BERKELEY – Cal's outside hitters got together to take a group photo on Picture Day on Monday.

Time to turn the camera horizontal.

The Bears commenced training camp for the 2016 season on Tuesday with a whopping nine outside hitters on the roster. The crowded position group should make for an extremely competitive preseason, as well as give setter Alyssa Jensen and the Bears an extensive measure of depth heading into the season.

"As a setter, it's fun," said Jensen, now a senior back for her third years leading Cal's offense. "The competition level has definitely been amped up. There are so many options now, and that's exactly what you want at this level. Everyone will be pushing each other."

The Bears return three outside hitters with starting experience from last year, including leading returning attacker Christine Alftin (2.40 kills per set). Also back is redshirt sophomore Ashten Smith-Gooden, a part-time starter in 2014 before sitting out last season with an injury.

Cal is also excited about its infusion of new talent at outside hitter. The Bears have added a pair of freshmen that were ranked among the top-100 "Senior Aces" by PrepVolleyball.com – Maddie Haynes of Rocklin, Calif. and Bailee Huizenga of Temecula, Calif. Junior Jessica Gaffney also transferred to Cal from USF.

Add in the possibility of redshirt sophomore Savannah Rennie – once a top-20 national recruit – returning at some point this season from a liver transplant, and head coach Rich Feller is looking forward to what his collective group of pin hitters might accomplish in 2016.

"I'm really happy with what we have this year," Feller said. "It gives us competition we haven't had in past years. It's a long season and unforeseen things can happen, so having a few more skilled people is going to help us compete every single day in practice."

Alftin missed just two sets last season and played all six rotations, giving the Bears solid all-around play both at the net and in the back row. Sophomore Carmen Annevelink and junior Antzela Dempi each saw consistent playing at some point in 2015 and are in the mix for more action this season.

Smith-Gooden was the No. 5 recruit in the nation coming out of Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. She struggled with injuries as a freshman and a knee injury forced her to the sideline all of last year.

"Ashten is one of our older, more mature players now but entering just her second year of playing," Feller said. "She is a real bonus for us."

The depth at outside hitter not only increases competition and gives the Bears multiple options, it also creates an invaluable diversity at the position. Cal can throw multiple styles of pin hitters at its opponents – including a pair of lefties in Dempi and Huizenga.

"We definitely have a wide range of hitters," Jensen said. "It gives us diversity and depth on a lot of different levels. And they will push each other."

Feller ended the first practice by telling the team that training camp won't be easy, not just because of the grind of double-day practices, but because there will be an intention to make things difficult on the Bears. Cal is coming off back-to-back subpar seasons after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament 12 years in a row.

"We have to have a new mindset," Feller said. "We need to change some behaviors and our work ethic. Not that we didn't work hard before, but we need to see some positive results out of it. I think there is a lot of extra drive to succeed this year."