Bears Earn NCAA Tournament Bid

BERKELEY – The Cal women’s water polo team earned its third berth ever in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2011 when the 2014 field was revealed Monday night.

The Bears are the No. 4 seed in the 10-team field and will play No. 5 Arizona State on Friday, May 9 at 5:15 p.m. at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Complex.

Cal made its first appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and finished in third place. The Bears made a return trip the following season after winning their first-ever MPSF Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA title match before falling to Stanford.

This season, Cal (19-8) finished in fourth place in the MPSF standings and then took third place at last weekend’s MPSF Tournament. The Bears were ranked No. 5 in the final CWPA Top-20 of the season.

Cal is led by freshman Dora Antal, the MPSF’s leading scorer who has tallied 71 goals this season. Fellow freshmen Anna Illes has 46 goals and Roser Tarrago has 41. Freshman goalie Madeline Trabucco has twice been named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week this season.

The NCAA Tournament opener will mark the third time Cal and Arizona State have met in less than a month. The Sun Devils (15-10) defeated the Bears 6-5 in a regular season game on April 12 but Cal came back to beat ASU on Sunday 8-7 in overtime in the Third Place Game of the MPSF Tournament. It’s Arizona State’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.