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Makenna Thiel and the Bears compete in the Gaels’ annual tournament this week.
BERKELEY – Five members of the California women’s tennis team will compete in the Saint Mary’s Fall Invitational running Friday through Sunday at the Korth Tennis Complex in Moraga. Cami Brown, Lan Mi, Berta Passola Folch, Tiziana-Marie Schomburg and Makenna Thiel will represent the Golden Bears in the Gaels’ annual event, with players vying for singles and doubles titles.
The draw will be posted on this ITA page closer to the start of the tournament.
Cal Named Newmark Award Winner
On Wednesday, the Cal women’s tennis team was named a Newmark Award winner in the women’s small team category for posting a team grade-point average of 3.704 in 2022-23. Head coach Amanda Augustus‘ program also posted the top overall GPA among all Cal teams.
The Newmark Awards are awarded annually to the teams at Cal with the top cumulative grade-point average during the previous year. They were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark to honor team academic achievements at Cal and come with a $7,000 stipend that goes into each winning program’s operating budget. Kent Newmark competed on the tennis and track & field teams at Cal before graduating in 1960.
4 Bears Qualify For Fall Nationals
Cal senior Hannah Viller Moeller closed the ITA Northwest Regional Championships with a flourish when she captured the singles title and – with freshman Mao Mushika – the doubles title Oct. 17 at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Bears defeated teammates Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm in the doubles final, after Viller Moeller dispatched the Cardinal’s Connie Ma in singles. All four Bears qualified for the ITA National Fall Championships in November by reaching the doubles final. Viller Moeller also qualified for fall nationals in singles.
Bears Earn National Rankings
The doubles pair of Katja Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola – which had a 16-14 record and was ranked 18th to end 2022-23 – is ranked ninth in the 2023-24 ITA preseason rankings. Last year, the duo competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, falling in the round of 32, and the Bears also reached the consolation doubles semifinals of the 2022 ITA All-American.
In singles, Alsola is ranked 47th in this year’s singles preseason poll. Last year, she posted a 29-6 singles record, won the consolation singles title at the All-American, was ranked 64th in the final ITA poll and played in the NCAA Singles Championship. Wiersholm, who had an 18-9 singles record last year, is ranked 98th.
Scouting the Bears
- Senior Cami Brown is 3-3 in singles and 4-3 in doubles this fall
- Makenna Thiel, a junior, has a 3-2 singles record and a 2-2 doubles mark
- Sophomore Berta Passola Folch has posted a 5-1 singles record and a 4-2 doubles record
- Lan Mi, a junior who joined Cal this season, is 7-2 in singles and 4-3 in doubles
- Tiziana-Marie Schomburg, a 5-8 product of Isernhagen, Germany, is 2-1 in singles and 3-1 in doubles
- Cal Athletics Hall of Famer and two-time NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus – the 2021 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and five-time ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year – is in her 17th year as head coach at her alma mater
- Assistant coach and former Cal men’s tennis player Sean Hill is in his second year on the Cal staff
Next Time
Four Bears will compete in the ITA National Fall Championships from Nov. 1-5 in San Diego
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