AT DOUGLASS M EBERHARDT AQUATICS CENTER | STOCKTON, CALIF.

FRIDAY, MAY 12
NO. 3-T CAL (19-9) VS NO. 8-T PRINCETON | 6:00 PM PT
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM

Coming off a huge 12-11 win over No. 3-T UCLA in the MPSF Championships third place game, the No. 3-T California women's water polo team begins its NCAA Championship journey facing No. 8-T Princeton in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6:00 p.m. PT at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center in Stockton. The Golden Bears (19-9) will be looking to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship for the seventh time in the last eight non-COVID seasons. Cal earned an at-large berth following their second win of the season over the Bruins, a game in which redshirt freshman Claire Rowell scored the game-winning goal and senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams saved UCLA's final shot. Williams and senior Cecily Turner were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team. The Bears will look to improve to 7-0 all-time against Princeton in their first matchup since 2013. With a win, they will advance to face No. 1 USC in the semifinals on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

 

BEAR NECESSITIES

 

MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS THIRD-PLACE REPEAT
For the second consecutive year, the Bears defeated UCLA by a single goal in the MPSF Championships third place game. Claire Rowell scored her third goal with 18 seconds left in regulation to break the sixth tie of the day and Isabel Williams saved UCLA's final shot to end a wild back-and-forth thriller at San Jose State's SRAC Pool. Sophomore Rozanne Voorvelt and senior Cecily Turner came through with four-goal performances. In the previous two rounds, Cal defeated No. 15 Indiana, 9-7, before falling to No. 1 USC 16-10 in the semifinals.

BEARS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
This will be the ninth NCAA Championship appearance for the Bears, who have never failed to reach the semifinal round. They have advanced to the semifinals four times in five non-COVID years under head coach Coralie Simmons and own an 11-9 all-time record at the championship. They reached the title match and finished as runners-up in 2011. Last year, they defeated Michigan 10-4 in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 2-seeded USC 9-7 in the semis.

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 became the first Bear at her position to earn multiple All-MPSF First Team selections. She was named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team after registering 14 saves against UCLA for the second time this year. The Severna Park, Maryland, native enters the final weekend of the season with MPSF-leading marks of 260 saves, 51 steals and 9.29 saves per game. At 553 career saves and counting, she has moved to No. 5 all-time at Cal. Williams has reached double digits in saves nine times this year, with her season-high 15 came against Fresno State on Jan. 22. In 2022, Williams led the MPSF with 10.7 saves per game and coing 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.

TURNER POWERING THE OFFENSE
Cecily Turner is the Bears' top goalscorer with 46 this season. She is coming off one of her best performances of the year with a season-best four goals in the MPSF third-place win over UCLA. It was her team-leading eighth hat trick of the year.

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 112 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. 8-T PRINCETON
• Started 15-game win streak in February, the fifth-longest in program history
• Won fifth CWPA championship
• Jovana Sekulic named CWPA Tournament MVP and CWPA Player of the Year
• Reached No. 6 in the CWPA Varsity Poll, the highest ranking in program history
  • CAL ALL-TIME VS. PRINCETON: 6-0

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