STANFORD – For the second straight week, the No. 11 Cal beach volleyball team knocked off a top-10 opponent.

If the Bears can do it again a third time, who knows where they may end up?

Cal came back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat No. 7 Cal Poly 3-2 on Saturday during a tri-meet at the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium. The Bears (19-7) followed that up with a 5-0 shutout of Stanford, making Cal a perfect 3-0 against the Cardinal this season.

The win over the Mustangs followed a 3-2 victory over then-No. 9 Long Beach State last Friday. The Bears, who completed the regular season Saturday, move on to the Pac-12 Championship next week at USC. The tournament will feature No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 USC.

"At the end of the day today, we shifted our focus to preparing for next weekend," Cal head coach Meagan Owusu said. "Our goal last year was to finish in the top-3 in the Pac-12. There's no reason we can't improve off of that this upcoming weekend."

Not only does Cal now have two wins over top-10 opponents, it has three other narrow losses to top-10 teams in which the dual was decided by two points each.

Eight teams make the NCAA Championships, and the Bears could strengthen their case for a berth if they can knock off a team ranked ahead of them next weekend.

"We've proven over the past month that we deserve to be in the top-10 in the country," Owusu said. "We're really excited to get another shot at some top teams."

The Bears' win over the Mustangs was much like their victory over Long Beach St., in which they also fell behind 0-2. After the Bears dropped matches on the top two courts against Cal Poly, Cal's No. 3 pair of Grace Campbell and Iya Lindahl and No. 4 pair of Alexia Inman and Mia Merino each registered straight-set victories to tie the dual at 2-2. Cal's No. 5 pair of Madison Dueck and Abby Waldburger then defeated Brayden Gruenewald and Vanessa Roscoe, 23-21, 21-19 to give the Bears the win.

"It's never over until it's over," Owusu said. "Our team knows that at different points of the season we have had to rely on everyone. Our 3-5 pairs stepped up and performed."

Three of the matches against the Cardinal went to three sets. Cal had previously beaten Stanford 3-2 on two different occasions this season and has won four in a row overall against the Cardinal.

The bracket for the Pac-12 Championship will be revealed Monday.

 
 
No. 11 Cal 3, No. 7 Cal Poly 2
No. 1: Crissy Jones-Tiadora Miric (CP) def. Mima Mirkovic-Jordan Polo, 21-12, 21-15
No. 2: Macy Gordon-Emily Sonny (CP) def. Maddie MIcheletti-Caroline Schafer, 21-18, 21-19
No. 3: Grace Campbell-Iya Lindahl (Cal) def. Delaney Peranich-Samantha Manley, 21-19, 21-13
No. 4: Alexia Inman-Mia Merino (Cal) def. Kassandra Wright-Jayelin Lombard, 21-17, 21-17
No. 5: Madison Dueck-Abby Waldburger (Cal) def. Brayden Gruenewald-Vanessa Roscoe, 23-21, 21-19
 
No. 11 Cal 5, No. 20 Stanford 0
No. 1: Mima Mirkovic-Caroline Schafer (Cal) def. Tori Ashkinos-Charlie Ekstrom, 19-21, 21-16, 15-11
No. 2: Maddie Micheletti-Jordan Polo (Cal) def. Morgan Hentz-Sunny Villapando, 21-12, 21-14
No. 3: Grace Campbell-Iya Lindahl (Cal) def. Blake Sharp-Amelia Smith, 19-21, 21-15, 15-8
No. 4: Alexia Inman-Mia Merino (Cal) def. Maddie-Dailey-Kat Anderson, 21-16, 13-21, 15-7
No. 5: Madison Dueck-Abby Waldburger (Cal) def. Chelsea Red-Horse Mohl-Shannon Richardson, 21-9, 21-16