No. 4 Cal Squares Off With No. 12 Indiana On Senior Day At Spieker

Saturday, March 21

Berkeley, Calif.

1 p.m.

California

Indiana

Nieve Courtney looks to pass the ball - web preview graphic

No. 4 Cal Squares Off With No. 12 Indiana On Senior Day At Spieker

3/18/2026 4:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Cal Game Notes (PDF)WATCH (Overnght.com)

Bears Face Hoosiers Saturday In MPSF Action

By: Darcy Couch

BEAR BITES
California is wrapping up a three-game homestand with this weekend's MPSF matchup against Indiana.
• The No. 4 Golden Bears (11-3, 2-1 MPSF) face the No. 12 Hoosiers (14-5, 0-2) at 1 p.m. PT Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
• After the game on Saturday, Cal will celebrate its four graduating Bears — Nieve Courtney, Lindsey Harris, Abbi Magee and Claire Rowell — in a Senior Day ceremony.
• Indiana will be coming off of a Friday game at San José State before taking on the Bears.

FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's Cal-Indiana game will stream on overnght.com with Greg Mescall and Carter Kirchhevel calling the action. Live stats will be available at scores.6-8sports.com.

LAST ACTION
Cal dished out its third win of the year over No. 5 Hawai'i to record the Golden Bears' 11th win in a 10-8 victory over the visiting Rainbow Wahine last weekend at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
It was a back-and-forth battle for the first 12 minutes of play before the Bears unleashed a three-goal rally to create some space. Julia Bonaguidi found Eszter Varró at the post for a blast that edged Cal ahead 5-4. Abbi Magee issued a field block against the Wahine's next 6-on-5 chance, and then she'd finish off a pass from Julianne Snyder to punch up a 6-4 Cal lead. More defensive work helped the Bears continue their push, with Despoina Drakotou nabbing a steal. Claire Rowell would find Varró for a laser soon after, and Cal was up 7-4 on its visitors.
In the third, the Bears manufactured another three-goal surge to answer a Hawai'i push to make it a one-goal margin. Drakotou earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Bonaguidi deposited in the back of the net for her third goal of the day. Maria Bonachenko and Feline Voordouw combined forces on the counterattack next, with Voordouw finished off the setup to make it 9-6 Cal. A minute later, it was Drakotou hitting Varró, and the Bears were enjoying a 10-6 lead later in the third. Hawai'i would get a goal to go before the end of that one, and then another late in the fourth, but the Bears had the control they needed to pocket the win.
NOTABLE:
- With three goals, Julia Bonaguidi has scored multiple goals in Cal's last three games.
- With two goals, Despoina Drakotou recorded her team-best 11th game with multiple goals.
- Drakotou continues to stand as Cal's top scorer this season, now with 34 goals.
- Drakotou, Abbi Magee (1 goal) and Feline Voordouw (1 goal) have each scored in 13 of Cal's 14 games this season.
- Cal is now 40-15 all-time against Hawai'i, with wins in all three meetings this season.

CENTURY CLUB
Senior Abbi Magee needed three goals to get to the 100th of her career, and she did one better with a four-goal outburst in Cal's 22-10 win over San José State on March 7. Now with 102 career goals, Magee is primed to continue her climb up the Bears scoring ladder this season. She's currently third on the team in scoring with 30 goals tallied to date.

JULIA JOINS THE LIST
Junior Julia Bonaguidi earned her first career MPSF weekly award with her March 3 pick as the MPSF Player of the Week. She's the first Golden Bear to secure that honor since 2024.
Bonaguidi tied her career high with four goals — including three in the fourth period — to help Cal beat host No. 5 Arizona State 11-10 last weekend. Bonaguidi's first goal tied up the game at 3-3 in the second period, and her next two gave Cal one-goal leads in the fourth. She'd score on a 5-meter penalty shot to tie the game at 9-9, and she'd serve up the game-winning assist on Abbi Magee's goal with one second left. Bonaguidi had two assists and a steal in the win.
Bonaguidi's first MPSF Player of the Week award makes her the first Bear honoree since 2024, when Cal's Isabel Williams was a three-time winner and Elena Flynn won it once.

DESPI DOES IT AGAIN
After opening her Cal career with three MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards in her first three weeks of action, freshman Despoina Drakotou has won more weekly MPSF awards than any other Golden Bear, now with her fifth MPSF Newcomer of the Week honor earned this week.
Drakotou's five MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards increases the Cal single-season record she set with her fourth pick. Prior to Drakotou, two other players had earned three weekly honors in a season. In 2024, Isabel Williams was a three-time MPSF Player of the Week, and Kitty Lynn Joustra earned three MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors in 2018.
Drakotou's first selection came after scoring seven goals in her first weekend of work with Cal at the Polopalooza in Fresno. She had a hat trick in her collegiate debut along with two steals to help the Bears beat No. 15 Michigan 23-18, then scored twice and tallied four steals and a field block as Cal upset No. 4 Hawai'i 14-9. Against No. 8 UC Irvine, Drakotou scored two more with an assist, steal and field block as Cal improved to 3-0 with a 16-9 victory over the Anteaters. She was one of three Bears to record three multiple-goal games at the event.
At the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, Drakotou recorded back-to-back hat tricks in Cal's two wins at the event, matching her career best in both games. In the 15-11 win over No. 9 Fresno State, she also served up three assists before adding two assists, two field blocks and an assist in a 21-7 win over No. 12 San José State.
Next, Drakotou was a perfect 7-for-7 shooting in Cal's 25-9 victory over No. 17 Pacific. She also added an assist in the win, while her seven goals marked the most in a game by a Bear since 2019 and was just one off the Cal record of eight set in 1997.
In an overtime loss to UCLA on Feb. 21, Drakotou had a hat trick on 3-of-4 shooting with two drawn exclusions, an assist and a steal. It was enough to secure her fourth round of MPSF Newcomer of the Week accolades to set a new Cal record.
The latest award — her fifth — came after she scored twice and had three steals and two assists in the Bears' 10-8 win over No. 5 Hawai'i last weekend. Her steal and second goal of the game gave Cal a 7-4 lead in the first half, and she'd later serve up an assist on the Bears' 10th goal of the game, which had been tied up during the first half.
Drakotou is Cal's top scorer with 34 goals, and she has scored in 13 of the Bear's 14 games this season with a team-best 11 multiple-goal outings.

EURO ACTION
Two current Bears and three Cal alumnae were in action at the European Championships from Jan. 25-Feb. 5 in Funchal, Portugal. Ezster Varró (Hungary) and Maria Bogachenko (Israel) took time away from Cal to compete for their respective nations.
Bogachenko scored a team-high 20 goals in Portugal. She served up seven goals for Israel to help finish seventh place overall. Varró helped her Hungarians reach the championship game and earn silver, with Varró scoring twice in that final and finishing the event with nine total goals scored.
Cal alum and Olympian Kitty Lynn Joustra was one of the event's top scorers, leading Netherlands to gold as she tallied a total of 22 goals in Portugal. Two more former Bears were representing Great Britain, which finished in 10th place thanks to work from Cal alums Cassidy Ball and Cecily Turner. Turner led her team with 16 goals scored.

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 Varró 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.

NEW CREW
Cal welcomes many new faces to the pool for this 2026 season. Six true freshmen 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 two talented goalies tabbed for duty this season, led by 2025 All-MPSF Honorable Mention recipient Talia Fonseca. True freshman Lexi Nelson rounds 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.

HONORING BRIGITTE
This year, Cal hosted the ninth edition of its early-season tournament known as the Cal Cup. Now named the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, the competition honors the memory of Brigitte Donner Daws, who played water polo at Cal from 1998-2002 and passed away tragically in 2020.
The inaugural Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational was held Jan. 24-25 at Spieker Aquatics Complex and featured both official and exhibition competition between eight teams. Brigitte's family members participated in a ceremonial ball drop ahead of the Cal-Fresno State game. At halftime of that game, a special moment of remembrance was held for Brigitte along with other alumni and members of the water polo community that have been lost.

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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