BERKELEY – California volleyball (5-0, 0-0 Pac-12) will face its toughest test yet in the young 2023 season as it welcomes the Saint Mary's (California) Gaels to Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. PT, followed by a three-match showdown at the Bobcat Classic in San Marcos, Texas, against Southeastern Louisiana, Texas State and Abilene Christian on Sept. 8-9.
 
The Golden Bears are currently riding their best start since 2019, when the team won 10 straight to kick off the season. They currently rank seventh in the NCAA (No. 1 Pac-12) in opponent hitting percentage, having held teams to just .105 so far on the year, and rank among the nation's top-25 teams in assists per set (13.24) and service aces per set (2.24).
 
The Gaels (6-0, 0-0 WCC) are led by dangerous two-way player Kjersti Strong, who has both WCC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week nods under her belt in just two weeks of competition. She is a force to be reckoned with at the net, where she ranks among the NCAA's top 25 in both blocks per set (1.5) and total blocks (36). The Bears will also have to contend with middle blocker Kristen Erland, whose hitting percentage of .548 ranks fourth in the nation. Although Cal has fared well historically against Saint Mary's with a 22-3 all-time head-to-head record, this year's team is one to be feared: the squad ranks in the NCAA's top-30 teams in no fewer than four categories, including ninth in blocks per set.
 
Southeastern Louisiana holds a record of 3-2 (0-0 Southland Conference) following a season in which it won 25 matches and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Lady Lions are led by setter/opposite Rachel Hartmann, who earned SLC Offensive Player of the Week honors after the team's first three games. She is among the squad's top-three players in all five major stats categories (kills, assists, service ages, digs and blocks). This will be the first time that the Bears have matched up against Southeastern Louisiana; first serve for the match is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Friday at Texas State's Strahan Arena.
 
Later that day, Cal will next face host Texas State (4-1, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) at 5 p.m. The Bobcats are coming off a marquee sweep over No. 13 Houston; their only loss on the year was to a Tennessee squad that is currently ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25. They are efficient on offense with a team hitting percentage of .317 that ranks 14th in the nation and boast reigning Sun Belt Setter of the Week Ryann Torres, whose 10.65 assists per set is 27th most in the country. The Bears are 1-0 against the Bobcats all-time, with their only meeting being a 3-0 sweep in 2005.
 
Cal will then close out the weekend against Abilene Christian (5-2, 0-0 WAC) on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the first matchup between the two teams. The Wildcats rank among the NCAA's top-45 teams in no fewer than seven categories, mainly on the offensive side of the ball. Middle blocker Breanna Box and libero Sara Carrizales paced Abilene Christian in its most recent weekend slate, earning All-ACU Tournament honors.
 
NEW COACH ON THE BLOCK
Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd steps into the interim head coach role for the Golden Bears after being hired as an assistant in February 2023. Previously, she acted as assistant coach for Cal Poly beach volleyball in 2020 while finding success on the AVP and FIVB circuits as a player. In her collegiate career at Washington and later at Cal Poly, she became just the second player in NCAA history to earn All-America honors for both indoor and beach volleyball. Jones Schoonderwoerd is joined on the staff by two first-year assistant coaches in Cal alumna Savannah Rennie and AVP pro Billy Allen.
 
LI LEADS
Freshman outside hitter Xuemeng (Maggie) Li has already cemented her name in the Cal record books as she is the first player in program history to win Pac-12 honors in consecutive weeks. She earned Cal's first Pac-12 weekly honor since 2019 - and its first rookie honor since 2018 - as she was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after the Bears' first three matches of the season. Li totaled 34 kills and 27 digs with a .313 hitting percentage at the Army Invitational, earning her way onto the all-tournament team. The next week, Li added two stellar matches to her season with a 20-kill, nine-dig performance against Portland State and a 13-kill outing on .579 hitting against Southern Utah, earning her second Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor - the first Golden Bear to earn the award twice since Christina Higgins in 2011. Currently, she ranks fourth among all NCAA freshmen in points per set (4.71), fifth in kills per set (3.94) and is tied for seventh in aces per set (0.65).
 
WELCOME TO BEAR TERRITORY
Five newcomers join the Bears in 2023. Setter Paige Morningstar (Pittsburgh), a redshirt sophomore who spent her first two years with Louisville, comes to Berkeley with NCAA Tournament experience under her belt and an impressive high school resume that includes multiple National High School Female Athlete of the Year honors and four state championships. Outside hitters Xuemeng (Maggie) Li (Beijing) and Ashley Li (Diamond Bar) have experience on the Chinese Women's National U20 Team and as a member of the Division 2 All-CIF Southern Section Team, respectively. Sawyer Thomsen (Lawrence, Kansas) and Sophia Johnson (Wayzata, Minnesota) round out the group as highly ranked players in their respective states (Thomsen as the No. 1 middle blocker in Kansas and Johnson as Minnesota's No. 2 libero).
 
DESA DOMINATES
Senior Tara DeSa currently leads the Pac-12 with 4.53 digs per set. She had her best full year at libero in her third season with the Bears, ranking third in the Pac-12 with 448 total digs and fourth in the conference with 4.00 digs per set. A three-time all-tournament team member, she became just the 11th Golden Bear ever to record 30 or more digs in a single match with a 32-dig effort against Arizona (Nov. 17) - just one shy of the all-time program record. DeSa also posted 118 assists, third most on the team. Another campaign like her 2022 season would notch her an entry on Cal's top-10 career digs list; she needs at least 320 on the year to earn a spot.
 
DEADLY DUO
Cal returns both of its young standout middle blockers from last season. Mikayla Hayden and Sophie Scott, now sophomores, consistently remained among the conference's top-blocking freshmen in 2022 - Hayden was tied for the top spot among all first years with a team-leading 109 stops (sixth most in the Pac-12), while Scott ranked second on the squad and eighth in the conference with 100 total blocks. Both players also earned spots on the All-Cal Tournament Team and played in a combined 217 sets. Hayden is also a threat on the offensive side of the ball: in her rookie year, she posted 158 kills, third most on the team. For her part, Scott posted the highest single-game blocks total of any Bear last season with a nine-stop effort against Oregon State (Sept. 23).
 
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