Cal Set For Four Matches At Stanford

BERKELEY – No. 12 California beach volleyball will head to the South Bay to take on three ranked opponents this weekend. Cal will face-off with No. 3 UCLA and No. 1 USC on Saturday with the matches slated for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. PT. On Sunday, Cal will open against Utah at 11 a.m. followed by the finale of the Pac-12 North Invitational vs. No. 9 Stanford at 4 p.m.
 
Cal's matches against UCLA will be broadcast on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Sunday's match vs. Stanford will be on Pac-12 Bay Area. Both of those matches will take place in the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium, while Cal's contests vs. USC and Utah will be at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Courts.
 
CAL TAKES ON THREE RANKED OPPONENTS
- Cal will face a difficult schedule this week as they take on three top-10 teams.
- The Bears are 0-9 all-time against UCLA, who enters the match ranked third in the country.
- Cal is 2-9 vs. USC, but the Bears have won two of the past six meetings. USC enters this weekend with the number one ranking and features Cal graduate Caroline Schafer on the team.
- The Bears will battle Utah for the first time this year, Cal is 4-0 all-time vs. Utah and has beat the Utes 5-0 in each of the last two seasons.
- Cal will close the Pac-12 North Invitational against the host, no. 9 Stanford. The Bears are 8-8 all-time vs. the Cardinal. The two teams played six times last year within a month, with the Cardinal winning four times, including two wins in the Pac-12 Tournament. Both teams were ranked in the top 12 for all of the matches. The total points were 15-13 to Stanford across the six matches.
 
CAL ENTERS WEEKEND RANKED 12TH
- Cal has won 14 of their past 17 matches, including four ranked wins during that stretch, and the Bears are 12th in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll.
-The Bears were picked 11th in the Preseason AVCA Preseason Poll, but moved up one spot to No. 10 after the first week of action and were 10th for three weeks.
- The top-13 ranking continues a streak of being ranked in the top 13 of every poll since April 23, 2018. Cal has now spent 1437 consecutive days ranked in the top 13 of the AVCA Coaches Poll.
- The Bears have finished each of the past four seasons ranked in the top 12 of the final poll, including an 11th-place finish in the final poll of the 2021 season.
- The Bears are currently 10th in the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Preseason Committee Rankings.
- Cal is 19-3 against teams outside the top five of the rankings, including 5-2 against ranked teams.
 
STARTING ANEW
- Cal will have a new look this year as Meagan Owusu returns to coach the team after spending the 2020 season on maternity leave and leaving the team for the 2021 season. 
- Cal welcomes eight newcomers to the team for this year including four transfers: All-American Ana Costa (Stetson), Ashley Delgado (Tulane), Natalie Martin (LSU) and Lexi McKeown (FSU). 
- Cal has used 21 different pairs this year, including nine this past weekend in three home matches.
- The only players on Cal's team who were on the team in 2020 are Mima Mirkovic (113 matches), Ainsley Radell (63), Kate Bierly (20) and Madison Sundholm (2).
 
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