CARY, N.C. – Playing in its first ACC Championship, fifth-seeded and 20th-ranked California women's tennis team opened the conference tournament with a decisive 4-1 third-round victory over 12th-seeded and 63rd-ranked Louisville on Thursday. Freshman Naomi Xu clinched the doubles point with Lan Mi and then secured the overall win, beating Elisabeth lila in straight sets in what was the Golden Bears' first meeting with the Cardinals in program history.
 
Cal (13-7) advanced to play fourth-seeded and seventh-ranked Virginia in the quarterfinal round Friday at 7 a.m. PT at Cary Tennis Park. The Cardinals ended their conference tournament run a record of 13-10.
 
The Golden Bears' fourth-ranked pair of Mao Mushika and Jessica Alsola won its court-one double match 6-2 over Alice Otis and Allie Gretkowski, and then Xu and Mi defeated lila and Elena Noguero 6-4 on court three to give Cal a 1-0 lead.

Alsola, ranked 49th in singles, soon made the score 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lika Persypkina, and Mushika – ranked 28th – followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 11th-ranked Otis. Cal led 3-0.
 
A loss by Berta Passola Folch – who fell to the Cardinals' Gretkowski 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 – made the score 3-1.
 
But then Xu won her 6-2, 7-6(3) clincher over lila to wrap up the match.
 
"It was good for us to get a first match on the Cary courts," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We've never played a team match here before and had never played Louisville. But the team did a good job of adjusting to both things today. In doubles especially we got off to a very good start and that set the tone for the day. They had a big win yesterday over Florida State and we knew they would be confident. We came out aggressively and figured out our opponents quickly to capture that doubles point."
 
The Bears were dominant in singles, winning five of the six first sets.
 
"Naomi did a good job in closing that match out in two sets and clinching the win for the team," Augustus said.
 
The Bears' quarterfinal against Virginia will mark the teams' second meeting of the season. The first was Cal's 4-1 regular-season win in Charlottesville, Virginia, on March 21, when the Bears were ranked 26th and the Cavaliers were ranked No. 2.
 
"We're excited for the matchup, and we're just playing whoever is in front of us," Augustus said. "We expect it to be a highly competitive match between two top teams like last time. We're looking forward to it."
 
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