Friday, September 13
Fargo, ND
10:30 AM
California
vs
Buffalo
Photo by: Glenn Feingerts
9/11/2019 5:27 PM | Volleyball
The Bears Take On Buffalo And Host North Dakota State.
CAL vs BUFFALO
Friday, Sept. 13 | 10 AM PT | Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse | Fargo, N.D.
CAL vs NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Friday, Sept. 13 | 5 PM PT | Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse | Fargo, N.D.
BERKELEY - The Bears finish a grueling stretch of three straight weeks on the road to start the season with California volleyball's first-ever trip to Fargo, North Dakota this weekend. Cal is scheduled for a Friday double-dip in the Great Plains, facing Buffalo (2-4) and then taking on host North Dakota State (3-3) at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
California enters the week winners of their first six matches, the best start to a season since 2013 when the Bears won their first seven games to begin the year. Friday afternoon will mark the first-ever matchup between California and Buffalo, while it will be only the second time in history the Bears have matched-up with the Bison, the first time coming on Sept. 5 2014, a 3-0 Cal victory at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Cal is climbing towards a spot in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, currently receiving 108 votes in week two, the third-most among teams currently outside the Top-25.
STARTING STRONG
The Bears have opened the season with six consecutive wins, taking tournament titles at both the Rams Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins and the UC Irvine Invitational in Southern California. Cal defeated Oklahoma (3-0), Colorado State (3-1) and Chicago State (3-1) in week one, followed by North Carolina (3-0), UNLV (3-0) and UC Irvine (3-0) in week two. California earned a win in one of the toughest road venues in the country to open the season, defeating host Colorado State in front of 1,836 fans at Moby Arena. The Rams have made 24 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and are receiving votes in the AVCA Week Two Poll.
MADDIE SHINES
Senior Maddie Haynes came on strong last week 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.
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. Finally at full strength for the first time in her Cal career after overcoming a liver transplant, followed by 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.
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.
KEEP CLIMBING
Cal is climbing towards a spot in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. After receiving zero votes in the preseason poll, The Bears are currently receiving 108 votes in week two, the third-most among teams currently outside the Top-25.
SETTING IT UP
Junior Isabel Potter and sophomore Jade Blevins both are back for the Bears this season after earning a lot of playing time at setter in 2018. Potter, a product of Moline, Ill., tallied a team-high 844 assists last season to average 7.21 per set. She also led the team with 32 aces, while recording 18 blocks. A Laguna Beach native, Blevins returns after a successful rookie campaign where she notched 413 assists (5.36 per set) and 14 aces.
EXPERIENCE RETURNS
The Bears welcome back four other seniors this season, including opposite hitter Bailee Huizenga, defensive specialists Emma Smith and Morgan Wright and
outside hitter Maddie Haynes.
FRESHMEN DEBUT
California's two freshmen made their Bear debuts last weekend in Colorado as Deniz Milli and Sydney Lilomaiava both earned time and got their names in the statbook against Chicago State. Milli recorded her first collegiate kill after coming on in the fourth set and Lilomaiava followed by coming onto the court and tallying her first-career block.
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 is also second on the team with 42 digs through the first three matches. Mirkovic recorded the 24th double-double 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.
ALL-PAC-12 RETURNERS
Cal returns a strong core for the 2019 season, including junior outside hitter Mima Mirkovic, junior middle blocker Preslie Anderson and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Forte, who each earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention a season ago. Mirkovic led the Bears with 405 kills last season, averaging 3.46 per set and had a team-high 359 digs. Forte was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after leading Cal with 82 blocks, including 26 solo to go along with 161 kills. Anderson totaled 240 kills (2.05 per set), 94 blocks and 16 aces in 2018.
Friday, Sept. 13 | 10 AM PT | Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse | Fargo, N.D.
CAL vs NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Friday, Sept. 13 | 5 PM PT | Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse | Fargo, N.D.
BERKELEY - The Bears finish a grueling stretch of three straight weeks on the road to start the season with California volleyball's first-ever trip to Fargo, North Dakota this weekend. Cal is scheduled for a Friday double-dip in the Great Plains, facing Buffalo (2-4) and then taking on host North Dakota State (3-3) at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
California enters the week winners of their first six matches, the best start to a season since 2013 when the Bears won their first seven games to begin the year. Friday afternoon will mark the first-ever matchup between California and Buffalo, while it will be only the second time in history the Bears have matched-up with the Bison, the first time coming on Sept. 5 2014, a 3-0 Cal victory at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Cal is climbing towards a spot in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, currently receiving 108 votes in week two, the third-most among teams currently outside the Top-25.
STARTING STRONG
The Bears have opened the season with six consecutive wins, taking tournament titles at both the Rams Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins and the UC Irvine Invitational in Southern California. Cal defeated Oklahoma (3-0), Colorado State (3-1) and Chicago State (3-1) in week one, followed by North Carolina (3-0), UNLV (3-0) and UC Irvine (3-0) in week two. California earned a win in one of the toughest road venues in the country to open the season, defeating host Colorado State in front of 1,836 fans at Moby Arena. The Rams have made 24 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and are receiving votes in the AVCA Week Two Poll.
MADDIE SHINES
Senior Maddie Haynes came on strong last week 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.
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. Finally at full strength for the first time in her Cal career after overcoming a liver transplant, followed by 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.
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.
KEEP CLIMBING
Cal is climbing towards a spot in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. After receiving zero votes in the preseason poll, The Bears are currently receiving 108 votes in week two, the third-most among teams currently outside the Top-25.
SETTING IT UP
Junior Isabel Potter and sophomore Jade Blevins both are back for the Bears this season after earning a lot of playing time at setter in 2018. Potter, a product of Moline, Ill., tallied a team-high 844 assists last season to average 7.21 per set. She also led the team with 32 aces, while recording 18 blocks. A Laguna Beach native, Blevins returns after a successful rookie campaign where she notched 413 assists (5.36 per set) and 14 aces.
EXPERIENCE RETURNS
The Bears welcome back four other seniors this season, including opposite hitter Bailee Huizenga, defensive specialists Emma Smith and Morgan Wright and
outside hitter Maddie Haynes.
FRESHMEN DEBUT
California's two freshmen made their Bear debuts last weekend in Colorado as Deniz Milli and Sydney Lilomaiava both earned time and got their names in the statbook against Chicago State. Milli recorded her first collegiate kill after coming on in the fourth set and Lilomaiava followed by coming onto the court and tallying her first-career block.
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 is also second on the team with 42 digs through the first three matches. Mirkovic recorded the 24th double-double 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.
ALL-PAC-12 RETURNERS
Cal returns a strong core for the 2019 season, including junior outside hitter Mima Mirkovic, junior middle blocker Preslie Anderson and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Forte, who each earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention a season ago. Mirkovic led the Bears with 405 kills last season, averaging 3.46 per set and had a team-high 359 digs. Forte was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after leading Cal with 82 blocks, including 26 solo to go along with 161 kills. Anderson totaled 240 kills (2.05 per set), 94 blocks and 16 aces in 2018.
Players Mentioned
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DS
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