BERKELEY – California volleyball will play two more matches at home this weekend, hosting Boston College at 7 p.m. PT Friday and Syracuse at 7 p.m. Saturday. These will be the first meetings in history between the Golden Bears (9-7, 1-3 ACC) and either team, with both opponents looking for their first ACC win this year. Both matches will be broadcast on ACCNX.
 
Last weekend, Cal was swept by Wake Forest before notching its first ACC victory over NC State in straight sets, holding the Wolfpack to their lowest hitting percentage of the year. In both matches, sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li led both teams in kills, while junior Natalie Lau recorded her sixth double-double of the year against Wake Forest and reached 400 assists on the season with 34 against NC State. Defensively, the Bears had three players – Lau (15), Sophia Johnson (12) and Gianna Bartalo (11) – post double-digit digs against Wake Forest, while the NC State match saw three Cal women post five-or-more blocks (Sawyer Thomsen – 6; Ellie Hamm – 5; Kate Mansfield – 5).  
 
Vs. Boston College (7-9, 0-4)
Last Meeting: None
All-Time Record: 0-0
 
The Eagles have lost their last six games but also bear the distinctive honor of being the only team this year to win a set against No. 1 Pitt, whom they faced last Friday. Their stout defense, which has held opponents to a combined .180 on the year and is second in the ACC with 3.11 blocks per set (3.06 in conference play), is commanded by Julia Haggerty, the nation's leader in both total blocks and blocks per set. The senior has a combined 114 stops on the year (42 in ACC play), averaging 2.07 per set (2.33 in conference matchups). Offensively, Boston College is led by sophomore Halle Schroder's 209 kills and 20 service aces.
 
Vs. Syracuse (12-4, 0-4)
Last Meeting: None
All-Time Record: 0-0
 
The Orange posted an undefeated 12-0 nonconference slate but have lost their last four matches. They have held their opponents to a combined .169 on the year, averaging 2.54 blocks per set as a team (49th in the NCAA) with 2.08 per set in conference play; they also average 1.95 service aces per set, 19th-best in the nation. Junior Anastasiia Nikolnikova, who transferred to Syracuse this year from Southern Idaho, is a threat on both sides of the ball; her .455 hitting percentage (including an impressive .375 in conference play) ranks ninth in the nation, while she also averages 1.37 blocks per set (23rd NCAA). Another multi-talented transfer, grad student Ava Palm, leads the team in kills (186), service aces (22) and digs (121).
 
 
LI LEADS
Sophomore outside hitter Xuemeng (Maggie) Li looks to take another step forward in her second year, following a sensational rookie season in which she was named a VolleyballMag All-America Honorable Mention, the AVCA Pacific West Region Freshman of the Year and All-Pacific West Region Honorable Mention, an All-Pac-12 team member and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Her six Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards also tied a conference record. In her freshman year, she posted 441 kills - third most among all Pac-12 players - with 4.35 points per set (4th Pac-12). She was also second on the team with 34 aces and third with 265 digs. After six weeks of play this season, Li stands atop the ACC with 225 kills (3.95 per set – 5th ACC) and 251.5 points (4.41 per set – 6th ACC). She has led the team in kills in all but two of 16 matches this season and has reached double-digits in 12 of those.
 
BREAKOUT YEAR FOR LAU
Junior setter Natalie Lau has started each of the past 12 matches for the Bears and is currently fifth in the ACC with an average of 9.76 assists per set. She also leads the team with 400 assists on the year and six double-doubles. Her first collegiate start came on Sept. 6 against Utah State, where she recorded 40 assists and 10 digs as well as three kills, two aces and two blocks. In the next match against Saint Mary's, she posted a career-high 64 assists (and 18 digs) for the best such outing of any ACC player in a five-set contest this year. She followed that up with another career performance three days later, recording four blocks against Wyoming in addition to 45 assists and 13 digs.
 
GLORY FOR GIANNA
Graduate transfer Gianna Bartalo, who spent her undergraduate career at Denver, has quickly become one of the Bears' top defensive players through the team's first five weeks of play. She has recorded double-digit digs in 15 of Cal's 16 matches so far, ranking third in the ACC with 245 on the year and 4.30 per set. As a Pioneer, Bartalo was named All-Summit League Honorable Mention in her senior year and ranks seventh on Denver's all-time career list with an average of 3.73 digs per set. She needs just two more service aces to reach 100 on her career.
 
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Middle blocker Kate Mansfield, a rookie from Plano, Texas, has been an offensive standout for Cal this season. She has recorded eight matches with a hitting percentage of over .300 and has posted consecutive games with double-digit kills twice this season – first against Saint Mary's (11, .474) and Wyoming (10, .333) in Week Three, then against UC Irvine (16, .419) and Santa Clara (11, .625) the following week; in the latter two matches, she led the team in kills. Mansfield is also stout on the defensive side of the net with 36 blocks on the year, including five-block outings at Saint Mary's and against NC State.
 
WELCOME TO THE ACC
The Bears wasted no time making their presence felt as new members of the ACC. For their performances in going 3-0 at the season-opening Rose City Showdown in Portland, sophomore Maggie Li and senior Annalea Maeder were named ACC Offensive Player of the Week and ACC Setter of the Week, respectively. Li averaged 4.45 kills per set - tops in the conference through the initial week - while hitting for a .281 percentage. Her 24 kills in a five-set win over San Francisco tied a career high. Maeder dished out a conference-high 122 assists in Portland, including 60 in the victory over the Dons.
 
NEW CONFERENCE, NEW STAFF
Head coach Jen Malcom joined the Bears in January 2024 from UCLA, where she was the associate head coach in 2023; previously, she spent seven years at Iowa State as an assistant coach (2016-18) and associate head coach (2019-22), helping lead the Cyclones to five NCAA Tournament appearances. Also on staff are new assistant coaches Andrew Sato (Long Beach State), Cole Murray (Loyola Marymount) and Alyssa Andreno (Tennessee); Sato was previously a volunteer assistant coach at Cal (2017) and was most recently an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton (2021-23), while Murray acted as an assistant coach at Campbell (2023) and Andreno at Winthrop (2022-23).
 
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball), and TikTok (@calbearsvb).