To close out its season, four Cal women’s tennis players traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to take on the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments. After a successful season with tremendous growth, the Bears ended their run in the NCAA individuals after falling to top-seeded players and the runner-ups of the tournaments.
Valentina Ivanov, Hannah Viller Moeller, Katja Wiersholm and freshman Mao Mushika qualified for the NCAA individual tournaments. Mushika was paired with Viller Moeller for the doubles tournament while the rest of the Bears battled it out in singles.
However, when the Bears arrived, they were quickly pitted against some of the toughest opponents in the entire tournament.
“We just didn’t get the best draw — we were against the top seed in both singles and doubles,” said head coach Amanda Augustus.
Then-No. 44 Viller Moeller played in the opening round against the top seed, Mary Stoiana from Texas A&M. Texas A&M won the NCAA team championship and Stoiana finished third in the NCAA singles tournament. Viller Moeller ended her final collegiate singles match when she fell to Stoiana in 6-2, 6-0 sets.
Then-No. 43 Ivanov also faced a challenging draw for the opening round as she played against then-No. 70 Anastasiia Lopata, hailing from Georgia.
Georgia was the runner-up in the NCAA championship and the team that eliminated Cal in the l. Ivanov fought hard against the familiar opponent but ended her final collegiate match with the loss to Lopata in 6-3, 6-2 sets.
Georgia’s players were familiar with the conditions of the Stillwater tennis courts after playing in the NCAA championship final on the same courts.
“I felt a little bit uncomfortable with the conditions, but overall, it was a good match,” Ivanov said. “(Most) of us played girls that had matches on those courts which gave them a little bit of an advantage, but that’s not an excuse — I found the courts quite slow and bouncy. Certain players will prefer that over others, but that’s what I found that made it a different court playing style.”
Then-No. 49 Wiersholm played a well-adjusted Georgia player, then-No. 41 Alexandra Vecic. Wiersholm forced the game to three sets after losing 6-4 in the first set and winning 6-3 in the second set. The Bulldog closed out the match when she won the third set 6-3, ending Wersholm’s singles tournament run.
Viller Moeller and Mushika also experienced difficult draws in the doubles tournament. The Bears played against Pepperdine’s top-seeded duo of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen.
The Bears played a three-setter that resulted in a tiebreaker against the Waves. Cal lost by two points with a score of 15-13 in the tiebreak. Pepperdine went on to play in the finals and gained second place in the overall doubles tournament.
Despite the loss, coach Augustus was proud of Cal’s performance.
“They played really well,” Augustus said. “We barely lost the doubles match with a 15-13 tiebreaker, that can go either way. The final national rankings just came out and Hannah (Viller Moeller) and Mao (Mushika) finished 18th in the country, which is great. They had a really outstanding season.”
The team had an overall strong season and maintained top-15 ranking status throughout the year. Cal ended with a 20-7 overall record, an 8-2 conference record, were finalists in the Pac-12 championship and hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA championship as the 10th seed.
“It’s been a really cool five years of learning a lot about myself on the court and off the court,” Ivanov said. “It’s an honor and privilege to do that around the girls and the team. I’m never going to forget that and I’ll take it into whatever I do next.”
While next season won’t be the same as the last without seniors Ivanov and Viller Moeller, Cal women’s tennis is a team with strong depth and dedication that will allow them to continue to set their sights high and strive for success.
