No. 15 Cal Hosts No. 18 Utah, Colorado

Friday, October 18

Berkeley, CA

7:00 PM

California

Utah

Photo by: Ariel Nava

10/16/2019 3:38 PM | Volleyball

Match Notes (PDF)Watch (Utah)Watch (Colorado)Live Stats

Bears, Utes Look To Stay At Top Of Conference On Friday Night.

By: Cal Athletics

No. 15 CAL vs No. 18 UTAH
Friday, Oct. 18 | 7:00 PM | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.

No. 15 CAL vs COLORADO
Sunday, Oct. 20 | 12 NOON | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.

BERKELEY - The Bears enter the second weekend of a four-match homestand after earning back-to-back sweeps over Arizona State and Arizona last week, making it four consecutive straight-set victories in Pac-12 play. California has opened the 2019 campaign by winning 15 of 16 matches to begin the season, its best record since winning 20 of the first 21 matches in 2010.

Tied for first-place in the Pac-12, No. 15 California is set for Homecoming weekend and will face No. 18 Utah at 7 p.m. on Friday and Colorado at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. The Bears took both matches over the Utes in 2018, while Utah holds the all-time advantage 38-31. Colorado won both matches against California in 2018, and the Buffs lead the all-time series with the Bears 10-5.

DOWN TO THREE
California enters the seventh week of the season among a select group of teams. The Bears are one of just three Power Five teams left in the country with one or fewer losses. At 15-1, Cal is among elite company with No. 3 Pittsburgh (17-1) and No. 1 Baylor (15-0) as the other two teams with just one or fewer losses.

LEADING BEAR
Junior middle blocker Preslie Anderson is making a name for herself in 2019. The Chandler, Ariz., native currently sits sixth in the country with a .446 hitting percentage clip, tallying a season-high 13 kills in the win over Washington State on Sept. 28 while adding 11 kills against then-No. 1 Stanford on Sept. 26 to give her 24 kills in the opening weekend of conference play. Anderson trails only Arizona's Devyn Cross in the conference, who currently is second in the nation at .461.

KEEP CLIMBING
The Bears enter week seven of play with a national ranking for the fifth consecutive week, checking in at No. 15 in the AVCA Coaches Poll after reeling off 15 wins in the first 16 matches to begin the season. California was No. 16 in last week's poll, No. 19 in week five, No. 21 in week four and week three marked the first time Cal was ranked in the poll since Nov. 18, 2013, when the Bears checked in at No. 23. After not receiving a single vote in the preseason version, California received votes in both the week one and week two rankings before breaking into the Top 25 in week three.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Not only are the Bears getting it done on the offensive end, the Cal defense is making its presence known as well. Opponents are hitting just .142 so far this season in matches against California, currently the eighth-best mark in the country and best in the conference. Only four opponents have hit better than .200 in a match against the Bears this season, Buffalo (.209) on Sept. 13, North Dakota State on Sept. 13 (.201), Stanford on Sept. 26 (.250) and Arizona State on Oct. 11 (.287). California has held five opponents below a .100 hitting percentage in matches so far in 2019.

ACE IN THE HOLE
California has seen a marked improvement at the service line this season under first year head coach Sam Crosson, who has made a point of wanting to see the Bears serve tougher. Currently sitting third in the conference in aces per set (1.56) as a team, senior Maddie Haynes tops the Pac-12 with an average of 0.39 aces per set through the first 16 matches.

MIMA MANIA
Mima Mirkovic, a junior outside hitter and 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention honoree opened her 2019 campaign strong at the Rams Volleyball Classic. Mirkovic was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the Bears with 34 kills, to go along with seven blocks and three aces over the weekend. She leads the team with 164 kills and is also second with 138 digs through the first 14 matches. Mirkovic has five double-doubles and recorded the 24th of her career in the win over Colorado State, tallying 20 kills with 18 digs, the fourth time in her career she has notched at least 20 kills in a match.

TEAM EFFORT
Led by Anderson (.446, sixth) and senior Savannah Rennie (.364) the Bears are fourth in the country and first in the Pac-12 in team hitting percentage through the first six weeks of the season. California is currently hitting .308 as a squad, trailing just Missouri (.308, third), Baylor (.315, second) and Texas (.326, first).

BLOCK PARTY
The Bears front row was dialed in on the road in Oregon, led by a season-high tying 14-block effort in the straight set win over Oregon State on October 4. It was the second consecutive match California recorded 14 blocks after putting up the same number in a five-set victory over Washington State on Sept. 28. Cal wrapped up the weekend by tallying eight blocks in the first win over Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena since 2012.

RENNIE REIGNS
Redshirt senior Savannah Rennie opened the season with a bang, taking home Rams Volleyball Classic MVP and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors in week one, followed by NDSU Classic All-Tournament Team recognition. Finally at full strength for the first time in her Cal career after overcoming a liver transplant, followed by post-transplant non-Hodgkin lymphoma during her first four years as a Bear, Rennie tallied 27 kills and 13 block assists, while recording a combined hitting percentage of .500 in Cal's three wins to open the season. She totaled 27 kills, 14 blocks and 10 digs in 27 sets a year ago.

MADDIE SHINES
Senior Maddie Haynes came on strong in Irvine, turning in the best three-match stretch of her career. Haynes recorded a team-high 14 kills in the win over North Carolina with a career-best .542 hitting percentage on 24 swings. She set her second personal best in as many days with four service aces against UNLV and finished with 27 kills over the three-match weekend tournament. Haynes came up on kill shy of tying her career-high with 17 kills in the win at Saint Mary's and has notched double-digit kills seven times already in 2019 after reaching double figures six times a year ago.

ALL-TOURNAMENT DUO
The Bears had two others named to the Rams Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team in junior outside hitter Mima Mirkovic and senior opposite hitter Bailee Huizenga. Mirkovic led the Bears with 34 kills, to go along with seven blocks and three aces over the weekend. She is also second on the team with 42 digs through the first three matches. Huizenga racked up 31 kills while adding 10 block assists in three matches, and notched her first-career double-double in the 3-1 victory over Colorado State with 12 kills and 12 digs.