BERKELEY – The Cal beach volleyball team has strengthened the depth of its growing program with the addition of three prep student-athletes that have submitted their Statement of Intent to Register and will join the Bears next year.

Camille Stepanof of San Diego, Abby Waldburger of La Jolla and Sadie Gray of Pacific Palisades will enroll at Cal for the fall semester and suit up for the Bears in 2017.

The trio joins three other student-athletes that signed National Letters of Intent in the fall – Nicole Anderson and Iya Lindahl of San Diego and Madison Dueck of Santa Cruz.

“This season, we saw just how much of an impact recruiting has had on the squad,” Cal coach Meagan Schmitt said. “I'm excited to have these six new student-athletes join us and further the depth of our program.”

The Bears are coming off the best season in the three-year history of the program, and a few highly-regarded freshmen played a large part in their success. Mia Merino played on Cal's No. 1 pair all season and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team, while Grace Campbell and Olivia Rodberg played on Cal's No. 3 pair all year and compiled a record of 19-9.

Stepanof, 5-foot-4, achieved a Triple-A rating last year and took first place at a CVBA event as well as a third-place finish at the 18U AAU National Championship. She was an All-CIF Second Team pick at The Bishop's School.

“Camille made it very clear how much she wants to be part of this program and a student at this university,” Schmitt said. “She is extremely scrappy and finds ways to get kills.”

Waldburger, 5-10, is another Triple-A rated player who helped La Jolla High School to a second place finish in the open division in San Diego, where she was ranked No. 6 in the area.

“Abby has nice size and that will definitely add to our team's physicality,” Schmitt said. “I envision her as a split blocker, and she should be able to make an immediate impact because we are short on those types of players.”

Gray, 5-9, helped Palisades Charter win back-to-back Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League titles in 2014 and 2-15.

“Sadie has an extremely terminal arm,” Schmitt said. “She can make an immediate impact because of her ability to get kills.”

The Bears went 17-11 in 2016 and beat Arizona State in the first round of the first-ever Pac-12 Championships.