STANFORD INVITATIONAL
At Avery Aquatic Center 
Saturday, Feb. 2
No. 19 Indiana vs. No. 4 Cal, 11:30 a.m.
No. 8 Pacific vs. No. 4 Cal, 5:45 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 3
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 4 Cal, 12:30 p.m.


The No. 4 Cal women's water polo team hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to the Stanford Invitational for matches against three nationally ranked opponents as well as an exhibition match against the Chinese National Team. The Bears opened the season with three wins over ranked foes at their own Cal Cup last weekend. All-American Emma Wright, who missed last weekend while playing for the Canadian National Team at the UANA Cup in San Paolo, Brazil,  is expected to rejoin the team for the matches at Stanford.

 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears pulled out a trio of hard-fought victories last weekend at the Cal Cup at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal knocked off No. 17 Fresno State, No. 13 UC Davis and No. 11 Long Beach State, each by four goals or less. Senior Sarah Siepker, a former MPSF All-Newcomer selection who has played in the shadow of a handful of All-Americans for most of her career, announced herself as a major force in 2019 with seven goals, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Sophomore Brigit Mulder came up big against the Bulldogs with four second-half goals to lift the Bears to the win. Sophomore Elli Protopapas also scored seven goals over the weekend.

END OF AN ERA
Last year marked the departure of one of the most accomplished senior classes in program history, as four of the six seniors who graduated were All-Americans. That included Cal's all-time leading scorer Dora Antal, who became just the third player in NCAA women's water polo history to be honored as a four-time First Team All-American. Anna Illes, another four-time All-American, left the Bears ranked No. 7 on the team's all-time scoring list while Carla Carrega and Kindred Paul were two-time All-Americans. Antal and Illes were also Olympians for their native Hungary.

THE ALL-AMERICANS
Despite the loss of four All-Americans from last year's team, the Bears still feature three returning All-Americans. Junior Emma Wright, who led Cal in scoring last year with 47 goals, is a two-time ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American. Senior Madison Tagg excelled last year in her first season as a full-time starter to also earn honorable mention - she begins this year ranked eighth on Cal's all-time list with 291 career saves. Sophomore Kitty Lynn Joustra also was named an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American after emerging as one of the top centers in the country.

NEW-LOOK STAFF
Head Coach Coralie Simmons welcomed two new assistant coaches during the offseason, as Molly Barnes and Lazar Andric joined the staff. Barnes served as the head coach at Cal State Northridge for eight seasons while Andric is a former All-American goalie at Cal who has been a member of the Bears' men's water polo staff for the past two years.

ABOUT NO. 19 INDIANA
• Hoosiers became members of the MPSF this season
• Former Golden Bear Taylor Dodson is an assistant coach for Indiana
• All three of Indiana's losses are to nationally ranked opponents
• CAL ALL-TIME VS. INDIANA: 12-1

ABOUT NO. 8 PACIFIC
• JR Kyra Christmas and JR Mariana Duarte were each All-Americans last season
• Tigers won the GCC championship last season with a perfect 7-0 record
• UOP was the No. 5 seed in last season's NCAA Championships
• CAL ALL-TIME VS. PACIFIC: 36-0

ABOUT NO. 2 STANFORD
• Cardinal went 3-0 at the Cal Cup last weekend
• JR Makenzie Fischer is the reigning MPSF Player of the Week
• FR Madison Stamen is the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Week
• CAL ALL-TIME VS. STANFORD: 22-55