AT ANTEATER AQUATICS COMPLEX | CORONA DEL MAR HIGH SCHOOL
IRVINE, CALIF.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL PAGE

FRIDAY, FEB. 23
NO. 6 CAL VS NO. 13 UC SAN DIEGO | 5 P.M. PT
LIVE STATS

SATURDAY, FEB. 24
NO. 6 CAL VS NO. 3 FRESNO STATE OR BIOLA | TIME TBD

NO. 6 CAL VS TBD | TIME TBD

SUNDAY, FEB. 25
NO. 6 CAL VS TBD | TIME TBD

The No. 6 California women's water polo team takes a 6-1 start to the season into this weekend's Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine. The Golden Bears kick things off against No. 13 UC San Diego on Friday at 5 p.m. PT in the final game of the day. With a win, Cal will face the winner of No. 3 Fresno State and Biola on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. at Corona del Mar High School. The Bears are coming off an 11-5 win at No. 13 UC Davis – their third over the Aggies this season. It was also the third time Cal's defense has allowed five goals or fewer through seven games, giving the Bears an MPSF-leading 6.1 goals allowed per contest thus far.
 

BEAR NECESSITIES
 

BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN
Two weeks after the Bears were handed their first loss of the year 8-6 to No. 4 Stanford, they downed UC Davis 11-5 behind Maryn Dempsey's first hat trick of the year and 10 more saves by goalkeeper Isabel Williams. The Bears jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 8-2 following the first two periods and freshman Kate Meyer scored twice in the third to help seal the win.

BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL
Since 2020, Cal owns a 6-2 record at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational. After two years off from the tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bears finished in third place in 2023 thanks to a pair of thrilling wins. In the quarterfinals, late goals by Ruby Swadling and Dempsey put them on top of then-No. 5 Hawaii 11-10 in overtime. In the third-place game against then-No. 3 UCLA, Williams recorded 14 saves to lead the Bears to a 9-7 victory, their second straight over the Bruins.

SAVED BY THE ISABEL
Cal's two-time ACWPC All-American goalkeeper is enjoying the most prolific start to a season in her career. Williams' 9.2 saves per game average already ranks first all time at Cal, but it's a mark that has continued to rise after she reached double-digit saves in six of the first seven games of the year for a conference-leading average of 13 per game. Williams tied a career high with 18 saves to go with four steals in the Bears' 16-7 win over No. 8 Michigan on Jan. 21, a performance which helped her win her first MPSF Player of the Week award of the season and third of her career. At 650 career saves, she has moved to No. 3 all time at Cal and is on pace to crack the top two during the postseason. Williams is the only Bear goalkeeper to earn multiple All-MPSF First Team selections and was a 2023 Cutino Award Watch List member.

DEMPSEY LEADING THE WAY
Following a sophomore season in 2022 that was cut short due to injury, Dempsey earned her second MPSF All-Conference accolade as an Honorable Mention in 2023 after finishing third on the team with 34 goals. The Murrieta native is the only Bear that's scored in every game this season, putting in five multi-goal efforts in seven outings for a team-leading total of 13 goals. She heads to Irvine fresh off her first hat trick of the year and with seven goals over the last three games.

NEWCOMER IMPACT
Cal's newcomers have made a big splash to start the year, with first-year members of the program accounting for 33 of the team's 84 goals. Two-time All-American and UC Irvine transfer Elena Flynn has found the back of the net 10 times, highlighted by the team's only five-goal effort thus far against Michigan. Longtime Netherlands youth national teamer Feline Voordouw is tied with Flynn for second on the team with 10 goals of her own, seven of which came in a two-game span from Jan. 28-Feb. 3. Fellow freshman Julia Bonaguidi – who spent time with Team USA's senior squad for an exhibition series in Australia last year – has totaled seven goals.
*2024 Cal Season Stats

NATIONAL POWERHOUSE
Cal began the year with a No. 4 national ranking (Collegiate Water Polo Association), making it 14 straight years with a top-four ranking in the preseason. Cal peaked at No. 2 following the second week of the season, earning its first top-two ranking since February of 2022.

2023 REWIND
After beginning the 2023 season with a 15-4 record, Cal went on to advance to its fifth NCAA Championship in the last six non-COVID years and finished at 19-10 overall. Highlights included a thrilling 11-10 overtime win against No. 5 Hawaii that helped get the Bears into the Barbara Kalbus Invitational third-place game, in which they took down No. 3 UCLA 9-7. Cal later defeated UCLA 12-11 in the MPSF Championships Third-Place Game behind four goals from graduated senior Cecily Turner and a late game-winner by Claire Rowell. Williams finished with a huge 14 saves in both wins over the Bruins. Turner and Ruby Swadling ended the year with team-highs of 47 and 45 goals, respectively. Williams set a career best with an MPSF-leading 266 saves.

BEARS TO HOST 2024 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
For the first time in program history, Cal women's water polo will host the NCAA Championship at Spieker Aquatics Complex, which takes place on May 10-12.

THE RETURNERS
Dempsey (34 goals) is the team's leading returning goal scorer, who is coming off a year in which she earned her second career All-MPSF accolade. Other notable returners include Rozanne Voorvelt (31 goals) – who helped The Netherlands take bronze at the 2022 FINA World Championship – Reagan Whitney (23), Janna Tauscher (20), Maddie DeMattia (13), and last year's freshman standouts Abbi Magee (17) and Claire Rowell (16). DeMattia ended her junior campaign with 62 earned exclusions, good for second in the MPSF. Rowell was an All-MPSF Newcomer Team selection.

NOTABLE NEWCOMERS
The Bears bolstered their offense with the addition of two-time All-American attacker Elena Flynn, who transferred from UC Irvine following a stellar sophomore season. In 2023, Flynn led the Anteaters with 57 goals, earning All-Big West First Team, All-America Second Team and NCAA All-Tournament Second Team honors. Cal also added seven freshmen, including USA Youth National Team member Julia Bonaguidi (The Bishop's School/San Diego), USA Cadet Women's Kate Meyer (San Marcos/Santa Barbara) and Netherlands National Youth Team player Feline Voordouw (Sint Joris College/Neede, Gelderland).

HALL OF FAME COACHING STAFF
Cal head coach Coralie Simmons and associate head coach Heather Petri both received significant milestone recognition in 2023. Simmons – one of the great trailblazers of the women's water polo world who earned two NCAA Player of the Year awards and won three NCAA Championships and an Olympic silver medal with Team USA – was one of five members in the 39th induction class of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame. Her 118 wins at Cal rank second in program history. Petri – the only four-time female Olympian in Cal Athletics history – was named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Joining them on the staff for the third straight year is assistant coach Lance Morrison, who played Division I water polo at Pacific.

BRAINY BEARS
Cal's excelled in the classroom once again in 2023, being recognized for the largest increase in cumulative GPA (7.1%) of any Bear program. 17 players earned ACWPC All-Academic recognition, with a program record six Bears garnering outstanding status for averaging above a 3.70 GPA. Another all-time best was set with 15 Bears earning MPSF All-Academic honors.

AN AQUATIC ODYSSEY
The Bears did things a bit different leading into the 2024 season, training and building team camaraderie over the course of a very special 12-day excursion to Greece. Learn more about the trip here.



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