NCAA ACTION
California is bound for its fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament this week, entering the 2026 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship as the No. 4 seed. The Golden Bears carry a 14-7 overall record into the event, which will be held Friday-Sunday at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla. Cal opens with a quarterfinal bout against No. 5 seed Hawai'i (16-5) at 2 p.m. PT on Friday to vie for a spot in a 4 p.m. PT semifinal on Saturday. The 2026 national championship game is set for 6 p.m. PT on Sunday.

AT THE HELM
Under the direction of head coach Coralie Simmons for the 10th season, the Bears are coming off a fourth-place finish at the MPSF Tournament. Cal has reached the NCAA tournament eight times in the nine seasons it's been held while Simmons has been at the helm. The Bears have reached the NCAA final twice in program history, most recently in 2024.

BEAR BITES
The 2026 Cal team features the MPSF Newcomer of the Year Despoina Drakotou along with fellow All-MPSF honorees Julia Bonaguidi and Feline Voordouw. All three are also on the prestigious Cutino Award Watch List for their work in leading Cal through a strong season in which its only losses have come to the nation's top-three ranked teams. Along the way, senior Abbi Magee tallied her 100th career goal, and goalie Talia Fonseca has risen to rank No. 9 all-time in career saves at Cal. Two Bears – Maria Bogachenko (Israel) and Eszter Varró (Hungary) – took early time away in order to represent their countries on the world stage at European Championships. Their international scoring impact has carried over to the collegiate game, as the pair has combined for 57 goals as Bears this year.

NCAA NOTES
• This is Cal's fifth consecutive NCAA appearance and eighth overall under the direction of head coach Coralie Simmons.
• Cal's best finishes at an NCAA Tournament have been second-place runs in 2011 and 2024.
• In the 15 previous NCAA tournaments held, Cal has reached the tourney 11 times.
• Cal is 12-13 all-time in those 11 NCAA tournament appearances.
• Cal's first NCAA appearance was 2010.
• Prior to the NCAA's sponsorship of women's water polo in 2001, Cal reached the Collegiate National Championship tournament all five years (1996-2000) and reached three straight finals (1996-98).
• Junior Julia Bonaguidi enters the NCAA Tournament with 92 career goals, looking to join teammate Abbi Magee in the 100-goal club.
• With a team-high 43 total goals this season, Despoina Drakotou has scored the seventh most goals by a freshman in Cal history.

FOLLOW ALONG
NCAA quarterfinal and semifinal games will stream on ncaa.com, and the championship game will air on ESPNU and stream on ESPN+. Greg Mescall will be on the calls for all games, joined by Olympian Kaleigh Gilchrist for the semifinals and championship. Live stats for all games will be available at thefosh.net.

THE FIELD
This year's National Collegiate field includes six automatic qualifiers from conference championships and three at-large teams. Earning automatic berths this year are Stanford (MPSF), Harvard (CWPA), Loyola Marymount (Golden Coast), Hawai'i (Big West), Concordia (WWPA) and Wagner (MAAC). This year's at-large teams are Cal, UCLA and USC — all out of the MPSF. Seven teams have qualified directly to the championship field, with two teams — Concordia and Wagner — competing in an opening round game on Wednesday.

BY THE NUMBERS
Cal's leading scorer is Despoina Drakotou with 43 goals, followed closely by Julia Bonaguidi with 42. Abbi Magee also has hit the 40-goal mark for the Bears, and two others are in the 30-goal zone in Maria Bogachenko (36) and Feline Voordouw (35). On the defensive end, Cal is allowing 11.1 goals per game. Talia Fonseca has been the goalie of record in all 21 games so far this season and is averaging 7.4 saves per game. Lexi Nelson has capped up in six games and averages 8.7 saves per game in her six periods of work. Cal is outscoring opponents 307-233 this season, averaging 14.6 goals per game on the offensive end.
 
CENTURY CLUB
Senior Abbi Magee needed three goals to get to the 100th of her career, and she did it one better with a four-goal outburst in Cal's 22-10 win over San José State on March 7. Now with 112 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 40 goals tallied to date.
Two more Bears are closing the gap on the 100-goal club, with Julia Bonaguidi at 92 career goals and Feline Voordouw with 86.

ESZTI IN EFFECT
Sophomore Ezster Varró spent the portion of the 2026 season training and competing with the Hungarian National Team, winning a silver medal at the European Championships in February. She got back to action with the Bears at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, knocking in two goals in her return, and she hasn't looked back since. In 14 games of work this season, Varró has drummed up 21 goals, including 14 scored in the Bears' last nine games.
 
CUTINO AWARD WATCH LIST
Cal stands tall with three Golden Bears highlighting the 2026 Cutino Award Watch List. Freshman Despoina Drakotou and juniors Julia Bonaguidi and Feline Voordouw have been recognized as potential candidates for collegiate water polo's top honor, the Peter J. Cutino Award. It is the first selection to the Watch List for all three Bears.
In her first season as a Bear, Drakotou is Cal's leading scorer with 43 goals and second in assists with 28 while leading the Bears in steals with 30 to date. Drakotou claimed six MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards, doubling up on Cal's previous record for single-season weekly awards from the conference. A native of Athens, Greece, she recently earned a bronze medal with Greece at the 2025 U20 World Aquatics Championships.
Bonaguidi earned her first career MPSF Player of the Week selection earlier this season. Along with her 42 goals, she's nabbed 26 steals and delivered 19 assists this year so far. A member of the U.S. National Team, Bonaguidi won gold with the U.S. Junior Team at the 2025 U20 World Aquatics Championships last summer. In her three seasons so far at Cal, she's totalled 92 career goals.
Voordouw leads Cal in drawn exclusions and field blocks so far this season with 44 and 17, respectively. She also has punched up 35 goals to go with 12 steals and 11 assists for the Bears. She holds 85 goals in her three seasons of work at Cal to date. A native of Neede, Netherlands, she is a member of the Dutch National Team.
Cal has had two previous Cutino Award finalists on the women's side, with Emily Csikos named one of three finalists in 2011 and Isabel Williams becoming the first female Bear to win the Peter J. Cutino Award with her honor won in 2024.

EURO ACTION
Two current Bears and three Cal alumnae were in action at the European Championships from Jan. 25-Feb. 5 in 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. 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 has returned 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.

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 Julia Bonaguidi and Rosalie Hassett with head coach Coralie Simmons on the coaching staff – captured gold medals. 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 in which 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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