AT SRAC POOL | SAN JOSE, CALIF.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28
NO. 6 CAL (17-8, 3-3 MPSF) VS NO. 15 INDIANA (17-12, 2-4) | 2:30 PM PT
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM
 

The No. 6 California women's water polo team opens the 2023 MPSF Championships on Friday with a first-round matchup against No. 15 Indiana. The Golden Bears (17-8, 3-3 MPSF) took a 9-7 home win over the Hoosiers (17-12, 2-4) – their 14th consecutive head-to-head victory – in their only matchup of the season on March 18. With a win over Indiana, Cal would move into the semifinals to face top-seeded USC for the second straight year. The No. 1 Trojans narrowly escaped with a 15-14 overtime win over the Bears in their only meeting this season. Last postseason, the Bears took third at the MPSF Championships after Rozanne Voorvelt's clutch block sealed a 10-9 win over No. 3 UCLA 10-9 in the third-place game.
 

 

BEAR NECESSITIES

 

REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Playing in front of a packed, Senior Day crowd on the final day of the regular season Saturday, the Bears fought hard against No. 2 Stanford before eventually falling 16-9. Senior Cecily Turner recorded her team-leading seventh hat trick of the season in style, helping to keep Cal within striking distance until the Cardinal pulled away late in the third quarter. It was the most goals any Bear has scored in four games against Stanford this season. Senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams went for nine saves and three steals, while junior Maryn Dempsey added a pair of goals.

MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
The Bears take the No. 4 seed and a No. 6 national ranking into the MPSF Championships for the second straight year. A first-place finish will automatically give them a spot at the NCAA Championships (May 12-14) while a deep run will improve their chances of earning an at-large berth.

On Friday, Cal faces an Indiana side led by All-MPSF goalkeeper Mary Askew, who helped keep the Bears in single digits with 12 saves in the Hoosiers' 9-7 loss at Spieker Aquatics Complex in March. Redshirt freshman Claire Rowell led Cal with a career-high four goals in that game, while Williams led the defense with nine saves and a season-best five steals. Winners in four of its last five outings, Indiana heads into the tournament with its highest win total (17) since 2018. 

A win over Indiana will pit Cal against No. 1 USC. In last year's MPSF semifinal, the Bears were outlasted in a 10-8 defeat in the Trojans' home pool. Their most recent meeting in March provided one of the most thrilling atmospheres all season, as junior Ruby Swadling poured in a career-high six goals, one of which came in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. Williams also equalized on a 7-on-6 in the final minute of the second overtime before the Trojans put away the game-winner.

SIX BEARS NAMED ALL-MPSF
Cutino Award Watch List and All-MPSF First Team selections Isabel Williams and Cecily Turner led a group of six Bear student-athletes who earned All-Conference recognition for their play during the 2023 regular season. Fellow seniors Ruby Swadling and Shea Salvino and junior Maryn Dempsey all earned All-MPSF Honorable Mentions, while Rowell made the MPSF All-Newcomer Team.

SAVED BY THE ISABEL
After becoming the second Cal goalie to be named a first-team All-American last year, Isabel Williams has become the first Bear at her position to earn multiple All-MPSF First Team selections. The Severna Park, Maryland, native enters the postseason with conference-leading marks of 231 saves, 46 steals and 9.24 saves per game. At 524 career saves and counting, she has moved to No. 6 all-time at Cal. She is on pace to set a new single-season career-high and crack the Bears' all-time top five in the second game she plays at the MPSF Championships. Williams has reached double digits in saves eight times this year. In a Feb. 26 win over No. 4 UCLA, she had her third game of 14 or more saves this season. Her season-high 15 came against Fresno State on Jan. 22. In 2022, Williams led the MPSF with 10.7 saves per game and amassed 245 overall - the fourth-highest single-season mark in program history. After last season, she also spent time training with the U.S. National Team.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Cecily Turner was named to the All-MPSF First Team for the first time in her career after leading the Bears with seven hat tricks and 41 goals, the latter of which is tied for ninth in the conference. Her 24 assists and 65 total goal contributions both rank second on the team, while her 12 field blocks are good for third in the MPSF.

Ruby Swadling had a phenomenal stretch midway through the season which included a season-high four assists in a win over Arizona State immediately followed by a career-best six-goal outburst in the narrow defeat to USC. She is tied with Turner for the team lead in goals (41), leads the Bears with 30 assists and ranks in the top 10 in the MPSF in both earned exclusions (25) and steals (26).

Coming in third and fourth on the team in points are Maryn Dempsey and senior Shea Salvino. Dempsey has been crucial to Cal's attack, recently becoming the third Bear to go over 30 goals on the season. She enters the postseason with a goal in six straight games. Her totals of 56 points and 23 assists are good for third and fourth on the team, respectively.

Salvino started the year strong by being named the MPSF Player of the Week following Cal's first weekend of competition, scoring seven goals in three wins over top-10 teams at the Bulldog Fest in Fresno. With a goal and an assist in Cal's regular-season finale against No. 2 Stanford, she became the fourth Bear to go over 50 total points for the season, currently with 51.

CORALIE SIMMONS NAMED TO USAWP HALL OF FAME
USA Water Polo announced earlier this month that Cal head coach Coralie Simmons – who has built one of the most decorated careers in the sport over the past two and a half decades – will be one of five members making up the 39th induction class of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Simmons is one of the great trailblazers of the women's water polo world, boasting one of the most impressive resumes in the sport as both a player and coach. During her playing career, she earned multiple NCAA Player of the Year and first-team All-America honors, won three NCAA championships, and took home an Olympic silver medal with Team USA. Her long list of coaching accolades includes 110 wins at Cal which rank second in program history, a world title at the helm of the USA Women's Junior National Team, two Division II Coach of the Year awards and four trips to the NCAA semifinals with the Bears.

WILLIAMS, TURNER NAMED TO CUTINO AWARD WATCH LIST
In the midst of their stellar senior campaigns, Isabel Williams and Cecily Turner were named to the inaugural 2023 Cutino Award Watch List. The Cutino Award – which will be awarded this June – is the top individual honor a player can receive.

BATTLES: LOS ANGELES
Feb. 26 vs. UCLA: Ruby Swadling scored a team-high three goals for the second time this season and Isabel Williams finished one save shy of a season-high with 14 to lead the Bears to a 9-7 win over No. 4 UCLA in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational third-place game. It was the Bears' first win over a top-three opponent in 2023 and second straight over the Bruins dating back to last season.

March 11 vs. USC: In one of their biggest tests of the season, the Bears rose to the challenge against USC, led by junior All-American Ruby Swadling's career-high six goals. Cal fell behind by four goals in the first half, but used a 4-0 run to tie the game in the third. That was the first of six second-half equalizers. Trailing by two with over a minute left in regulation, Swadling scored twice to force overtime. Maryn Dempsey's hat-trick-sealing goal early in the first extra session gave Cal its only lead of the day, 13-12. Isabel Williams later put in a dramatic tying 7-on-6 goal with 21 seconds to go in the second overtime period, but the Trojans scored in the final seconds to seal the win. Cecily Turner also scored three times, giving the Bears their first trio of hat tricks this season.

NEWCOMERS PUTTING IN WORK
The game against USC on Mar. 11 was the first all year in which a Cal freshman didn't find the back of the net. In the seven games prior to that, freshmen had accounted for 40 percent of the team's goals. Millie Quin led the way with 10 over that stretch, scoring a season-best four times in March 4's 17-11 win over ASU on her way to MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors. Abbi Magee and redshirt freshman Janna Tauscher both scored eight times over that same span. Tauscher and Quin are the Bears' leading freshman goalscorers with 19. Magee has 14 and Claire Rowell has 10. On two occasions in February, more than half of Cal's goals were scored by its freshmen. They found the back of the net five times in the Bears' 8-3 win over UC Davis on Feb. 24 and 11 times in the 19-5 victory over California Baptist on Feb. 11.

INSIDE THE LAIR: GROWING THE SPORT OF WATER POLO
Fana Fuqua and Isabel Williams have been both witnesses and instruments of change within the world of water polo, promoting interest, accessibility and diversity. Read the full feature story to learn more about their impact on the growth of the sport they love!

RUBY'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Attacker Ruby Swadling opted out of the 2021 season after earning a spot on the MPSF All-Newcomer Team as a freshman in 2020. She returned last season and emerged as one of the top players in the conference, totalling 67 points (35 goals, 32 assists) to go along with 23 steals. Swadling earned ACWPC All-American honorable mention after the season.

UP-AND-COMERS
The Bears were one of only two teams to place two players on the MPSF All-Newcomer last season when Rozanne Voorvelt and Jessie Rose both earned the honor. Voorvelt put up significant numbers during her freshman season, accumulating 14 goals, 17 assists and 16 field blocks. Rose broke into the Bears' starting lineup at the outset of the season and had one of the more memorable Cal goals in recent history when she converted in sudden victory overtime to lift the Bears to a victory over Stanford. Rose had six goals and 13 assists as a freshman last year.

COMING UP ROSES
Sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt followed up a promising freshman campaign with a successful summer playing for The Netherlands National Team. Voorvelt, along with former Cal center and four-time All-American Kitty Lynn Joustra, helped the Dutch win the bronze medal at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Voorvelt scored four goals in three games for The Netherlands.

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.

AMONG THE ELITE
Cal is one of the top programs in the country, having advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship in six of the past seven non-COVID seasons. In each of those seasons, the Bears have finished in the top-4 in the national rankings. The program has also produced 21 Olympians, including six that competed in Tokyo in 2021.

CLASSROOM PROWESS
Not only are the Bears reaching lofty heights in the pool, they are doing so in the classroom as well. Cal had a whopping 20 student-athletes earn ACWPC All-Academic Awards last season, and have had double-digit honorees seven times in the previous eight years. Senior Sydney Hammill, who has also won the Golden Bear Award for having the top GPA on the team in each of the past two seasons, collected her third consecutive ACWPC All-Academic Outstanding honor last year for having a cumulative GPA over 3.71.

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 NO. 15 INDIANA
• All-MPSF goalie Mary Askew ranks second in MPSF saves (216)
• 17 wins are the program's most since 2018
• Zoe Crouch and Sophia Sollie lead team with 40 goals each
• Ended regular season with four wins in five outings
  • CAL ALL-TIME VS. INDIANA: 19-1

ABOUT NO. 1 USC
• Handed No. 2 Stanford its only loss of the season, 17-12
• Enters postseason on 13-game win streak seeking eighth MPSF title
• Bayley Weber named MPSF PotY after scoring MPSF-high 64 goals
• Captained by 2020 Olympians Paige Hauschild and Tilly Kearns
  • CAL ALL-TIME VS. USC: 18-49

STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal women's water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWWPolo), Instagram (@calwwpolo) and Facebook (CalWomensWaterPolo).