{"id":580288,"date":"2026-04-02T07:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580288\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:40:17","slug":"no-23-cal-opens-final-homestand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/580288\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 23 Cal Opens Final Homestand"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cal will celebrate the career of Berta Passola Folch on Senior Day on Friday.<\/p>\n

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WTEN4\/1\/2026 9:16 PM | By: Cal Athletics<\/p>\n


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\t\t\t\tThe 23rd-ranked California women’s tennis team (9-4, 6-2 ACC) returns to the cozy confines of the Hellman Tennis Complex for its last homestand of the regular season, starting with Friday’s match against No. 9 Virginia. Prior to facing the Cavaliers, Cal will honor Berta Passola Folch<\/a> in its Senior Day ceremony. The Golden Bears close the weekend Sunday when they host Virginia Tech.
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\nThe Bears and their opponents will be jockeying for seeding position ahead of the ACC Championship slated for April 14-19 in Cary, North Carolina. Heading into Friday’s match, Cal is tied for fifth place in the conference with Miami and Duke (all 6-2 in the ACC), the Cavaliers (8-0) top the standings and Virginia Tech (1-7) is in 14th place.
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\nPassola Folch \u2014 Cal’s lone Senior Day honoree \u2014 is in the midst of a career year that included a run to the NCAA Singles Championship final in the fall, her first All-America honor, a career-best No. 8 singles ranking and her first ACC Player of the Week accolade. She collected the latter April 24 after she led the Bears to conference-opening wins over Clemson 4-1 and Georgia Tech 4-0.
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\nVs. No. 9 Virginia (15-4, 8-0 ACC)
\nNoon PT, Friday, April 3
\nHellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, CA
\nLive Stream: https:\/\/calbea.rs\/4tmG8Ij<\/a>
\nLive Scores:\u00a0https:\/\/calbea.rs\/4sWJBO7<\/a>
\nAdmission: Free
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\nVs. Virginia Tech (4-12, 1-7 ACC)
\n10 a.m. PT, Sunday, April 5
\nHellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, CA
\nLive Stream:\u00a0https:\/\/calbea.rs\/4tmG8Ij<\/a>
\nLive Scores:\u00a0https:\/\/calbea.rs\/41DrtwG<\/a>
\nAdmission: Free<\/p>\n

Last Time: Bears Beat Cardinals, Lose To Irish

\nCal won its third straight ACC road match when Mille Johanna Moerk<\/a> clinched a 4-1 victory over Louisville last Friday in Kentucky. The freshman defeated Lika Peresypkina 6-2, 6-2 to secure the win, while Mao Mushika<\/a> and Johanne Svendsen<\/a> clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 result over Berta Miret and Elena Noguero.

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\nThe Bears lost at No. 70 Notre Dame 4-1 in a conference road contest on Sunday, with Cal All-American Mao Mushika<\/a> posting a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Bojana Pozder.

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\nPoll Position

\nIn this week’s polls, Cal is ranked No. 23 by the ITA and No. 21 by Universal Tennis Ratings (UTR). The ITA singles rankings features four Bears: No. 11 Berta Passola Folch<\/a> (25-6), No. 29 Johanne Svendsen<\/a> (7-2), No. 84 Mao Mushika<\/a> (17-7) and No. 104 Naomi Xu<\/a> (7-10). Two Cal pairs are ranked in the ITA doubles poll: No. 58 Mushika and Svendsen (6-2) and No. 85 Mushika and Passola Folch (2-1).

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\nScouting the Bears
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\n\tCal has a 5-2 home record.
\n\tBerta Passola Folch<\/a> capped an impressive fall season when the Cal senior reached the final of the NCAA Singles Championship in the first national individual tournament of her career and earned her first All-America honor along the way.
\n\tThe Spaniard qualified for NCAAs by advancing to the semifinals at the ITA West Sectional Championships in Seattle.
\n\tPassola Folch has produced a 9-2 singles record in 2026 after posting a 16-4 mark in the first half of the season.
\n\tDanish freshman Johanne Svendsen<\/a> \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u2014 who made her Cal debut in January \u2014 boasts career-best WTA rankings of 361 in singles and 516 in doubles; she is currently ranked 596th in singles and 862nd in doubles.
\n\tSvendsen has extensive experience playing for her country in the Billie Jean King Cup, competing in tournaments between 2022 and 2025.
\n\tThe first-year Bear \u2014 who won her first seven singles matches \u2014 has records of 7-2 in singles and 7-2 in doubles.
\n\tSophomore Greta Greco Lucchina<\/a> also qualified for NCAA singles at ITA West Sectionals, winning a playoff match in Seattle to join Passola Folch in Orlando.
\n\tOverall, four Bears competed in NCAA singles in November, including Mao Mushika<\/a>, a junior who advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Conference Masters Championships to book her spot at nationals.
\n\tMushika partnered with Greco Lucchina to win the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in the fall to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship.
\n\tThe Japan native garnered doubles All-America honors last year when she paired with former Bear Jessica Alsola<\/a> to earn the No. 4 ranking in the last ITA poll of the 2024-25 season.
\n\tMushika is currently ranked twice in doubles \u2014 No. 58 with Svendsen and No. 85 with Passola Folch.
\n\tMushika has an 8-2 singles record in 2026 and was 9-5 in singles in the fall.
\n\tAlso during this season’s ITA regionals, sophomore Naomi Xu<\/a> made a run to the singles final to claim her spot at NCAAs.
\n\tThe Bears are led by interim head coach Kris Kwinta<\/a>, who is also in his fifth season at Cal as the Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis.
\n\tFormer Cal All-Americans Stephanie Kusano Wallace<\/a> and Jean Lozano<\/a> are assistant coaches for the Bears. <\/p>\n

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\nScouting the Cavaliers<\/p>\n


\n\tLast season, Cal upset then-No. 2 Virginia 4-1 during the regular season in Charlottesville, Virginia, but the then-No. 7 Cavaliers beat the Bears 4-2 in the ACC quarterfinals
\n\tVirginia is on a nine-matching winning streak that started with a 4-1 result over Northwestern in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship consolation draw and continued with eight consecutive ACC victories.
\n\tThe Cavaliers’ last two matches were a 4-2 win over No. 24 Duke and a 4-3 victory over No. 5 North Carolina at home.
\n\tVirginia senior Annabelle Xu is the older sister of Cal’s Naomi Xu<\/a>.
\n\tFive Cavaliers are ranked in singles: No. 20 Xu, No. 82 Vivian Yang, No. 83 Katie Rolls, No. 106 Isabelle Lacy and No. 113 Martina Genis Salas.
\n\tTwo Virginia doubles teams are ranked: No. 6 Yang\/Melodie Collard and No. 27 Xu\/Genis Salas.
\n\tSara O’Leary is in her ninth year as head coach of Virginia. <\/p>\n

Scouting the Hokies<\/p>\n


\n\tIn 2025, Cal beat Virgina Tech 6-1 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
\n\tVirginia Tech hosts Stanford on Friday.
\n\tIn their last two matches, the Hokies lost to No. 5 North Carolina 4-0 and No. 24 Duke 4-0 at home.
\n\tThe pair of Arina Gamretkaia and Ozlem Uslu is ranked 45th in doubles.
\n\tTerry Ann Zawacki-Holdren is in her 20th year as Virginia Tech’s head coach. <\/p>\n

Next Time
\nCal completes the homestand when it hosts No. 36 Stanford in the Big Slam on Tuesday.
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\nStay Posted
\nFor further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Instagram (@CalWomensTennis<\/a>), X (@CalWomensTennis<\/a>) and Facebook (\/CalWomensTennis\/<\/a>).
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