No. 6 Cal Set For Death Volley Invitational
BATON ROUGE, La. – Following a 1-1 split during Tuesday's home doubleheader, the No. 6 California beach volleyball team heads back on the road this weekend for the Death Volley Invitational hosted by LSU. The Golden Bears will face four more top-20 teams, starting with rematches against the host No. 10 Tigers and No. 5 Florida State on Friday. On Saturday, Cal will take on No. 4 TCU and No. 17 Florida Atlantic for the first time this season.
THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS
Friday, March 29
No. 10 LSU (12-5) | 10:45 a.m.
No. 5 Florida State (19-2) | 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 30
No. 4 TCU (18-2) | 6 a.m.
No. 17 Florida Atlantic (12-7) | 1:30 p.m.
Live Streams
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LAST TIME OUT
The Bears played their only midweek duals of the season on Tuesday, sweeping Feather River 5-0 and falling 4-1 to No. 7 Cal Poly. Graduate student Lara Boos reached the 50-win career milestone in the victory over Feather River. Boos and sophomore Jenna Colligan followed that up with a 21-18, 18-21, 15-13 court-four win over the Mustangs.
WIN STREAKS
Cal ended the East Meets West Invitational on March 16 with its second and third straight wins over top-15 teams, downing No. 11 Hawaii 3-2 and No. 15 Georgia State 4-1. The Bears followed that up with their sixth 10-for-10 win of the year over Feather River, giving them their second four-match win streak of the year. The streak initially began with a 4-1 victory over Florida State that ended the Seminoles' 18-0 start to the season. The wins also coincided with a six-match win streak for Portia Sherman and Ella Dreibholz, the longest of any Cal pair in 2024.
MILESTONE WATCH
Alexandria Young-Gomez heads to Baton Rouge one win away from joining Boos in the 50-win club. Young-Gomez owns a 49-22 career record and is 12-6 this season while partnered exclusively with standout freshman Emma Donley.
THE CHEMISTRY IS REAL
The Bears have compiled one of the nation's best records on the 5s court (14-3), led by the combination of Sherman and Dreibholz. The pair – which initially formed at the club level prior to its Berkeley days – owns the best record on the team, going 6-0 on court four and 8-3 on court five.
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 and have remained there for a third straight week. Cal is 5-5 against ranked opponents this year, with two wins coming against top-5 opponents.
THE SQUAD
The Bears' 2024 roster includes 11 returners, three transfers and four true freshmen.
In her first year as a Bear in 2023, Sierra Caffo established herself as one of the team's top players. The San Diego native earned AVCA All-America honors after leading the team with 10 wins on court one and a 24-12 overall record. This past summer, she played for Team USA and won silver at the Norceca Beach Championship with her former LSU teammate Ella Larkin. Caffo is one of the team's three captains alongside senior Brooke Buchner and sophomore Gia Fisher.
Buchner is in her senior season after posting a .694 win percentage and 25 overall wins in 2023. Those were the second-highest marks among Cal's returners only to Alexandria Young-Gomez's .750 win percentage and 27 total victories. Lara Boos owns the most accomplished resume among the team's three transfers, having gone 29-6 last year with seven wins against top-20 teams.
*2024 Cal Beach Volleyball Records
2023 REWIND
In the program's 10th season ever, 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 win 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 and gymnastics teams 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 first associate head coach last July, while 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
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