AGGIE INVITE
AT SCHAAL AQUATICS CENTER | DAVIS, CALIF.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
NO. 4 CAL (7-2) VS. RV CALIFORNIA BAPTIST (5-6) | 10:00 A.M. PT
LIVE STATS

NO. 4 CAL VS. NO. 17 UC DAVIS (3-5) | 12:20 P.M. PT
LIVE STATS

The No. 4 California women's water polo team continues non-conference play this Saturday with two games at the Aggie Invite at Schaal Aquatics Center. After several weeks of facing only top-15 competition, the Bears carry a 7-2 record into matchups with California Baptist (RV) and tournament host No. 17 UC Davis. Cal is coming off a 2-1 week at the Stanford Invitational which saw it defeat No. 6 Michigan 15-12 and No. 10 Arizona State 15-3 before falling to No. 1 Stanford 14-8. The Bears have yet to lose to an opponent outside of the No. 1 Cardinal.

BEAR NECESSITIES

 

STANFORD INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Golden Bears went 2-1 for the second straight weekend, shaking off a slow start last Saturday to defeat No. 6 Michigan 15-12 behind a career-high five goals by Reagan Whitney. Later that day, the junior was also one of five Bears to score twice in the 15-3 win over No. 10 Arizona State. Cal put together one of its best defensive efforts of the season against the Sun Devils, allowing its fewest goals yet. Senior goalkeeper had eight saves in three quarters, including three penalty stops. Junior Maryn Dempsey led the MPSF with six assists last week and senior Cecily Turner continued filling it up with five goals to extend to a team-best 15 for the year.

SAVED BY THE ISABEL
After becoming just the second Cal goalie ever to be named a First Team All-American last year, Isabel Williams is off to a strong start again this season. The Severna Park, MD, native currently leads the MPSF in saves by a wide margin with 88 – 23 more than San Jose State's Mary Askew's second-highest total. Along with a conference-best 9.8 saves per game, Williams also ranks seventh in steals with 11. She currently sits No. 8 on the Bears' all-time saves list with 381 in her career. In 2022, she led the MPSF with 10.7 per game and amassed 245 saves overall - the fourth-highest single-season mark in program history. After last season, Williams also spent time training with the U.S. National Team.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Senior Cecily Turner is coming off a very strong week in which she provided great spacing for the offense and put in five goals, several coming from long distance to give her a team-leading 15 on the season. She contributed in a number of other ways as well, including dishing out four assists and drew three exclusions on her way to an MPSF Player of the Week nomination.

Juniors Maryn Dempsey, Ruby Swadling and Reagan Whitney all did their part as well, each ending the weekend tied for second on the team with 13 goals. Dempsey had an MPSF-best six assists to go with her three goals and five earned exclusions. She leads the Bears in assists (10) and total goal contributions (23). Swadling was one of three Bears with multiple multi-goal games at the Stanford Invitational and currently ranks third in the conference with 12 sprints won. Whitney scored in all three games to lead Cal with eight for the weekend.

CAL CUP RECAP
The Bears went 2-1 in their first home action of the season at Spieker Aquatics Complex, with wins of 15-4 over No. 17 San Jose State and 14-7 against No. 12 UC Davis separated by a hard-fought 9-6 defeat to No. 1 Stanford. Senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams was magnificent once again, racking up 11 saves in just three quarters in the win over the Spartans and helping the Bears stay within striking distance of the Cardinal until late in the game with 14 more saves. On the offensive end, redshirt freshman Jenna Tauscher recorded her first career hat trick versus the Spartans while Maryn Dempsey added three goals of her own against SJSU. In the win over UCD, junior Reagan Whitney helped orchestrate a 5-0 run out of the gates with two early goals while also adding two assists.

STRONG START
The 2023 season got off to a promising start when the Bears defeated three top-10 opponents at the Bulldog Fest in Fresno. Cal opened the season by defeating No. 5 UC Irvine 15-10 then followed up with a 13-10 victory over No. 7 Michigan and a 16-10 triumph over No. 8 Fresno State. Seniors Shea Salvino and Cecily Turner and sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt each scored seven goals during the weekend, with Salvino being recognized as the MPSF Player of the Week for her efforts. The Bears had 14 different players score goals during the tournament, including the first career goals for freshmen Millie Quin, Janna Tauscher and Abbi Magee.

WOMEN'S SPORTS AMPLIFICATION CHALLENGE
Cal Athletics is celebrating 50 years of Title IX by joining schools across the country in the Women's Sports Amplification Challenge. To participate, simply find the "Check-In Here" QR Code located just inside the main entrance at Spieker Aquatics Complex and scan to boost Cal's rank and be eligible to win Amazon gift cards.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST (RV)
• The Lancers are 5-0 against unranked teams and 0-6 versus ranked teams this season
• CBU has two common opponents with Cal, losing 17-5 to No. 10 ASU 17-5 and 16-5 to No. 7 Michigan 16-5 during opening weekend
• In its only game against a top-5 opponent, CBU fell to No. 2 USC 16-6
  • CAL ALL-TIME VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST: 4-0

ABOUT NO. 17 UC DAVIS
• The Aggies were initially ranked No. 12 in the CWPA preseason national poll
• Goalkeeper Sophia Noble leads the Big West with 81 saves and a .551 save percentage
• The Bears have won the last 10 meetings with the Aggies, the last of which occurred in 2020
  • CAL ALL-TIME VS. UC DAVIS: 44-2