California volleyball kicks off its 2025 slate this weekend, hosting San Diego State and San Francisco at Haas Pavilion for the California Tournament. The action begins Friday evening as the Golden Bears (0-0) face the Aztecs at 6 p.m. PT, followed by a 2 p.m. match between San Diego State (0-0) and San Francisco (0-0) on Saturday and finishing Sunday with a 1 p.m. showdown between the Bears and the Dons.
 
Both of Cal's matches will be broadcast on ACCNX, while Saturday's match between San Diego State and San Francisco will not be streamed.
 
Cal finished 15-17 (7-13 ACC) in 2024 under first-year head coach Jen Malcom, ending the season on a three-game winning streak. This year's team consists of nine returners from last year's roster, as well as five freshmen and two transfers.
 
Vs. San Diego State
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Last Meeting: at San Diego State, Aug. 26, 2022 (Cal won 3-0)
Last Home Meeting: None
Bears Vs. Aztecs All-Time Record: 2-5
Current Streak: Cal won last one
 
The Aztecs posted a record of 20-10 (11-7 Mountain West) in 2024, their first 20-win season in 12 years, to finish fifth overall in the conference. They return All-Mountain West Preseason Team selection Taylor Underwood, who led San Diego State with 356 kills (3.18 kills per set) last year and ranked third on the team in total blocks (59), as well as defensive leader Gianna Bender, who collected 417 digs (3.50 digs per set) to help the Aztecs hold opponents to just .198 hitting on the season. San Diego state's group of newcomers includes four freshmen and three transfers, including former Colorado outside hitter Annelise Rising and former Oregon State defensive specialist Keira Herron.
 
Vs. San Francisco
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Last Meeting: Aug. 31, 2024 (Cal won 3-2)
Bears Vs. Dons All-Time Record: 37-2
Current Streak: Cal won last one
 
The Dons finished fifth in the WCC with a record of 17-13 (10-8) in 2024, the most wins by the program since 2015, and ranked first in the conference with 301 blocks. That year, San Francisco also posted top-five conference rankings in hitting percentage (second, .233), digs (second, 1,734), assists per set (fifth, 11.49) and points per set (fifth, 16.40). Their roster includes 11 new players (six freshmen and five transfers, including former Arizona State middle blocker Hokulani Perez) and returns standout player Astrid Puig, who totaled 90 blocks last season and posted 24 kills on .383 hitting the last time she faced the Bears.
 

MIDDLES ON TOP
The Bears will field four formidable middle blockers in 2025. Senior Mikayla Hayden – one of Cal's top all-around players – will look to take another step forward this fall after posting the 12th-best hitting percentage in the ACC (.324) as a junior and leading the Bears in blocks in each of her first two seasons. Junior Sawyer Thomsen is coming off a career year in which she started all 31 matches and had the most total blocks (111) by a Cal player since 2013, including an 11-block outing in the season finale against Notre Dame. Redshirt junior Sophie Scott lost the entire 2024 season to injury but has been impressive for the Bears when healthy, including a 100-block season in 2022 for a top-eight Pac-12 ranking. Finally, newcomer Ashleigh Woodruff (a junior transfer from Stony Brook) had a promising start to her sophomore year with the Seawolves before an injury forced her to sit out the season after just one game, in which she posted 10 kills and four blocks.
 
SISTER, SISTER
Senior setter Natalie Lau, who started the 2024 season on the bench but became Cal's starting setter after five games due to her teammate's season-ending injury, will be joined by her sister Elise Lau (a freshman defensive specialist) on the court as one of just two pairs of sisters on the same Power 4 team this season. The Brisbane natives, who played high school ball for St. Ignatius and club ball for Vision, grew up as Cal fans, attending as many volleyball, football and basketball games as they could and dreaming of one day representing the Blue & Gold. According to head coach Jen Malcom, the Laus are "two of the most competitive players on our team." This will be the first year that they have played on any team together, having grown up too far apart in age to be part of the same high school or club squads.

NEW BEARS ON THE BLOCK
Cal brings seven new players to its roster this season in the form of five freshmen and two transfers, making up nearly half of the Bears' squad.  The first-year players are composed of defensive specialists Francesca Popescu (Johns Creek, Georgia) and Elise Lau (Brisbane), outside hitter Arissa Carbonara (Cuero, Texas), opposite Annemarie O'Gara (Phoenix, Arizona) and setter Maria ?tirbu (Bucharest, Romania). Between them, they bring national team experience (?tirbu), two All-America honors (Popescu), a national title (O'Gara), three All-State honors (Carbonara, Popescu) and a tournament title (Lau). The transfers, sophomore outside hitter Dominique Phills (Iowa) and junior middle blocker Ashleigh Woodruff (Stony Brook), will each bring valuable experience to the young roster, bolstering positions that will have at least one player graduating at the end of this season.
 
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on X (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball) and TikTok (@calbearsvb).