BERKELEY – Dora Antal and Anna Illes participated in their last first practice at Cal on Wednesday, and quite frankly they're not quite sure how to feel about it.

"Sometimes I feel really sad and sometimes I feel really happy," said Antal, the only three-time First Team All-American in Cal women's water polo history. "It's kind of sad that this is the very last semester of playing here. But coming to the United States, studying at a really good university and playing water polo here at a high level – it's kind of like a dream come true."

The Bears opened training camp for the 2018 season on Wednesday at Spieker Aquatics Complex, and Antal and Illes' familiar faces were one of many reasons Cal is armed with high expectations. The duo from Hungary has played in the Olympic Games and dominated NCAA water polo for three seasons. They hope the fourth season results in something special.

"We have the biggest chance to accomplish something that we haven't done," said Illes, also a three-time All-American. "I'm very excited to see what this team can do."

It's only natural that Antal and Illes are the face of the Cal program in 2018. Antal played in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics while Illes joined her in 2016. Their list of individual accomplishments in the collegiate game is a long one, and they've led the Bears to the NCAA Championships in each of their first three seasons in Berkeley.

"You always represent something," Antal said. "During the Olympic Games, you are representing your country, which is completely different than representing your school. I really think we have a really big chance to win this year. I'm really excited."

It seems like Antal and Illes have been at Cal for a while, but they actually left for a year to train with the Hungarian National Team leading up to the 2016 Olympics. But they still stayed connected to their team in Berkeley, and vice versa.

Now seniors, it makes sense that the Hungarian duo are team leaders. But that's something that took some evolution because of the cultural and language obstacles they faced.

"Cal has taught me a lot about team experience, team culture," Illes said. "We have to pull and push each other, no matter what. Team is more important than individuals."

Antal and Illes have always commanded respect from teammates because of their work ethic and performance. But as they have become more comfortable with team and American culture, they are growing into more holistic team leaders as well.

"At the beginning, we had a lot of team struggles with speaking and communicating well," Antal said. "Now, I feel like it's more natural."

Antal enters the 2018 season ranked fourth on Cal's all-time scoring list with 197 career goals and needing just 20 more to become the program's career scoring leader. But the Bears' firepower this season extends well beyond the Hungarian pair. Seniors Kindred Paul and Carla Carrega and sophomore Emma Wright are All-Americans themselves, and juniors Rachael Lewin and Kacey Avalos each scored double-digits in goals last season.

Cal also features nine freshmen, several of whom could contribute right away. Among them are Elli Protopapas of the Greece National Team and Brigit Mulder and Kitty Lynn Joustra of the Dutch National Team.

The Bears begin the season Jan. 20-21 at the Rainbow Invite in Honolulu.