Fifth-ranked California will host No. 14 Arizona State in an MPSF women’s water polo match at noon PT Saturday. The contest will be played at Legends Aquatic Center.
 
It’s the first of three consecutive home games to end the regular season for Cal (15-3, 2-2 MPSF), which is coming off a road sweep of Indiana and Michigan last weekend. The Golden Bears are 3-1 at home this season with the lone loss coming against then-No. 2 USC on March 22. They’ll also host UC Irvine (April 13) and Stanford (April 18) over the next two weeks.

INDIANA & MICHIGAN RECAP The Bears picked up a pair of road victories against top-15 squads last weekend, defeating No. 10 Indiana 19-10 on March 29 before besting the 15th-ranked Wolverines 14-10 the following day. Freshman standout Miriam Bogachenko set the tone for the weekend with a five-goal outing against the Hoosiers; it was the second time in three games that the Cal rookie had put up five or more goals. Bogachenko scored once against Michigan as the Bears used a balanced attack of nine goal-scorers to roll to their 15th win of the year. Cal jumped ahead immediately in the second game of the weekend, taking a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and led 12-6 through three periods.  

ALL EYES ON RUBY Ruby Swadling was named to the Cutino Award Watch List on March 21. The award recognizes the nation’s top 20 water polo student-athletes, as submitted by varsity college coaches, for their outstanding play. Swadling joins Isabel Williams (2023-24) and Cecily Turner (2023) as the only Bears who have earned the honor since the watch list began in 2023.   Swadling – a two-time All-American who missed the 2024 season to train with the Australia National Team – leads Cal with 45 goals scored this season, having netted five across Cal’s two wins against Indiana and Michigan last week. She crossed the 100-goal career milestone back on Jan. 26.   WHAT A START Despite losing key players from last year’s lineup, the Bears picked up where they left off following their historic run to the 2024 NCAA championship game. They began the year 9-0 for the fifth time in program history and started 13-2 for their best mark through 15 games since 2016. All 15 of Cal’s wins have come against teams with top-20 national rankings.