score 3-1. The 71st-ranked Mushika was close to a victory on court two, while Cal's 63rd-ranked Lan Mi was leading in the third set on court three. But Oklahoma secured its trip to national indoors when 14th-ranked Garcia Ruiz beat 35th-ranked Wiersholm 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on court one.
 
"This whole weekend was about advancing to national indoors, and we came up a little bit short today," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We knew the team we played today would be a good team. We had some chances in the doubles and we had opportunities that we didn't take advantage of today.
 
"We have a little bit of work to do to figure out our doubles lineup and our singles lineup – it's only our second dual match – and we have a lot of really capable players at every position. We have another home match in a week, and that's a great opportunity for us."
 
The Bears hit the courts again next Saturday when they host No. 21 UCLA.
 
ITA Kickoff Weekend Final
 
No. 17 Oklahoma (4-0) def. No. 14 California (1-1), 4-1
Jan. 25, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. No. 28 Cara Mester/Alina Shcherbinina (OU) def. Mao Mushika/Greta Greco Lucchina (Cal), 7-6(3)*
2. Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (Cal) def. No. 30 Julia Garcia Ruiz/Chloe Noel (OU), 6-2
3. Salakthip Ounmuang/Gloriana Nahum (OU) def. Berta Passola Folch/Tiziana-Marie Schomburg (Cal), 6-2
 
Order of Finish – 2, 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 14 Julia Garcia Ruiz (OU) def. No. 35 Katja Wiersholm (Cal), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4^
2. No. 71 Mao Mushika (Cal) vs. No. 43 Alina Shcherbinina (OU), 7-5, 6-6 DNF
3. No. 63 Lan Mi (Cal) vs. Salakthip Ounmuang (OU), 6-4, 6-7(5), 2-1 DNF
4. Jessica Alsola (Cal) def. No. 66 Emma Staker (OU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
5. Gloriana Nahum (OU) def. No. 81 Berta Passola Folch (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
6. No. 68 Ava Catanzarite (OU) def. Greta Greco Lucchina (Cal), 6-1, 6-0
 
Order of Finish – 6, 5, 4, 1^
^Clinched the overall win
 
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