Cal Set For Pac-12 Championship

BERKELEY – The Cal beach volleyball team will begin postseason play on Wednesday at the Pac-12 Championship as they take on the host, Arizona, at 12:45 p.m. at Bear Down Beach.
 
The Bears are seeded fourth in the double elimination tournament that will take place Wednesday-Friday in Tucson, Arizona. Cal's second contest will be at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday if they lose to Arizona, but if the Bears win they will play at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. All matches at the Pac-12 Championship will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
 
CAL BEGINS POSTSEASON PLAY
- The Bears will compete at the Pac-12 Championship this week looking to secure their first-ever berth at an NCAA Championship.
- Cal opens the Pac-12 Tournament vs. the host, Arizona. The Bears are 4-6 all-time vs. Arizona but 3-1 at the Pac-12 Tournament. Arizona won their lone matchup this year, but Cal had to withdraw at the top spot due to an injury to Mima Mirkovic.
- Cal has finished in the top four of each of the past three Pac-12 Championships as the Bears took third in both 2018 and 2019 and fourth in 2021. (2020 was not held due to COVID.)
- This is the second time the Bears have been seeded fourth, they went 1-2 in 2016 as a No. 4 seed.
- Ainsley Radell and Jordan Polo were named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team last year after an exciting win at the #2 pair clinched Cal's victory over Arizona.
 
CAL ENTERS CHAMPIONSHIP RANKED 11TH
- The Bears are 11th in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll.
- Cal was picked 11th in the Preseason AVCA Preseason Poll, but moved up one spot to No. 10 after the first week of action and was 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 1458 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 22-2 against teams outside the top 10 of the rankings, including 4-1 against ranked teams.
 
RACKING UP WINS
- Cal has recorded 23 wins this year, which is the second-most wins in a season for the Cal program, trailing only 2018 (24). The Bears will look to set the school record for victories at the Pac-12 Championship. Cal has already recorded the most regular-season wins in school history.
- Mima Mirkovic has recorded 79 career victories and is second in program history for career wins, trailing only Grace Campbell's 83. Mirkovic has 73 wins at #1, the most in Cal history.
- Lexi McKeown and Ella Dreibholz are 21-5 this year, they are third for wins as a pair in a season, trailing only two pairs from the 2018 season: Grace Campbell/Maddie Micheletti (27) and Caroline Schafer/Mia Merino (23).  They've also win 80.7% of their matches this year, which ranks ninth-best by a pair in school history. 
- AInsley Radell has tallied 49 wins in her career and is just one victory from becoming the 10th woman in school history to record 50 wins for the Cal beach volleyball program.
 
LINEUP NOTES
- Cal's projected lineup features two pairs that made their debut this past weekend in the season finale vs. Washington as Ainsley Radell and Ashley Delgado were paired together for the first time and Brooke Buchner paired with Ava Mann for the first time.
- After an injury delayed her debut, Alex-Young Gomez played sparingly until the Pac-12 North Invitational, when she entered the lineup at #5, she hasn't missed a match since and won over #8 Stanford with partner Natalie Martin this past weekend.
- After an injury to Mirkovic, Costa and Gessner were partnered together and have beaten three top-10 teams as a pair: #3 UCLA, #8 Stanford, #7 Grand Canyon.
 
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