BERKELEY – The No. 5 California women's water polo team opens its 2026 campaign and head coach Coralie Simmons' 10^th season at the helm for the Golden Bears this week. Cal is off to Fresno State to play three games at Polopalooza on Jan. 17-18.
 
CAL'S COMPETITION
The Bears' season opener is set for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 17) against No. 15 Michigan in Fresno, Calif. That evening, Cal takes on No. 4 Hawai'i at 6:30 p.m. Sunday's action has the Bears up against No. 8 UC Irvine at 1:30 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
All games at Polopalooza will be streamed live on overnght.com, and live stats will be available at thefosh.net.
 
COMING UP AT CAL
As the Bears set up to host the ninth edition of its early-season tournament known as the Cal Cup, the Golden Bears have chosen to rename the event in honor of a former Bear. Now named the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, the competition honors the memory of Donner Daws, who played water polo at Cal from 1998-2002 and passed away tragically in 2020.
    The inaugural Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational brings together high-level teams for competition at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Jan. 24-25, 2026. Brigitte's family members have been invited to participate in a ceremonial ball drop ahead of the Cal-Fresno State game. At halftime of that game, there will be a special moment of remembrance for Brigitte along with all other alumni and members of the water polo community that have been lost in the past year.  
    CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL EVENT SCHEDULE
 
BACK FOR MORE
Cal returns three of its top-five scorers from 2025. Gone are Ruby Swadling (55 goals) and Elena Flynn (48), but the Bears have Maria Bogachenko, Julia Bonaguidi and Abbi Magee all back after boasting a combined 107 goals last year. In their first seasons as Bears, Ezster Varro and Rosalie Hassett tallied 21 and 17 goals, respectively. In goal, Talia Fonseca capped up in all 25 games and averaged 7.4 saves per game for the Bears, with Elaia Hamilton making eight appearances in the cage.
 
NEW CREW
Cal welcomes many new faces to the pool for this 2026 season. Six true freshman are in the mix – Marina Brown (Santa Barbara), Despoina Drakotou (Athens, Greece), Reece Helsel (Clovis), Lexi Nelson (Menlo Park), Harper Price (Newport Beach) and Gabby Reichley (San Anselmo).
 
GOALIE CORPS
Cal has three talented goalies tabbed for duty this season, led by 2025 All-MPSF Honorable Mention recipient Talia Fonseca. Back for more action between the pipes is junior Elaia Hamilton, joined by true freshman Lexi Nelson to round out the Bears' defensive backbone.
 
WORLD STAGE
Six Bears stepped up for international duty during the summer at the World Aquatics U20 Championships in Brazil. Team USA – featuring Cal players Julia Bonaguidi and Rosalie Hassett with head coach Coralie Simmons on the coaching staff – captured gold medals at the event. Incoming freshman Despoina Drakotou also took home some hardware in helping Greece claim bronze. Also representing their countries were sophomore Holly Dunn with New Zealand and Hungarian sophomore Eszter Varró.
 
LAST SEASON
Cal is coming off a season where the Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. The 2025 squad went 19-6 overall and placed third at the MPSF Tournament. In their final seasons at Cal, three Bears earned All-America honors – Ruby Swadling (first team), Elena Flynn (second team) and Rozanne Voorvelt (honorable mention). All three also earned All-MPSF accolades along with redshirt sophomore goalie Talia Fonseca (honorable mention) and All-Newcomer honorees Maria Bogachenko and Rosalie Hassett. Swadling was the 2025 team's top scorer with 55 goals.
 
STAY POSTED 
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