No. 7 Cal Closes Regular Season At Stanford Invite
BERKELEY – The No. 7 California beach volleyball team closes out the regular season this weekend with a trio of matches at the Stanford Invite.
Competition begins Friday with a doubleheader against No. 17 Grand Canyon at 9 a.m. PT and No. 12 Washington at 1 p.m., and finishes Saturday with a single match against the third-ranked Cardinal at 1 p.m. Live stats will be provided for all matches and a live stream will be available for Saturday's contest.
SENIOR DAY SWEEP
Last weekend the Golden Bears posted two 5-0 wins over Sacramento State on senior day. Cal lost just one set across the two matches in its final day of competition at Clark Kerr this season.
BEARS IN THE RANKINGS
After ending 2023 ranked seventh in the final AVCA poll, Cal entered this year with a No. 8 national ranking, three spots higher than its starting spot prior to the 2023 season. Following three weeks of action, the Bears earned their first-ever top-6 ranking from CollegeBeachVB.com and the AVCA Coaches Poll. Cal currently ranks seventh by CollegeBeachVB.com and eighth in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
MILESTONE WATCH
Junior Ella Dreibholz enters the weekend with a career record of 73-27. She is looking to become the fourth Bear to reach 75 career wins. Senior Brooke Buchner sits just behind her with 71.
50-WIN CLUB
Junior Alexandria Young-Gomez and graduate student Lara Boos hit a career milestone last month, reaching 50 career wins as individuals. Boos joined the club with a court-four win over Feather River College on March 26 and Young-Gomez hit the mark with a victory over LSU's court-four pair just three days later.
2023 REWIND
In the program's 10th season, Cal won nine straight matches from March 4-12 – including four over ranked opponents – with six sweeps. The Bears later broke the program wins record with their 27th on April 27 with a 3-2 victory over then-No. 3 USC and went on to enter the NCAA Championship with their highest seeding ever at No. 8. Their final win came in a 3-2 victory over ninth-seeded Long Beach State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. One day later, they fell 3-1 to No. 1 seed and eventual NCAA runner-up UCLA.
CAL TO JOIN MPSF IN 2025
It was announced last November that California beach volleyball will be one of seven programs moving to the MPSF for its inaugural season in 2025. Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington and Grand Canyon will make up the other six teams in the conference. Cal beach volleyball joins the Golden Bear men's and women's water polo teams as well as men's gymnastics team in the MPSF.
THE STAFF
Meagan Owusu is in her eighth season in charge of the program in 2024. Under her leadership, the Bears have moved into the national conversation of NCAA beach volleyball, finishing 2023 with a program-record 29 wins and ranked in the top 12 for the sixth consecutive year. Joseph Mayer is in his third season overall with the team. He became the program's associate head coach last July, while former volunteer coach Dancer Styles was promoted to assistant coach. The coaching trio helped bring Cal to new heights with its first NCAA Championship win in its second straight appearance last year.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal beach volleyball, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calbeachvb) and Twitter (@calbeachvb).