Bears Set To Open 2023 At Army Invitational

Freshman Maggie Li led both teams with 16 kills in the exhibition against San Francisco.

VB8/23/2023 5:59 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Following Exhibition Sweep, Cal Sets Sights On Season Ahead

WEST POINT, N.Y. – California volleyball officially opens its season this week at the Army Invitational following a successful exhibition last Saturday against San Francisco. The Golden Bears hope to take the momentum from the sweep into the weekend as they match up against host Army (Aug. 25, 4:30 p.m. PT), Fairfield (9 a.m.) and Central Connecticut State (4 p.m.)
 
“The environment at the match against San Francisco was great,” interim head coach Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd said. “We loved having the band and everybody back in Haas. I thought the team did a pretty good job of executing in transition and behind the service line – it was good to see what we’d been working on in practice show up on the court.”
 
The Bears have never lost against any of the other teams in the tournament, boasting a 2-0 record against Army and 1-0 records against Fairfield and Central Connecticut State. By far the most recent matchup of the three was Cal’s season-opener bout with the Black Knights in 2022, which the Bears won, 3-1. They last played Fairfield and CCSU in 2011 and 2008, respectively.
 
Cal is prepared to take advantage of the fact that they just met Army last fall, but the team knows that the hosts will not go down without a fight. “I feel excited going into this weekend,” Jones Schoonderwoerd said. “This is going to be a good test for us to have some assignments and execute more of a gameplan this week. Army has a lot of seniors and is a very talented team.”
 
The match against Army will be live streamed on ESPN+. All three matches will have live stats available.
 
NEW COACH ON THE BLOCK
Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd steps into the interim head coach role for the Golden Bears after being hired as an assistant in February 2023. Previously, she acted as assistant coach for Cal Poly beach volleyball in 2020 while finding success on the AVP and FIVB circuits as a player. In her collegiate career at Washington and later at Cal Poly, she became just the second player in NCAA history to earn All-America honors for both indoor and beach volleyball. Jones Schoonderwoerd is joined on the staff…