BEAR NECESSITIES: CAL'S TOP STORYLINES, STREAKS & TRENDS
 

BE LIKE 'B'
Cal sophomore Belen Castillo seems to be taking to this middle blocker thing. Having moved to the middle from the right side this season, Castillo has been surging with two dominant matches recently. In a win over No. 19 Colorado on Oct. 9, Castillo notched a career-high 16 kills and tied a career-best with six blocks. Then this past Sunday against Arizona, she dominated the match with a career-high 20 kills at a blistering .562 percentage as the Bears knocked off the Wildcats in five sets. In her past three matches, Castillo is averaging 3.33 kills per set with a .373 hitting percentage.

JENSEN JOINS 3,000 CLUB
During Friday's match against Arizona State, senior setter Alyssa Jensen became the sixth student-athlete in Cal history to record 3,000 assists in a career. The three-year starter now has 3,071 as a Golden Bear, and has an outside shot of breaking into the top-5 before her career is over. Candace McNamee sits in fifth place on Cal's all-time list with 3,622.

KERR EYES ALL-TIME DIGS MARK
Senior libero Maddy Kerr is in a race to become Cal's all-time digs leader before her time in Berkeley is through. She enters the weekend in second place on the Golden Bears' all-time list with 1,634. JIllian Davis, who played at Cal from 2003-06, is Cal's all-time leader with 1,810.

SAVANNAH'S STORY
One of the most improbable, inspiring stories in all of collegiate sports this year reached a crescendo on Oct. 7 when redshirt freshman Savannah Rennie was inserted into Cal's match against Utah to make her college debut. Rennie underwent a liver transplant in May after being diagnosed with a rare disease known as Congenital Hepaic Fibrosis with Portal Hypertension, an ailment that typically only affects newborns and the elderly. After enduring almost a full year of illness, Rennie received the liver at the Indiana University Transplant Center and recovered quickly enough to begin training camp with the team in August. She initially practiced in limited fashion but gradually received complete medical clearance. Shortly after making her debut in the third set against the Utes, Rennie put down her first career kill, sending the Haas Pavilion crowd into a frenzy. 

KERR MAKES MARK IN CLASSROOM
Senior Maddy Kerr became just the second Cal volleyball student-athlete ever to earn Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honors last season. Kerr has a cumulative GPA of 3.76 while double-majoring in Media Studies and Rhetoric. She was Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention as a sophomore.

ABOUT NO. 25 USC
• Trojans are coming off a road sweep of the Oregon schools
• FR Khalia Lanier was the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a high school senior
• USC is just 6-6 at home this season (7-0 on the road)
• LAST MEETING: USC d. Cal, 3-0 (11-27-15)

ABOUT NO. 15 UCLA
• Also coming off a road sweep of the Oregon schools
• FR Torrey Van Winden is the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week
• L Taylor Formico is the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
• LAST MEETING: UCLA d. Cal 3-0 (9-27-15)