NO. 7 CAL (7-4) AT NO. 14 UC DAVIS (6-5)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15 | 10 A.M. PT | SCHAAL AQUATICS CENTER | DAVIS, CALIF.
LIVE STATS



The No. 7 Cal women's water polo team will make the short trip eastward to take on its University of California counterpart in Davis on Saturday. The Bears and Aggies have faced off once previously this season, with Cal winning 12-8 during the Cal Cup at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Bears are coming off a 17-8 rout of No. 17 Pacific last weekend, a game in which 12 different Golden Bears scored and Cal used an 8-0 scoring run to pull away.


 

1-2 PUNCH
Cal juniors Brigit Mulder and Claire Sonne form one of the most potent tandems in the MPSF. The pair is tied for the conference lead at 1.27 assists per game and each rank in the top-10 in four different categories of MPSF leaders. They are tied for second in total assists with 14, while Mulder is tied for third in goals (23) and Sonne is 8th (20). Mulder is also third in points (37) and points per game (3.36) and Sonne ranks 4th (34) and 6th (3.09) in the same categories, respectively. 

TOUGHEST SCHEDULE
The Bears have the toughest schedule in the nation in terms of nationally ranked opponents. All but one of Cal's opponents this season are ranked in this week's CWPA Top-25, and the only team that isn't ranked - Cal State East Bay -  was receiving votes earlier in the season. No other team can make that claim. Among the teams the Bears will play are eight teams currently ranked in the top-10, and that doesn't count potential opponents at next week's Barbara Kalbus Invitational, which features the top-16 teams in the country.

GARCIA COMES ON
Senior Kristina Garcia has become a major factor in Cal's playing rotation after seeing minimal action during her first three years in Berkeley. She made her presence felt during the Cal Cup at the end of January, scoring five goals in three games and helping the Bears knock off No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 12 UC Davis along the way. She scored two goals each against the Anteaters and Aggies, including back-to-back goals to break a second-half tie against UC Davis. Garcia has seven goals this season after having scored just one career goal during her first three years at Cal.

NEW-LOOK BEARS
In addition to losing its six seniors from last year, Cal is playing this season without Emma Wright, Kitty Lynn Joustra and Elli Protopapas - three of the Bears' top four scorers from a year ago who each are taking this season off to train with their respective national teams in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Wright, a three-time ACWPC All-American, has already helped Canada qualify for the Summer Games while Joustra (The Netherlands) and Protopapas (Greece) is looking to do the same. Joustra is a two-time All-American while Protopapas was named to the 2018 MPSF All-Newcomer Team and ranked fourth on the the Bears with 31 goals last year.

USHERING IN NEW FACES
The Bears have 10 freshmen on the 2020 roster, a handful of whom are already seeing extensive playing time. Attacker Sophie Leggett has 10 goals in five games and was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 21. Cecily Turner has six goals in seven games with a team-high seven field blocks while Shea Salvino was the MPSF Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 14. Ruby Swadling has also seen a lot of playing time and has recorded five steals in seven games.

CENTER OF ATTENTION
The Bears have made a habit of getting dominant play from their centers under head coach Coralie Simmons, and this season is no different despite the absence of First Team All-American Kitty Lynn Joustra. The combination of sophomore Grace Raisin, senior Hannah DeRose and junior Georgia Gilmore has combined for 26 goals and 64 earned exclusions, with Raisin accounting for a team-high 42 drawn exclusions.

ABOUT NO. 14 UC DAVIS
• All five of the Aggies' losses are to teams ranked in the top-20
• Among UCD's wins are an 11-6 triumph over then-No. 7 Michigan
• All-American center Noelle Wijnbelt leads the Aggies with 33 goals
• CAL ALL-TIME VS. UC DAVIS: 43-2