No. 4 Cal opens season at FSU Polo-Palooza

WPOLO16/01/2025 11:30 | By: Cal Athletics

Bjørne will face 4 Top-20 teams

IN THE FRESNO STATE AQUATICS CENTER | FRESNO, CALIF.

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FRIDAY, JAN. 17
NO. 4 CAL VS NO. 18 SAN JOSE STATE | 6:20 p.m. PT

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SATURDAY JAN. 18
NO. 4 CAL ON NO. 9 FRESNO STATE | 12:10 p.m. PT

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NO. 4 CAL VS NO. 12 UC SAN DIEGO | 4:10 p.m. PT

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The reigning national number two California water polo team is ready to kick off the 2025 season this weekend at the Fresno State Polo-Palooza. This will be the third year in a row that the Golden Bears will begin their season at the Fresno Aquatics Center. Just as it did last year, Cal will face three top-18 opponents and finish the weekend with an exhibition of No. 5 Hawai’i at 10:20 a.m. PT Sunday in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Championship semifinal.

BABY NEEDS

SUMMARY 2024
With the nation’s best defense throughout the year, Cal finished as runner-up in both the NCAA and MPSF Championships and advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals for the second time in program history. The Bears posted their second straight 19-win season, going 19-7 (.731), good for their highest winning percentage since 2018. Key to their success was the play of graduated senior goalie Isabel Williamswho set the team’s all-time career saves record en route to becoming the first Bear in program history to win the prestigious Peter J. Cutino Award, given to the top player in the NCAA.

NET FINDERS
Although the Bears also graduated their leading scorer from last year, Mary Dempsey — who is currently scoring goals for Team USA in the group stage at the 2025 World Cup — the team returns a large portion of its offensive contributors. Senior Elena Flynn finished second on the team with 44 goals in a dazzling debut season after transferring from UC Irvine that resulted in a third straight All-America selection. Sophomore Feline Voordouw poured in 31 goals in an outstanding freshman campaign.

The season-opening tournament also marks the return of the two-time All-American Ruby Swadlingwho missed the 2024 season to train for the Australian national team.

PAN-AM GOLD
Sophomore Julia Bonaguidi – another standout from Cal’s freshman class of 2024 – competed alongside current freshmen Rosalie Hassett for Team USA at the 2024 Pan American Championships in November, scoring seven and six goals, respectively, en route to an 18-5 victory over Argentina in the final. They became the first Bears to win gold at the tournament since the current Cal assistant coach Heather Petri and Elsie Windes in 2011.

HALL OF FAME COACHING STAFF
Cal head coach Coralie Simmons and associate head coach Heather Petri is among the most decorated figures in the sport. Simmons – one of the great trailblazers in the world of women’s water polo who won two NCAA Player of the Year awards while competing for UCLA, won three NCAA championships and an Olympic silver medal with Team USA – was one of the ​​five members in the 39th induction class of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2023. Her 131 wins at Cal rank second in program history. Last May, she became the first female head coach in NCAA history to reach the NCAA Championship. Petri — the only four-time female Olympian in Cal history — was named to the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2023. Joining them on the staff for the fourth year in a row are assistant coaches Lance Morrisonwho played Division I water polo in the Pacific.

GET ENLIGHTENED
For additional coverage of Cal women’s water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWWPolo), Instagram (@calwwpolo) and Facebook (CalWomensWaterPolo).