Bears Face Ducks In Eugene

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BERKELEY -- California volleyball travels to the Pacific Northwest for a matchup with No. 16 Oregon in Eugene this weekend.    

The Golden Bears and Ducks are set for a 1 p.m. first serve on Friday, Mar. 26 at Matthew Knight Arena, followed by a 12 p.m. PT start on Sunday, Mar. 28. Both matches will be available via Oregon Live Stream. 

The young, shorthanded Cal squad is coming off of a pair of losses to Arizona last week in Berkeley, falling 3-0 on Friday and 3-0 Sunday. The Blue and Gold are led by a pair of freshmen in Lydia Grote (Burbank, California) and Katarina Pantovic (Vancouver, British Columbia), along with senior Isabel Potter (Moline, Illinois). Grote leads the Bears with 178 kills and 41 blocks, while Pantovic is second on the team with 132 kills, playing in 16 of 18 matches this season. Potter moved into seventh all-time at Cal in assists on Feb. 19 vs USC, totaling 2,653 in her career with the Bears before being forced out of the setting role due to a broken finger suffered at WSU.    

The Ducks swept a weekend series with rival Oregon State last weekend, winning 3-2 in Eugene on Friday before traveling to Corvallis and sweeping the Beavers in straight sets on Sunday. Oregon ranks in the top five of all major stat categories in the conference and is led by Brooke Nuneviller, who ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in digs per set at 3.78 and sixth in kills per set with a 3.62 average.

GRO-T-ING UP QUICKLY
Lydia Grote got off to a strong start in her Cal career, collecting 18 kills on .654 hitting to go along with three blocks in her debut at then-No. 22 UCLA on Jan. 22. The 18 kills set a new mark for most in a freshman debut in Cal volleyball history and Grote's .654 attack percentage in the opener is the fourth-best in the conference this season with a minimum of 12 kills. The native of Burbank, California has recorded nine double digit kill matches, including six of the last eight and leads the team with 178 kills and 41 blocks. Grote ranks fourth in the conference among freshmen in kills with two weeks to play. 

KATARINA KAN
Freshman Katarina Pantovic recorded her first career double-double (15k, 12d) in Cal's 3-2 win over then-No. 15 Stanford on Feb. 12, the Bears first win in the series since 2011. Opening her Golden Bear career with a bang on the road at then-No. 22 UCLA to begin the season, Pantovic tallied 14 kills and nine digs to fall just short of a double-double in her collegiate debut. The Vancouver, British Columbia native is second on the team with 132 kills through the first nine weeks of the season after recording a season-high 16 on Feb. 5 at Colorado. Pantovic set a new career-high with 13 digs on Mar. 5 against OSU as part of her second double-double along with 13 kills.   

ACED
Cal was bolstered in its win over then-No. 15 Stanford on Feb. 12 with a strong performance from behind the service line. The Bears recorded a season-high 12 service aces, winning the battle from behind the line, 12-5. Isabel Potter tallied a match best five aces which is tied for most in the conference this season in a single match while Lydia Grote added a season-high three aces. Potter currently stands tied for sixth in the Pac-12 with 20 aces on the season. 

RE-SHAPING THE RECORD BOOK 
Senior setter Isabel Potter is leaving her mark in the record book during her final season as a Golden Bear. The Moline, Illinois native moved into seventh on the all-time assists list at Cal on Feb. 19 vs USC. Potter recorded 34 assists against the Trojans to pass Joan Caloiaro's (2012-13) 2,552 career assist mark and now has 2,653 assists in her Cal career. Samantha Carter (2003-06) holds the all-time record at Cal with 5,771 career helpers.  

YOUNG BEARS
Six of the 15 active players on the spring roster for the Bears are new faces since the team last took the court in November of 2019. The freshman class includes libero Tara DeSa (Mililani, Hawai'i), middle blocker Lydia Grote (Burbank, Calif.), libero Lexi Gruszczynski (San Clemente, Calif.), setter Kendall Jensen (Burbank, Calif.), outside hitter Katarina Pantovic (Vancouver, British Columbia) and opposite Sam Taumoepeau (San Diego, Calif.).

BELLA'S BACK
Cal gets a boost in the middle with the return of redshirt sophomore Bella Bergmark, who sat out the 2019 volleyball season. Bergmark participated in USA volleyball tryouts back in February 2020 and will see a lot of playing time with the departures of graduated All-Conference middle blockers Preslie Anderson and Lauren Forte. The Larkspur, Calif. native started eight matches as a freshman in 2018, playing in 38 sets. She recorded 36 kills and 21 blocks during her first season with the Golden Bears and made her presence known with seven total blocks (2s, 5a) against No. 8 Utah on Jan. 29, tied for the fourth-most in the conference in a single match so far this season. Bergmark is currently second on the team with 35 blocks on the season.

O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN
The Bears will be led by two senior captains during the 2020-21 season in senior setter Isabel Potter and junior libero Jessica Houghton. The experienced duo were voted captains by their teammates during the summer. Potter has played in 92 matches and 331 sets in her first three seasons at Cal, totaling 60 kills and 66 service aces while leading the team in assists. Houghton came on strong late during the 2019 campaign, playing in nine matches and 24 sets. She tallied a career-high 20 digs on Mar. 5 against Oregon State after taking over libero duties for the Bears.

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