LES SCHWAB WEST COAST CHALLENGE
VIKING PAVILION | PORTLAND, ORE.
*All times Pacific Time
 
FRIDAY, SEPT. 7
Cal vs. Gonzaga | 12:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Cal vs. Portland State | 7:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
 
SATURDAY, SEPT. 8
Cal vs. Fresno State | 10 a.m.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
 
 
BERKELEY – California volleyball continues its road tour this weekend, but will be taking its talents to the Pacific Northwest instead of the Midwest this go 'round.
 
The Golden Bears (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12) head to the Portland for the Les Schwab West Coast Challenge hosted by Portland State (1-5, 0-0 Big Sky) Sept. 7-8. Action for Cal begins on Friday at 12:30 p.m. (PT) against Gonzaga (0-5, 0-0 WCC) and closes with a bout against the hosting Vikings at 7:30 p.m.
 
Cal closes the weekend versus in-state rival Fresno State (6-1, 0-0 MWC) at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
 
The tournament marks the second consecutive road trip for the Bears, who are coming off of a 2-1 weekend in Vermillion, S.D. where Mima Mirkovic and Preslie Anderson were named to the all-tournament team in the inaugural South Dakota Classic.
 
After victoriously battling Northern Colorado (3-1), Cal fell to the host-team South Dakota (1-3). However, the Bears quickly routed Northeastern (3-0) to conclude the weekend with confidence.
 
Friday's opener marks the first matchup between the Bears and Bulldogs of Gonzaga since 1993 when the Bears swept. Cal's win was the lone meeting between the programs.
 
The Cal-Portland State contest will be the first meeting between the teams, with the Vikings looking to pick up their second win of the season as the Bears hope to prevent another loss after falling to South Dakota 3-1 in their first-ever face-off.
 
A more familiar Fresno State team awaits Cal on Saturday and have also suffered just one loss so far this season. The Bears hold a 12-8 series lead over the Bulldogs, but the teams have not competed against each other since 2010 when the Bears recorded their third consecutive win in the all-time matchup.
 
Notably, from 1977-1986 Cal and Fresno State competed twice each season, except in '86 when the teams only faced off once, before the 24 year hiatus.

"We're looking forward to another challenging road trip with all three teams testing us in different ways," said head coach Jenn Dorr. "We need to be prepared to face adversity on the road. The focus this week has been reducing errors on our side of the net and working on getting our offensive systems more in sync."
 

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. 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.
 
SAVSTRONG
Cal middle blocker Savannah Rennie is once again ready to take the court 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
 
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. 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.

 Scouting Gonzaga

• Faced two top-25 opponents in a pair of losses to then No. 11 UCLA to open season and Utah last weekend, who was ranked 22nd during time of competition
• Led by sophomore Sarah Penner with 57 kills on the season and redshirt sophomore Katelyn Oppio defensively at the net, who's totaled 14.0 blocks, including 9.0 against UCLA
• Jenna Kuehn leads the Bulldogs with 118 assists
• Looking for first win of the season

 
Scouting Portland State

• Led by Jenna Mullen with 68 kills and setter Maddy Reeb with 166 assists
• Fell to Pac-12 programs then 18th-ranked Oregon 3-0 and Oregon State, which is receiving votes, 3-0
• Swept Long Beach State in season opener, but has lost five consecutive matches

 
Scouting Fresno State

• After going undefeated opening weekend, finished 2-1 last weekend at home
• Led offensively by senior Jessica Gilbert's 101 kills and junior Madelyn Halteman's 286 assists
• Duo Montez Uigaese (33) and Haile Watson (32) lead the defensive effort at the net combining for 65 blocks so far