Cal sophomore right side hitter Bailee Huizenga takes readers inside the program every week during the season in her blog, Bailee's Bulletin.


November 21, 2017

Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!! This year has gone by incredibly fast. This will be my last blog post of the season and I cannot believe we are already in the last week of conference play. But with that, it also brings a time of sadness for the seniors, because it will be their last two games in Haas Pavilion.
 
These six seniors are truly something special and I'm so blessed to have been given the opportunity to play with each and every one of them. They are some of the funniest, kind-hearted, nicest people I have ever gotten the chance to know. On top of being able to play the sport I'm so passionate about, I was able to experience life with them outside of volleyball as well. 
 
This week is a quick turnaround week for us with regard to volleyball. We play at home on Wednesday against the Colorado Buffaloes and then our Senior Night on Saturday against the Stanford Cardinal.
 
Not only is it our last week of conference play, but it's also Thanksgiving this week! It is one of my favorite holidays because it brings all of the family members together and I get to do one of my favorite things outside of volleyball - eating, of course.
 
The end of the Fall semester is near, which means that finals week is also coming up. School was somewhat stress-free for a while once midterm season was over, but the stress is slowly creeping it's way back into our lives. But the end is near and Winter break is almost upon us!!
 
I hope you're able to catch both of our home games this week in Haas Pavilion. Our game Wednesday against Colorado is at 3 p.m. and then our Senior Night on Saturday begins at 7 p.m. It would mean a lot to not only the team, but especially the seniors because it will be your last time seeing them play in Haas Pavilion.
 
Thanks again for all of your support thus far. It truly means the world to us.
 
Go Bears!!
 
 

November 16, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!

It's a great week here in Berkeley. The end of conference play is approaching and we are officially done traveling for the 2017 season. We have four matches left, which two of those being USC and UCLA this weekend in Haas Pavilion.
 
Although I love getting the opportunity to travel to other schools and see how different each school is compared with Berkeley, I enjoy playing at home not only because we get to play in front of our home crowd, but I also do not have to worry about missing class. And on top of that, travel trips mean I have to do laundry when I get home, and nobody enjoys having to do laundry.
 
We're hoping to get a couple wins this weekend to hopefully help our case for the the NCAA Tournament. Both programs are exceptional and have had success this season, so it should be two highly competitive and fun matches. We play USC on Friday and 6 p.m. and UCLA on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., so we hope to see our fans in Haas Pavilion cheering us on.
 
Not only is it a huge match up for us in volleyball this week, but our football team also has the "Big Game" versus Stanford on Saturday. We wish them luck as they face the Cardinal and we're expecting them to come home with a W.
 
Also, alumni Jenelle Jordan just flew in to Berkeley yesterday from Houston to visit. JJ is staying in our house with my other roommates, Christine Alftin and Kat Knop. We are so excited to have her back with us for a few days and we are so thankful she is visiting with us because we miss having her out on the court with us.
 
I hope to see you in the gym this weekend cheering for your favorite Bears!!


November 8, 2017

Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!!

This weekend is our last travel trip as we head to Washington. We're going on to play the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars.
 
This past weekend we hosted the Oregon schools and it was a tough matchup. Our program is still dealing with critical injuries to some of our key players. With that, we were continuously trying to test out new rotations and also put new players in new positions.
 
This week is a short turnaround trip for us because we play on Thursday and Friday evening. On Thursday, we play the UW Huskies and then we travel to Pullman to face the WSU Cougars on Friday night. This week should be another set of competitive games given the fact that both are really strong programs, and we're still trying to work out a few kinks in our rotations to see what will help us be the most successful.
 
It's slowly getting colder here in Berkeley, but we've began to see a few rainy days which I'm really excited about. But, as we travel to Washington today, our team has packed the biggest, warmest, and coziest of jackets because it has already begun to snow there.
 
We're used to warm and sunshine-y weather here in California, so when we travel to colder places it is always a shock to us. Hopefully we won't freeze by the time we head back home!
 
I hope you guys will be able to watch our games this weekend. Thursday's match is on the Pac-12 Networks and there will be a live stream for Friday's match. We love our fans and appreciate you all. Thank you for all that you do for us!

Go Bears!!
 

November 2, 2017

Hey, Cal Volleyball fans! It's another great week in Berkeley. I can not believe the month of October is done already. We're down to our last month of conference play for the Pac-12 and season is flying by. The month of October is officially over, which means it's almost Thanksgiving, and on to Christmas! This time of year is my absolute favorite because it means I get to spend time with my family and friends.
 
Halloween was something special here in Berkeley. It was nice to see all the little kids running around in their costumes trick-or-treating. I always enjoy seeing all the kids' costumes. The best one I saw this year was a kid wearing an inflatable dinosaur.
 
We had a few of the girls on the team send in baby pictures of themselves dressed up for Halloween. I think my favorite costume was Christine Alftin's, which was a homemade fairy costume in 2005. I wish I could go back in time to being a little kid again so I could dress up and go trick-or-treating and get tons of candy.
 
I'm sitting here with Maddie Haynes as I type this blog and she wanted to say "HI!" to our fan club. She loves her fans and wanted to be featured in this blog. So there you go, Mads.
 
This week, we're back in Haas Pavilion and we host the Oregon schools. On Friday night, we play the Oregon Ducks and then we host the Oregon State Beavers on Sunday. We hope that you'll be able to come and catch both games this weekend to cheer us on.
 
Go Bears!!
 

October 26, 2017

Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!

Sorry that I wasn't able to post a blog last week. School has been quite busy for me due to midterm season. But I am back and ready to fill you in on what has been happening with Cal Volleyball.
 
This past weekend we were home and hosted the Washington schools, Washington State and UW. Friday night, we played the WSU Cougars and pulled out a 3-1 win! It was an exciting night for the Cal Bears. Unfortunately, we had two of our starters, Christine Alftin and Mackenzie Albrecht, go down with injuries during the match.
 
Moving forward, we went on to play the UW Huskies on Sunday afternoon. UW is a highly-ranked team and it is always a highly competitive match against the Huskies. We started out with a strong lead and managed to give the Huskies a run for their money throughout the entire match, but we came up just short. We had to make a few changes to our lineup with two of our key starters being out, but our team still made adjustments extremely well and handled the adversity with ease.
 
This week, we start the second half of conference play as we travel to play the Arizona schools. We already pulled out two wins against Arizona State and the University of Arizona. We're hoping to pull out two more wins against the two schools in order to continue to better our record in conference play.
 
We're continuing to work hard in the gym each practice to improve our game. We hope that you can catch both of our games this weekend on Friday and Sunday on the Pac-12 Networks. Your support means so much to us and we can not thank you enough.
 
Go Bears!!


October 12, 2017

Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!

It's been a busy week filled with midterms, practice, and the tragedy of the Napa and Sonoma fires. Cal Volleyball is deeply saddened by the tragic losses families have experienced this week due to these wildfires.  
.
.The team is now 11-6 overall, and we are looking to score two more wins this weekend down South. We are heading down to Southern California to face the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins. A big majority of our team is from Southern California, so we're always excited for this trip because we get to see our family and friends at the games. Being from Southern California myself, it's my favorite trip because I get to see a lot of friends from high school that stayed in Southern California for college.
 
In practice this week we continued to get better and make a few minor adjustments to set ourselves up for success this weekend. USC and UCLA are always highly competitive games and it's always an exciting game between the two schools.
 
Friday night, we face USC at 7 p.m. at the Galen Center. It would be awesome to see some Cal Volleyball fans in the arena to help cheer us on. Also, Saturday evening at UCLA is "Pink Night" to honor Breast Cancer Awareness for the month of October. So many loved ones have been affected and diagnosed with Breast Cancer and the volleyball community is committed to acknowledging those who have suffered. Our match against UCLA is at 6 p.m. on Saturday and is going to be aired on the Pac-12 Network.
 
We cannot thank you enough for the endless support. Cal Volleyball appreciates you all and we hope that you can possibly come catch a game down in Southern California this weekend!

As always, Go Bears!


October 5, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!

This past weekend was quite exciting for California Volleyball. We had a weekend sweep of the Arizona schools - ASU and University of Arizona. It was great to get two wins under our belts in the second week of Pac-12 conference play.
 
Friday night, we had a 3-0 win against Arizona State and we played amazing as a team. We were relentless, competitive, and full of energy. The energy in Haas Pavilion that the Cal band and fans brought was incredible. To get a sweep like that on Friday night was the greatest feeling and we are wanting to experience that again.
 
Sunday afternoon was our #SavStrong celebration and it was another memorable afternoon in Haas Pavilion. Friends, family, and members of the Cal family were there supporting Savannah Rennie and the environment was unforgettable. To see the love and support that was being spread around the gym was something truly special and I know Savannah appreciated it tremendously.
 
In honor of Savannah, we have also received a lot of support outside of Cal Athletics. Athletes from other universities have reached with regard to Savannah's story and are beginning to represent her during their competitions. It is truly breathtaking to see the love and support within Cal Athletics, and also outside of it. I know that Savannah is extremely thankful and appreciative of it as well.
 
This week we travel to Oregon to face Oregon State on Friday and the No. 16 Oregon Ducks on Sunday. Cal Volleyball is looking to pull out two more wins this weekend to pull farther ahead in conference play. Our game on Friday is televised on the Pac-12 Networks and we're hoping you will be able to catch us play some amazing volleyball! Until then, stay tuned through social media updates. And as always, Go Bears!!


September 28, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!

It's the second week of Pac-12 conference play. This week we are back in Haas Pavilion and hosting ASU and Arizona on Friday and Sunday. It's an important week for us, especially on Sunday because we are hosting #SavStrong Day for Savannah Rennie.
 
Savannah has been battling Non-Hodgkin Post-Transplant Lymphoma since last summer, and is receiving chemotherapy at Stanford University. Savannah has been through quite a lot since her time here at Cal, but there is no doubt in our mind she can beat this battle as well. Our team is inspired by her grit and determination and we all look up to her tremendously. She has inspired so many people around her and continues to do so each and every day.
 
Friday night we host ASU in Haas Pavilion at 7 p.m., and Arizona on Sunday at 11 a.m.. Both games should be very competitive and we are looking to get two conference wins out of this weekend's matchups. The team has been working hard in the gym this week to get better each and every practice.
 
We are hoping to see our fans in Haas to cheer us on. Along with the Cal straw hat band, our fans make Haas an unforgettable, exciting environment. We can't thank you enough for the constant support and praise. Cal Volleyball truly appreciates it and we can never thank you enough!
 

September 19, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans!
 
This past weekend was the ending to our 2017 preseason. Friday night was "Rich Feller Night" in celebration of our former coach Rich Feller's first year of retirement. We celebrated by having a dinner with friends, family, and alumni. There was a special slideshow presentation and Rich was honored in a ceremony before the match. It was a special night celebrating the legacy Rich left here with Cal Volleyball and the memories that were made during his 18 years coaching at the university. Seeing alumni and fans there to support and congratulate him was something that had to be seen in person.
 
We had a great win Friday night against Saint Mary's and the environment in Haas Pavilion was thrilling. The gym was filled with 2,000 fans cheering us on and creating an environment that would be tough to compete in if you were the visiting team. As a team, we played high-level, competitive volleyball which helped condition us for the Pac-12 Conference which begins this week. Saint Mary's is always a great team to play against and it is always an exciting game.
 
Saturday night, we traveled to University of the Pacific and came up just short in a five-set thriller. It was also a highly competitive game, but unfortunately, we couldn't pull out the win. We learned a lot from this last weekend of preseason games and we jumped right back into practice on Monday with the intent of getting better.
 
We play our first two conference matches this week with defending national champion Stanford on Wednesday, and then we travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes on Sunday. Both teams are ranked in the top 25, but we're planning on coming out tough and hoping to pull out two wins this weekend. Our team is known as the underdogs, but we are hoping to surprise a lot of teams this year and start to turn some heads.
 
I can't believe we are already beginning conference play, but we are ecstatic that the time has finally come. We feel ready and prepared to compete in the conference of champions. Both of our games this week will air on the Pac-12 Network and we hope you can follow us on television! Thank you for the constant support and we're ready for the official season to begin!
 
Go Bears!
 

September 14, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans.

This past weekend in Houston was a great tournament for us. We went 3-0, resulting in our team increasing our win streak to eight matches. Our record is currently 8-1 heading into our last two matches of our preseason schedule this Friday against Saint Mary's and Saturday at UOP.
 
Friday's match is important not only because we are playing Saint Mary's, but also because it is "Rich Feller Night." We will be honoring our former head coach, who is in his first year of retirement. We miss him in the gym always blowing his famous whistle at us all the time, but he still always manages to come into practices on his bike and hasn't missed a home game yet.
 
I asked the team to name some of their favorite qualities and memories of Coach Feller while he was here coaching at Cal. Rich always knew how to put a smile on someone's face or how to make someone laugh at his corny jokes. There were too many memories to write about in just a single blog post, but the greatest memories couldn't go untold.
 
Savannah Rennie and Christine Alftin both said their favorite memory of Rich was him riding into the gym on his electric bike (surprise, surprise) and pedaling around as the team was gearing up for practice. Savannah also mentioned Rich's love for the squirrels around Berkeley and in his neighborhood. He'd always come to practice with a new story or update about one of the squirrels that lived in his backyard, especially "Rusty" the squirrel. Savannah also complimented Coach Feller on his infamous Hawaiian shirts that no other college coach could possibly pull off as much as Rich did.
 
Maddie Haynes' favorite story was when we had a late-night game and had to come into Haas for an early-morning film session the next day. Rich was dressed in normal clothes (hiking boots, cargo pants, and a t-shirt) and the team had just sat down in the film room. The room was quiet and Rich sat down in his chair. Coach Matt had just begun to talk about the team we were scouting for our next game, when suddenly Rich had slammed both of his feet onto the table and put his hands behind his head as if it was suddenly time to kick back and relax. The team started to laugh hysterically, including the coaches, because it wasn't a surprise to us. Rich never needed to try hard to be funny; he is just naturally a funny guy and could make us burst out in laughter without any effort.
 
The team also looked forward to seeing Rich's daily Cyclometer report on Facebook to see how many miles he had biked for the day and what his bike route looked like. We also enjoyed watching him shake his hands repeatedly to see how many more steps he had "walked" on his Fitbit. Needless to say, Rich Feller always kept Cal Volleyball fun, and always kept his players on their toes for what joke was going to come next.
 
Thank you, Rich, for always believing in us and teaching us such amazing things here at Cal. We miss you, but we're so lucky that you are still around to ask for our autographs. We wish you nothing but happiness as you start a new life. Happy Retirement!
 
Go Bears!


September 7, 2017
 
Hey, Cal fans!

It's another great week in Berkeley. This week, we are heading to Houston, Texas, for our last preseason tournament. This weekend we will be playing Incarnate Word, Rice University, and Louisiana. We're looking forward to travelling and playing in another gym outside of Haas Pavilion. The month of August went by extremely fast, but I'm looking forward to seeing what September has in store for Cal Volleyball. With September upon us, it means we will start the Pac-12 season this month. Our conference opener is September 20^th at Stanford.
 
Over this past Labor Day weekend, we had our Cal Classic. Although it was incredibly hot in Berkeley, it was an amazing weekend and we swept Dartmouth and Eastern Washington, along with beating Texas Tech 3-1. Each game was extremely exciting and it was nice to get three more wins under our belts. We're continuing to get better each practice and each game.
 
As we head to Houston, our team along with the entire Cal Athletics family is deeply saddened by the destruction Hurricane Harvey caused. The athletics department as a whole has teamed up to fundraise and collect clothing donations to send to the people who have been affected by this tragedy. Along with Cal Volleyball and other teams in our athletics department, we are hoping to see an enormous amount of clothing donations to send to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. We are sending packages on September 15^th.
 
With that, we are looking forward to this weekend's tournament. We hope to come out of this weekend with three more wins under our belt. We hope that you can follow along and stay updated on our games! Our first match is Friday at 10:30 a.m. PT versus Incarnate Word and our second match is at 5 p.m. PT versus Rice. We will miss having our fans in Haas Pavilion, but we know you will be following us via social media!
 
Go Bears!!
 

August 31, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans! This past weekend we hosted our annual Cal Molten Classic tournament and played UC Irvine, Seattle University, and Loyola Chicago. It was great to finally play against other teams rather than scrimmaging ourselves like we had been for the past three weeks. We finished the weekend going 2-1 with great victories over Seattle and Loyola Chicago. As a team, we played with a lot of energy and it was a ton of fun to see our success on the court.
 
We've made a lot of changes and adjustments to our lineup, but one of the greatest additions to our team is freshman Mima Mirkovic. I've never seen a player hit a volleyball so hard. She is an amazing athlete and we are so lucky to have her be a part of our program. Not only is she an amazing volleyball player, but she is one of the funniest people on our team. We can always count on her to make us laugh and crack jokes that makes us all smile, including the coaches.
 
This past week was our first full week of school and volleyball. It is always an adjustment to get back into season along with school starting up again. But our team is adapting really well and we have had an amazing week of practice. It seems that every single practice we get better at a certain skill. Our team is determined to have an amazing season and we're willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
 
We are hosting another tournament this weekend at Haas Pavilion, the Cal Classic. We will be playing against Dartmouth, Eastern Washington, and Texas Tech. I hope we see a lot of Cal Volleyball fans in the gym again. Your energy is felt on the court and we really appreciate it! I hope to see you all there! It's going to be a great weekend filled with competitive volleyball and you won't want to miss it!
 
Go Bears!

 
August 24, 2017
 
Hey, Cal Volleyball fans! It's finally volleyball season! Last Saturday, we hosted the annual Blue and Gold Scrimmage and it was fun to finally be able to play in Haas Pavilion in front of our fans. We had a great turnout and the energy in the gym was unreal. We worked extremely hard during double days and it was exciting to show off all the hard work we have been putting in each day to be successful this season.
 
During double days, we trained twice a day, three hours at a time, almost seven days a week. With our new head coach, Matt McShane, and assistant coach Jennifer Dorr, we have really put a strong focus on getting stronger, more competitive, and all-around making improvements to better our game. It has been really fun getting to know our new assistant coach, Spencer McLaughlin, as well. Cal Volleyball has also hired on a new Director of Operations, Cayley Thurlby, and a volunteer assistant coach, Andrew Sato. The coaches have worked to incorporate new ideas and dynamics to the team which will help us have success on the court.
 
Our team has really committed to getting stronger, faster, and taking our game to the next level. We have also really bonded off the court. During a few days of our training camp, we had Coach Spencer's father, C-Mac, visit us from Hawaii and he worked with us on team bonding and strengthening our team culture. The team was able to really come together and we also had a lot of fun while doing it. We had a lot of laughs, tears, and all-around our team got a lot closer. It was a great time having C-Mac work with our team.
 
This week, we are back to training just once a day. We also started the fall semester on Wednesday! The first day of classes are always fun because usually you have fellow athletes in your classes, which makes the transition back into school a lot more fun and easier. Summer went by fast, but I'm ecstatic that the 2017 season is already here.
 
This weekend, we are also hosting our first tournament in Haas Pavilion, the Molten Classic. We will be hosting UC Irvine, Loyola Chicago, and Seattle University. There should be some great volleyball happening and it would be awesome to see a packed gym full of Cal Volleyball fans! We love having our fans in the gym and cheering us on. I hope to see you there and be able to watch us play some amazing volleyball!
 
Go Bears!