Cal vs. Dartmouth
Friday, Sept. 1 | 7 PM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif..
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Cal vs. Eastern Washington
Saturday, Sept. 2 | 10 AM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif..
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Cal vs. Texas Tech
Saturday, Sept. 2 | 7:30 PM PT | Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, Calif..
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
The Cal volleyball team hosts its second consecutive tournament to begin the 2017 season when it welcomes Dartmouth, Eastern Washington and Texas Tech to Berkeley for the Cal Classic on Friday and Saturday at Haas Pavilion. The Bears will be playing their first-ever match against Dartmouth, but are very familiar with head coach Gilad Doron, who served as the head coach of Bay Area foe USF from 2007-15. Cal and Texas Tech have played once in history, with the Bears defeating the Red Raiders 3-0 at the UNLV Tournament in 2002. The Bears are 4-0 all-time against Eastern Washington.
BEAR NECESSITIES
MOLTEN CLASSIC RECAP
The Bears went 2-1 at the season-opening Molten Classic last weekend at Haas Pavilion. After dropping their season-opener to UC Irvine, Cal bounced back to defeat Loyola Chicago and Seattle, each in four sets. The victory over Loyola Chicago was new head coach Matt McShane’s first win at Cal. Seniors Christine Alftin and Antzela Dempi were named to the Molten Classic All-Tournament Team.
SERVING NOTICE
The Bears showcased a much-improved service game during the Molten Classic, as Cal registered 20 aces in 12 sets and held its three opponents to a .173 hitting percentage. The 1.67 ace/set average ranks third in the Pac-12. Senior Antzela Dempi, who was named to the Molten Classic All-Tournament Team, reeled off six aces while freshmen Mima Mirkovic and Isabel Potter each had four. The Bears have finished last in the Pac-12 in aces in each of the past four seasons.’
MCSHANE PICKS UP FIRST WIN AT CAL
Matt McShane made his debut as Cal’s head coach last weekend and notched his first victory with the Golden Bears when Cal defeated Loyola Chicago on Saturday morning. McShane took over the program in May following the retirement of Rich Feller after 18 seasons. McShane served as Feller’s associate head coach in 2016 and previously was an assistant on the Cal staff from 2005-09. In between, McShane was the head coach at Air Force for six seasons.
LIKING LIBERO
Senior Jessica Gaffney took a liking to her debut as Cal’s libero last weekend, averaging 3.75 digs/set, including a career-high 17 digs in a victory over Loyola Chicago. Gaffney, who transferred to Cal from USF before her junior season, played in every set last year, almost exclusively as a back row player. When she took the court for Friday’s season-opener against UC Irvine, Gaffney became the first player other than Maddy Kerr to wear the libero jersey for the Bears since 2012. Kerr started the first match of her career at libero as a freshman and played in every set of every match for four years.
CAL FEATURES NATION’S NO. 15 CLASS
The Bears have the No. 15 recruiting class in the nation, according to PrepVolleyball.com. That includes three prospects ranked as Top-100 “Senior Aces” – middle blocker Preslie Anderson (No. 38), middle blocker Lauren Forte (No. 43) and outside hitter Mima Mirkovic (No. 72). Cal also has freshman setters Isabel Potter and Jordyn Schuette, as well as sophomore defensive specialist Emma Smith, a transfer from Hawai’i.
ABOUT DARTMOUTH
• Seven of the Big Green’s 15 players are newcomers (6 freshmen, 1 transfer)
• SO Tori Dozier, an N.C. State transfer, was a Second Team All-American in high school
• Dartmouth head coach Gilad Doron spent nine years as the head coach at nearby USF
• LAST MEETING: Teams have never met
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON
• SR Ashley Seiler was named to the UNLV Invitational All-Tournament team last weekend
• Seiler leads the Big Sky in kills per set (4.38) through the first weekend of play
• Eastern Washington was picked to finish 9th in the Big Sky preseason poll
• LAST MEETING: Cal d. EWU 3-0 (8-29-15)
ABOUT TEXAS TECH
• Season-opening tournament at Houston Baptist was cancelled due to Hurrican Harvey
• Red Raiders scheduled game at North Texas on Saturday, and won in a sweep
• JR libero Reyn Akiu was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team
• LAST MEETING: Cal d. Texas Tech 3-0 (9-8-02)
Press Release courtesy of Cal Athletics.
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