No. 21 CAL vs No. 1 STANFORD
Thursday, Sept. 26 | 7:30 PM  | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.

No. 21 CAL vs WASHINGTON STATE
Saturday, Sept. 28 | 1 PM  | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif.

BERKELEY - The Bears head into the Pac-12 slate with momentum as one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the country. California has opened the 2019 campaign by winning 10 consecutive matches to begin the season, its best record since winning the first 13 matches in 2011. 

No. 21 California is set for a conference double-dip with defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Stanford visiting Haas Pavilion on Thursday at 7:30 pm. The Big Spike will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network. The Bears follow by entertaining Washington State on Saturday at 1 pm inside Haas. Stanford leads the all-time series with Cal, 76-12, but first-year Bears head coach Sam Crosson was an assistant last time Cal defeated Stanford in 2011, and Crosson was 4-0 against the Cardinal during his stint under Rich Feller. The Bears lead the all-time series with Washington State, 45-26, and swept the Cougars in 2018. 

ONLY TWO 
The No. 21 Bears are one of just two remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I volleyball, along with No. 2 Baylor (9-0), after eight other teams suffered their first defeats last week. The 10-0 start for California is the best beginning to a season since winning the first 13 matches in 2011, when head coach Sam Crosson was an assistant coach under long-time head man Rich Feller.  

LEADING BEAR
Junior middle blocker Preslie Anderson is making a name for herself so far in 2019. The Chandler, Ariz., native currently leads the country with a .523 hitting percentage clip and is the only player hitting .500 or better across the nation. Florida International's Chelsea Hudson is currently second behind Anderson, hitting .495 on the season.   

KEEP CLIMBING
The Bears enter week four with a national ranking for the second consecutive week, checking in at No. 21 in the AVCA Coaches Poll after reeling off 10 wins in a row to begin the season. Last week 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 of the poll, California received votes in both the week one and week two rankings before breaking into the Top 25 in week three.  

TEAM EFFORT
Led by Anderson (First, .523) and senior Savannah Rennie (Eighth, .470) the Bears top the country in team hitting percentage through the first month of the season. California is currently hitting .350 as a squad, just ahead of second place Baylor (.348). Missouri (.343), Texas (.327) and South Dakota (.315) round out the top five.     

CROSSON CONNECTION
First-year head coach Sam Crosson has led the Bears to their best start since 2011, a year that has a lot of meaning for the new head man. Crosson, who was an assistant coach at California from 2010-12 under long-time head coach Rich Feller before leaving to lead the program at Cal Poly, was on the Bears' bench last time they were victorious against the Bay Area rival. In fact, Crosson was 4-0 against the Cardinal during his first stint with the Bears. 

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 .146 so far this season in matches against California, currently the seventh-best mark in the country. 

RENNIE REIGNS
Redshirt senior Savannah Rennie has 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.

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.

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.

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.