AT SPIEKER AQUATICS COMPLEX
BERKELEY, CALIF.

FRIDAY, MAR. 8
NO. 4 CAL (8-3) VS NO. 21 PACIFIC (10-6) | 1 PM PT
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM

SUNDAY, MAR. 10
NO. 4 CAL (8-3) VS NO. 2 HAWAII (11-2) | 1 PM PT
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM

After seven straight away from home, the No. 4 California women's water polo team (8-3) returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex for a three-game home stand beginning Friday, March 8 against No. 21 Pacific (10-6). The Golden Bears defeated the Tigers 12-5 at the Stanford Invitational a little over a month ago behind three goals from freshman Feline Voordouw and 12 saves by senior goalkeeper Isabel Williams. On Sunday, Cal will host a Hawaii team that currently owns its highest national ranking in program history at No. 2. The Rainbow Wahine recently defeated the Bears 10-7 in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational Semifinals on Feb. 24.
 

BEAR NECESSITIES
 

BARBARA KALBUS RECAP
In their most recent action from Feb. 23-25, the Bears advanced to the semifinal round for the fifth time in their last six trips to the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, finishing in fourth place after a tightly-contested 7-6 defeat to No. 3 Stanford. Cal had erased a three-goal deficit after entering the final frame down 6-3, with sophomore Abbi Magee scoring on back-to-back possessions and Maryn Dempsey tying it with 3:44 remaining, but the Cardinal prevailed, putting away the final goal on the next play.

Prior to the third-place game, the Bears opened the tournament with a 13-4 win over No. 14 UC San Diego, a 9-5 statement win over No. 3 Fresno State, and a 10-7 loss to No. 2 Hawaii.

HAWAII REMATCH
The rise of the Hawaii women's water polo program in recent years has given way to a consistently competitive matchup between the Bears and the Rainbow Wahine. Since Coralie Simmons was named Cal's head coach in October of 2016, the Bears own a 4-3 edge in the series. Hawaii's 10-7 win less than two weeks ago was its second straight over the Bears. The teams split their four meetings between 2022-23, with every game being decided by one goal.

DEFENSIVE CLINIC
Cal's defense has been at the center of its success so far this season. The Bears have allowed double-digit goals just once and have held opponents to five goals or fewer in five out of their 11 outings, both MPSF bests. They also lead the conference in goals allowed per game (6.3) despite being the only top-4 team to play solely against ranked opponents. No other MPSF school is allowing fewer than seven goals per game against ranked opposition.

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' 9.3 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 10 of the first 11 games of the year for a conference-leading average of 12.6 per game and career-best .688 save percentage. 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 698 career saves, she has moved to No. 3 all time at Cal and is on pace to crack the top two before the end of this month. 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 seven multi-goal efforts in 11 outings for a team-leading total of 19 goals.

MADDIE IN THE MIDDLE
Maddie DeMattia has been one of the Bears' most effective options in the middle. The senior from Simi Valley ranks fourth in the MPSF in drawn exclusions (22) and has scored six times, including a season high of two goals scored on Feb. 24 against Hawaii.

IMPACTFUL NEWCOMERS
Cal's newcomers have made a big splash to start the year, with first-year members of the program accounting for 45 of the team's 119 goals, or 37.8 percent. Two-time All-American and UC Irvine transfer Elena Flynn has found the back of the net 18 times, highlighted by the team's only five-goal effort thus far against Michigan. Flynn and Voordouw are the only Bears to finish with four goals – doing so one time each – and account for four of the team's six hat tricks.

Fellow freshman Julia Bonaguidi – who spent time with Team USA's senior squad for an exhibition series in Australia last year – has totaled eight goals that were scored in seven different contests.
*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. The Bears enter their three-game home stand ranked at No. 4 for the second straight week.

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 120 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).