BERKELEY – The Cal women's water polo team once again faces a grueling schedule in 2019, with 19 matches against opponents that finished last year ranked in the Top-25 and six that participated in the 2018 NCAA Championships.

The Bears, who went 20-6 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in five years, opens the season by hosting the Cal Cup at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Jan. 26-27. Cal will face off against UC Davis, Fresno State and Long Beach State while Stanford, UCLA and San Jose State will also appear in the tournament.

In addition to the Cal Cup, the Bears will host seven other games in Berkeley – giving the program its most home matches in a season since 2010.

The Bears will make their annual appearance in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in February – a tournament that features the top-16 teams in the country. Cal begins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play March 3 at UCLA. The Bears' first home MPSF match is April 6 against defending NCAA champion USC.

The match against the Trojans will begin a four-game homestand to close out the season, including a date with Indiana, which joined the MPSF this season.

The 2019 MPSF Championships and NCAA Championships will be hosted by Stanford.

The Bears, who finished last season ranked No. 3 in the country, return All-Americans Emma Wright, Madison Tagg and Kitty Lynn Joustra as well as MPSF All-Newcomer selection Elli Protopapas.