BERKELEY – After picking up its first conference victory at home with a 3-1 win over No. 21 Washington State, California opens a four-game road stint this weekend.
 
Three of the Golden Bears' next four opponents currently hold spots in the top 25, beginning with the No. 16 Ducks (12-6, 5-3 Pac-12) of Oregon on Friday in Eugene, Ore. Set for a 7 p.m. (PT) first serve, the match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with former Bear Holly McPeak calling the action.
 
The Bears (10-9, 2-6 Pac-12) will continue play on Sunday at Oregon State (10-10, 0-8 Pac-12) at noon in Corvallis, Ore. The match will also be covered by the Pac-12 Networks.
 
Cal, which has defeated a pair of top-25 foes in the last two weeks – the Bears defeat a then-ranked No. 24 Utah 3-2 in Salt Lake City on Oct. 7 – will have its work cut out for it as it looks for its first win against Oregon since 2011.
 
While the Bears hold a 52-25 record in the all-time series with the Ducks, Cal has lost eight consecutive contests to Oregon, which finished in the NCAA second round last season.
 
Fortunately, downing the Cougars recently has been a momentum builder for the Bears and individual performances have impacted play positively.
 
Preslie Anderson continues to be the most efficient part of Cal's offense. The middle blocker currently paces the Bears with a .390 attacking clip that is enough for the number two spot on the league ledger.
 
Teammate and fellow middle blocker Lauren Forte also holds a top-two spot on the conference charts with a 1.58 blocks per set average. Against Wazzu she recorded a game-high 11.0 total blocks, which is the most of any Bear since 2012 when Kat Brown tallied 12.0 blocks, also against Washington State.
 
Mima Mirkovic continues to provide offensive and defensive balance for the Bears as she paces the team in both kills (230) and digs (236).
 
Continued strong play at the net and a collective effort will be critical against Oregon State as well as Cal looks for its first win since 2013 against the Beavers, and OSU looks for its first conference win of the season.
 
"It will be another challenging road trip in the Pac-12," said head coach Jennifer Dorr. "We're looking forward to a well-executed week of practice that will hopefully translate to our two matches. Both of our opponents this week play a different style of volleyball and that will challenge our volleyball IQ."
 
Cal is 2-3 in true road games so far this season, but are 5-4 overall away from Haas Pavilion.
 
Scouting Oregon

• Part of a three-way tie for third in conference play along with Washington and UCLA with a 5-3 league record
• Hold a 1-3 record against top-5 opponents this season with the lone win coming against a then-top-ranked Minnesota team in a 3-1 decision on Sept. 7
• Led by senior Lindsey Vander Weide with 3.44 k/s (213 kills) which is 10th best in the conference, while the defense is paced by junior middle blocker Ronika Stone with 81.0 total blocks and a 1.25 block per set clip which ranks fourth in the Pac-12

 
Scouting Oregon State

• On an eight-game losing streak, having won just two sets in the last six matches
• Have recorded 90 aces collectively, allowing only 73, while posting 200 total blocks and allowing 171.5
• Led by sophomore Maddie Goings with 261 kills and Maddy Gravley with 83.0 blocks

 
Headlines
Cal Opens the Dorr
The Bears will have a new body in their front chair as Jennifer Dorr opens her collegiate head coaching career in the 2018 season. Dorr, a former standout setter at Hawai'i, is a familiar face around the program after joining Cal's staff under legendary coach Rich Feller in 2009 as the Director of Operations. In 2011, the Newport Beach, Calif., native, was promoted to assistant coach for the Bears and contributed to three NCAA Tournament appearances, three top-10 recruiting classes, four All-America honors, 15 All-Pac-12 selections, the 2011 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 40 Pac-12 All-Academic selections, and three CoSIDA Academic All-District picks. Notably, Dorr is the lone coach in program history to finish a nonconference slate undefeated at home in their first season. Dorr, who is married to former Cal All-American swimmer John Dorr, is a mom of two twin girls Lily and Piper and raises them in the same manner in which she was raised, on the volleyball courts.
 
Built Forte Tough
Lauren Forte has recovered from a slow start this season to become a top-2 conference force at the net with a current block per set average of 1.58. On Oct. 14, the Tempe, Ariz., native, recorded 11.0 total blocks in the Bears big win over a then-21st-ranked Washington State to mark Cal's second top-25 takedown of the season (the first was at Utah on Oct. 7 in a 3-2 decision). Forte's performance against the Cougars was the most blocks in a single game since 2012, when Kat Brown recorded 12.0 on Nov. 8 against Wazzu in Berkeley.
 
Preslie Anderson: Middle Child, Middle Blocker
Undoubtedly the emotional and vocal leader of the team, Preslie Anderson also leads in attacking percentage with a .390 clip. That note currently ranks second in the Pac-12. Anderson has found herself perfectly positioned in the middle, both on the court and in her family. Recently, the sophomore from Chandler, Ariz., opened up about the uniqueness of growing up as a middle child in a competitive family laden with collegiate athletes. Anderson's father Mike was a two-time All-American at Arizona State, while her older brother Ian plays football at South Dakota School of Mines. More than a handful of her mother Nancy's siblings have played at least one sport in college. Nancy is 1 of 10. More on Anderson's life in the middle can be found in the full feature Middle Child, Middle Blocker on CalBears.com.
 
SAVSTRONG
Cal middle blocker Savannah Rennie returned to the court for the first time since 2016 against Portland State on Sept. 7 recording six kills, three blocks and two digs. Those numbers paled in comparison to the simple fact that she was back in action after battling another serious medical condition. Rennie made her college debut in 2016 after sitting out her freshman season because of a liver transplant. She went on to play in 12 matches that year, but was sidelined again last season after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Post-Transplant Lymphoma. Rennie went through treatments and returned in time for spring workouts last semester. Rennie came to Cal as the No. 20 "Senior Ace" by PrepVolleyball.com. Highlighting Rennie's return, Cal's Jonathan Okanes published 'Inspiring Vulnerability' on Sept. 6 to detail the remarkable journey with quotes from the junior about her return courtside.
 
Carmen Continues at Cal
Senior outside hitter Carmen Annevelink, who earns it in the classroom, just as much as she has on the court, opted to remain with the Bears and complete her collegiate playing eligibility this season. The integrative biology major finished her required credits to graduate in the spring of 2018, but was not ready to walk away from the court so soon. A two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, Annevelink returns as one of Cal's kills leaders from last year, tied for the second-most kills on the team with sophomore Mima Mirkovic, recording 264 kills apiece in 2017.
 
Easily JADE-ed
After grueling two-a-days, freshman Jade Blevins proved to be a true gem for the Golden Bears and was named the starting setter. She currently leads the team with 400 assists after the opening weekend. The Laguna Beach, Calif., native, racked up noteworthy honors during her prep days including being named an Under Armour All-American, earning All-Academy League MVP as a senior, and leading Sage Hill High School to four league titles. Her success is undoubtedly due to hard work, but can also be attributed to athletic genes as her father James played basketball and mother Lynn played volleyball at Cal Poly. Her sister Alissa also played college volleyball at Providence. The impressive lineage doesn't stop there as both of her grandfathers were collegiate basketball players. Her paternal grandfather Jim played at Ball State, while her mother's dad Gordon Kessler played at Maryland.
 
Seven Newcomers
The 2018 roster lists seven new names, six which are freshman and one junior college transfer. Freshmen include recently named starting setter Jade Blevins (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Bella Bergmark (Larkspur, Calif.), Gabby Bellizzi (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), Jessica Houghton (Menlo Park, Calif.) who comes from a family of Stanford graduates, Makana Meyer (Burbank, Calif.), and Darian Clark (Phoenix, Ariz.) who ranked among the top 250 recruits in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com and was a three-time AVCA Phenom pick. The Bears also welcome junior Morgan Wright (Wheatland, Calif.), a transfer from West Valley College. An All-Coast Conference selection while at West Valley, Wright is one of two walk-ons, along with Houghton.
 
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