CAF8/11/2025 1:46 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Unprecedented Support Leads To Largest Single-Year Total Of Donations In Cal Athletics History

As Cal Athletics reflects on the 2024-25 year, the department extends its heartfelt thanks to the entire Cal family. This remarkable year was made possible by its unwavering belief in the mission and steadfast support of Cal student-athletes.

During the 2024-25 year, a record $82 million was given in support of Cal Athletics – the largest single year total in its history. It marked the fifth consecutive year Cal Athletics received at least $35 million in philanthropic support and included both the first- and third-largest commitments ever made to the department. Additionally, 64.8% of donors who made a gift in 2023-24 also made a gift in 2024-25 – reinforcing what has long been known: the Cal family shows up, year after year.

Support for operational needs also saw a tremendous boost, with more than $17.3 million directly funding the student-athlete experience across all varsity sports and initiatives. These gifts had an immediate and tangible impact, ensuring student-athletes had the tools and resources to perform at their very best.

“The Cal community is one unlike any other. Even with the challenges and changes college athletics has endured, they remain steadfast in their commitment and support of Cal and, most importantly, our student-athletes,” Cal Chief Development Officer Beth Tafolla-Voetsch said. “I hope the entire Cal family can see the role they played in our milestone year. Your belief in our student-athletes fuels what we do, and on behalf of the entire department, I thank you for your support.”

Among many highlights this year, one moment stands alone in Cal Athletics history: an unprecedented $26 million gift from Ned ’66 and Carol ’66 Spieker. This transformative endowment secures the future of men’s swimming and diving and men’s water polo for generations to come. Cal Athletics is profoundly grateful to the Spieker family for their visionary investment in the long-term strength of its programs.

The men’s and women’s golf and rugby programs were also endowed this year, bringing the total number of endowed programs to five. To learn more about these transformational commitments and the aspirational goal of endowing 15 sports programs by 2028, click here.

Additionally, a fifth head coaching position was endowed ahead of the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Cal men’s rowing program. Jeff ’75 and Patty ’75, ’76 Williams made a $1.5 million gift to endow the Williams Family Men’s Rowing Head Coach, which was part of the matching endowment challenge led by longtime UC Berkeley and Cal men’s rowing supporters, the Rogers family. Additionally, 17 new endowments were created across all 30 sports programs – these investments not only solidify the department’s foundation, they also signal a powerful belief in the bright future of Cal Athletics. 

Several transformative seven-figure gifts helped propel Cal Athletics to its historic fundraising milestone. The Haas Jr. Fund contributed $4.2 million – a generous investment that will enhance Haas Pavilion by preserving its most iconic features while improving the experience for both student-athletes and fans. Two anonymous donors each contributed $1 million to Cal football, and The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund generously provided $1 million in support of both Cal men’s basketball and football. Additionally, Stacey Baba ’77 made a $1 million bequest to benefit the Cal softball and women’s golf programs, and following the Cal softball and beach volleyball facility groundbreakings, we were pleased to announce an anonymous $1 million gift to create the first Cal Beach Volleyball programmatic endowment. Cal Athletics is profoundly grateful for the extraordinary generosity and steadfast commitment of these dedicated supporters. 

Spring 2025 also brought seismic change to college athletics with the passing of the NCAA House Settlement, providing the opportunity for revenue sharing with student-athletes. Cal Athletics responded swiftly with the launch of the Fight For California campaign, designed to ensure head coaches have the resources to recruit and retain the best and brightest student-athletes, while also strengthening overall program operations.

The campaign’s momentum was immediate. In April, the Fight For California Football Challenge shattered records, securing over $2 million in just eight days – the most ever given during a UC Berkeley crowdfunding campaign. In June, the Fight For California Women’s Basketball Challenge secured nearly $200,000 in just two weeks. These efforts represent only the beginning of what is expected to be a game-changing initiative for the department.

Over the past two years, the California Legends Collective has played a vital role in supporting Cal’s student-athletes during a time of significant change in intercollegiate athletics. The Collective’s board and its contributors’ commitment have been instrumental as Cal Athletics adapted to a new and dynamic landscape, and the department is incredibly grateful for its efforts.

As the new academic year commences at the University of California, Berkeley, there is much to look forward to. With the unwavering support and enduring passion of the Cal family, even more remarkable athletics and academic achievements lie ahead.

 

SAO PAULO — Brazilian police said Monday there were no injuries after shots were fired near an Under-20 World Cup women’s water polo game between China and Canada in the city of Salvador. China won 12-8 on Sunday — the opening day of the tournament — but footage showed the game being briefly interrupted as players got out of the pool, laid down and took cover by a small barrier after hearing gunshots outside the water polo venue in the Pituba neighbourhood. China led Canada 3-2 at the time. “The match stopped for about a minute. Our team saw that…

BEMIDJI — Bemidji State cross country and track and field head coach Mike Lynch has announced the Beavers’ 2025-26 freshman class of 10 student-athletes.

The Beavers’ cross country schedule kicks off on Sep. 5 in Sioux Falls for the Augie Twilight, hosted by Augustana at the Yankton Trail Park.

“The 2025-26 freshman class is a talented group,” Lynch said in a release. “With the 2025 class and the returners we have coming back, next season should be a blast.”

Martin has competed in girls shot put and discus at Farmington High School, marking bests of 38-02.75 in indoor shot put, 36-04 in outdoor and 98-11 in discus. She consistently landed in the top five for shot put during her senior outdoor season. Martin finished eighth in shot put at the MSHSL Section 1-3A Championships this past May with a throw of 35-10, just six inches short of her outdoor best.

Rystedt enters Bemidji State after a full season of competition this past spring at Minot North High School in North Dakota. She competed in shot put and discus at 11 meets, including the NDHSAA Class A and B State Meet at the end of May where she took 24th in both events. Rystedt marked her personal best in shot put during the 2023 outdoor season at 36-02, with her indoor best at 33-09. On the discus side, she grabbed a throw of 111-06” in 2024, followed closely by her season best of 111-04 this past season.

An East Ridge High School alum, Freymiller set and tied her personal best vault at 9-06 in the 2024 and 2025 outdoor seasons. She finished her senior season in eighth place at the MSHSL Section 3-3A Championships with a vault of 9-00.

Goeson, from New York Mills, joins the Beavers as a distance runner. In cross country meets, Goeson has a personal best of 20:15.9 in the 5K. On the track, she has competed in the 1.6K, one mile, 3.2K, 4×400 relay and 4×800 relay. Goeson has marked bests of 5:14.60 in the 1600-meter, 5:31.05 in the mile and 13:09.97 in the 3200-meter. She finished second in the 1.6K and sixth in the 800 at the 2025 Section 6A Championships this spring, then went on to take eighth at the state meet in the 1.6k.

From Rochester Century High School, distance runner Hanenberger finished her high school outdoor career third in Section 1-3A for the 3.2K and eighth in the 1.6K. Hanenberger has also been a member of Century High School’s 4×800 relay teams. Her personal bests sit at 18:58.3 in the cross country 5K, 5:28.00 in the 1.6k and 11:48.45 in the 3.2k K. In the girls 4×800 relay, her team best sits at 10:30.59, set during the outdoor season in 2024.

Out of Rock Ridge High School, Waldron set her personal best in the cross country 5000 meters last season with a time of 21:45.3, finishing that race in 12th. Waldron was an active member of the Rock Ridge relay teams, competing in the 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 relays, with the latter finding three first-place and three third-place finishes throughout the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons. She set her personal best in the 800 and 1600 this past season with times of 2:33.83 and 5:46.45, respectively.

Mikhaeil, from Staples-Motley High School, runs both cross country and track. Last season, Mikhaeil set her personal best time in the cross country 5K with a time of 20:28.2. On the track, she competed in the 800, 1.6k and 4×400 relay this past season. Mikhaeil holds personal best times of 2:40.94 in the 800, 5:56.65 in the 1600 and 12:50.70 in the 3200. Her 4×400 relay team finished ninth in subsections this past May, while she finished fifth in the 1600. Mikhaeil set her 1600-meter best during the MSHSL Section 6A Championships, taking 11th.

One of two multi-event student-athletes joining the Beavers this season, Lavine comes from Clearbrook-Gonvick High School. This past outdoor season, Lavine excelled in field events, taking first place in the MSHSL State Championships for discus with a personal best of 146-03. Throughout the season, she totaled 16 first-place finishes, six second-place finishes and two third-place finishes, with just two long jump attempts not cracking the top three. Indoors, Lavine added four more first-place finishes through shot put, long jump and high jump.

Waldal found her place as a relay team member and jumper throughout her career at Lincoln High School. Her relay experience includes five first-place finishes in the 4×200 relay, a first-place finish in the sprint medley 800 and a first-place finish in the 4×100 relay. Waldal consistently jumped into the top five for both long and triple jump during her junior year at Lincoln.

The lone Nebraskan on the Beavers’ roster, Congrove, will join the team as a sprinter and hurdler. This past season, Congrove found personal bests in the 200 (27.89), 400 (1:02.04) and 300m hurdles (45.40) for Papillion La Vista South High School. She finished fifth in the Nebraska Class A State Championships in the 300-meter hurdles with her personal record time. Throughout the past season, Congrove has grabbed six first-place finishes, four coming from the 300-meter distance.

There’s a paradox about the Pitt women’s volleyball team: The Panthers are coming off their fourth consecutive appearance in the national semifinals, yet that source of pride also is a source of pain.

Being so consistently strong is nice, but the Panthers long to kick in the door to the national final.

“The returning players who have made it to the final four two years in a row, we, obviously, want to look past that point, and we’re looking at a national championship,” said redshirt senior middle blocker Bre Kelley. “But we’re really focused on the process right now because it’s such a new team.”

The roster has undergone a major overhaul. Longtime core players such as Rachel Fairbanks, Valeria Vazquez Gomez, Emmy Klika and Cat Flood graduated. Torrey Stafford, an American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team selection, transferred to Texas.

Only eight of the 15 women on the roster have seen action in a Panthers uniform, and three of those — middle blocker Dalia Virlan, right side/setter Kiana Dunn and setter Haiti Tuatua’a — played a combined 25 sets last season. (Tuatua’a played in 42 sets as a freshman but missed last season with an injury.)

Despite the Panthers being voted the preseason favorite to win the ACC and third in the AVCA preseason poll, 13th-year coach Dan Fisher recognizes that it might take a little time for this group to click.

“Going into last year, I would say there was two starting spots that I was kind of unsure about … that were up for grabs,” said Fisher, who has 320 career wins at Pitt. “Now I would say that there’s only two starting spots that I’m pretty sure about.”

One of the those is at right-side hitter, where AVCA National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock slots in. The 6-foot-4 rising junior averaged 4.72 kills per set, 1.82 digs per set, 1.12 blocks per set and had 71 service aces. And she might be even better this season.

She spent time with the U.S. women’s national program over the summer, and that helped her to expand her game.

“I feel like just playing at that level, you see a lot of things you don’t see as often in college volleyball,” she said. “I had to find new solutions and find new things. I feel like having those new skills to bring here to Pitt … is really going to take us to the next level.”

There’s more returning firepower beyond Babcock. Kelley made the AVCA second team after averaging 1.88 kills per set and hitting .497. Complementing Kelley in the middle is sophomore Ryla Jones (1.18, .393).

Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Mallorie Meyer played in 84 sets last season and is poised for a bigger role, as is junior outside hitter Blaire Bayless, who averaged 1.01 kills per set over 89 sets.

Even though several players are new to Pitt’s program, they are no strangers to high-level competition. Tops among them is setter Brooke Mosher, who had 932 assists and 43 aces for Illinois, where she spent her first three seasons.

The back line will be fortified by redshirt senior libero/defensive specialist Emery Dupes, who played at ACC rival Florida State and was the first freshman all-conference libero in program history.

Pitt also brought in a pair of seasoned international players: outside hitters Dagmar Mourits (Netherlands) and Marina Prezelj (France). Mourits, 21, has played in her country’s top volleyball division, and Prezelj was on the Volleyball Nations League roster for France and plays in the French first division.

Freshman libero/defensive specialist Izzy Masten might be a wild card. The Indiana native is still only 17 years old, having graduated from high school a year early, but Fisher called her a “special player.”

Pitt will be tested right out of the gate, opening Aug. 22 at preseason No. 1 Nebraska. On Sept. 17, the Panthers visit reigning national champion Penn State. In between, their opponents include Florida, TCU, Arizona State and Kentucky, all of which won at least one match in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

It’s a daunting schedule for a group that is still finding its identity. But Kelley said facing tough opponents will be crucial as the Panthers build toward where they ultimately want to go. Finally.

“We’re trying to get everything in and learn and focus on the process and the outcomes rather than the accolades,” Kelley said. “Because if you focus on the process, the accolades will come.”

From June 11 to August 11, GoMatadors.com will present the top CSUN Moments from the 2024-25 sports season. Today, we celebrate CSUN’s success “Outside the Lines” this season.
 

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MATADOR ACHIEVE NUMBEROUS ACADEMIC ACCOLADES
CSUN would achieve a multitude of academic awards during the 2024-25 calendar year. A total of 123 CSUN student-athletes earned academic all-conference honors (Big West and MPSF) throughout the year with another 21 collecting academic all-district accolades from the College Sports Communicators. The Matadors also would be heavily represented on the 2024-25 Big West Commissioner’s Honor Roll with 231 receiving recognition including 128 earning Highest Honors. 

The CSUN softball team would receive a program-record 18 Scholar-Athlete distinctions from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association while the women’s water polo team placed 15 on the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-Academic Team and 10 women’s tennis student-athletes earned Scholar-Athlete honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. 

On the team side, the men’s volleyball team received Academic honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the women’s soccer team garnered College Team Academic accolades from the United Soccer Coaches, the women’s team earned ITA Team Academic honors and the women’s water polo team collected ACWPC All-Academic awards.

MEN’S BASKETBALL SETS ATTENDANCE RECORD

The CSUN men’s basketball team would have an historic 2024-25 season featuring a school record 22 wins on the campaign. Along with an impressive 10-3 record at Premier America Credit Union Arena, the Matadors would set a school record in home attendance on February 27 when CSUN took on first-place UC San Diego. A total of 2,298 fans packed the Premier America Credit Union Arena to cheer on the Matadors in a marquee Big West matchup. 

The 2,298 attendance mark surpassed the previous CSUN record established in the 2015-16 season of 2,156. Since the seat expansion in the arena in 2015, CSUN had reached the 2,000 attendance mark twice before the 2024-25 season. Along with the school record on February 27, the Matadors would surpass 2,000 fans in their final home game of the season against Hawai’i on March 8 (2,055). 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL BREAKS ATTENDANCE MARK ON EDUCATION DAY

The CSUN women’s basketball team also received a record-breaking attendance in a Big West showdown with UC Santa Barbara on January 30. A total of 1,704 fans were in attendance at Premier America Credit Union Arena as the Matadors hosted Education Day. Several local schools packed the Matador home arena for the afternoon contest, bringing a raucous atmosphere to the event. The previous Matador women’s basketball record was set on Nov. 21, 2019 when 1,606 fans were attendance for CSUN against Portland. 

CSUN HONORS 87 MVP’S AT MATADOR ATHLETIC EVENTS

CSUN hosted eight MVP (Most Valuable Professor) Days during the 2024-25 academic year. A total of 87 CSUN professors were honored for significantly impacting a student-athlete’s academic journey, underscoring the deep connections beyond the classroom.

 

CSUN professors were honored in men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, baseball, and softball.

CSUN HALL OF FAME RETURNS IN 2025

CSUN Athletics inducted its first Hall of Fame class in seven years on February 28, as three individuals and one team were honored at the Warner Center Marriott. With over 200 Matador friends and family in attendance, CSUN inducted Channon Fluker (Women’s Basketball), Don Strametz (Track & Field/Cross Country head coach), Joseph Vaughn (Football) and the 1987 National Champion Softball Team. 

Fluker’s decorated women’s basketball career included two Big West Player of the Year, two Big West Defensive Player of the Year and four first-team All-Big West honors while she helped CSUN win the Big West Tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament in 2018. Strametz coached the men’s track & field team for 26 seasons and both the women’s track & field team and men’s and women’s cross country teams for 31 seasons each while he won an astounding 29 Coach of the Year awards and 21 conference championships. The 1987 CSUN softball team won the program’s fourth NCAA Division II National Championship under the guidance of CSUN Hall of Fame coach Gary Torgeson as the team went 58-7 overall on the year. A two-year letterwinner from 1993-94, Vaughn because the first CSUN football player to earn Associated Press I-AA All-America First Team honors after tying the school record with nine interceptions in his senior season. 

#GoMatadors

 

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