California Golden Bears Athletics
Saturday, April 1
San Luis Obispo, CA
1:00 PM
California
vs
UC Davis
Photo by: Cal Athletics
No. 9 Cal Set For Mustang Invitational
3/30/2023 6:48 PM | Beach Volleyball
Bears Head South For 4 Matches in San Luis Obispo
BERKELEY – The No. 9 California beach volleyball team heads south to San Luis Obispo this weekend to compete in Cal Poly's Mustang Invitational. The Golden Bears will play four matches in two days, facing UC Davis and No. 13 Washington on Saturday and No. 20 Tulane and Cal Poly on Sunday. It's the final road trip outside of the Bay Area on the regular-season schedule.
Live scoring for all four matches will be available on CalBears.com.
Cal comes into the weekend as the top-ranked team, boasting a 14-5 overall record. It will be the Bears' second match with the Huskies (10-8), whom they defeated 4-1 earlier this month, and their first matchups with the Green Wave (13-5) and Mustangs (7-17).
Caffo and Waters-Leiga Named Pac-12 Pair of the Week
Junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo were named the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week earlier this week after a solid showing at the Fight In The Fort. The transfer duo has been on a hot streak to start its first season with the Bears, boasting an 11-3 overall record, and continued that success this past weekend going 3-1.
Beginning the weekend on court two, Caffo and Waters-Leiga picked up a gritty 21-17, 30-28 win over No. 1 TCU. Following that win the Bears made their debut in the top spot, playing on court one for the rest of the weekend. Their first court-one win came against No. 15 Florida International 22-20, 22-24, 15-8 and they promptly picked up another, topping Missouri State 21-10, 21-15.
Big Spike Comeback
The Bears had a dramatic comeback win over No. 8 Stanford in their home opener this past weekend. After falling behind 2-0 on the lower courts, Cal's top three pairings were forced to win out to capture the victory. The transfer pair of Liz Waters-Leiga and Sierra Caffo kept its team's hopes alive with its first court-two win of the season, and the team of Maya Gessner and Ella Dreibholz grinded out a three-set win on court three to tie the match. It would all come down to the senior duo of Ainsley Radell and Ashley Delgado. Playing in the top spot for the second time this season, the veterans didn't flinch, winning in straight sets to complete the reverse sweep. It was Cal's first win over a top-10 team this season and led to the Bears' highest AVCA ranking of the year at nine.
Nine In A Row
After dropping two of their first three matches, including a heartbreaker to No. 4 USC, the Bears went on an incredible win streak of nine matches. The streak stretched from March 4-12 and featured six sweeps and four wins over ranked opponents. It finally came to end on the final day of the Queen's Cup with a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Hawai'i.
Bears Go 5-1 in L.A.
Cal is coming off of a strong showing in Los Angeles, where it played six matches in three days. After dropping the first contest of the weekend to reigning NCAA champion and No. 4 USC, the Bears bounced back to win their next five and took down three ranked opponents along the way. The run began with three straight 5-0 sweeps over Utah, Oregon and No. 17 Arizona, and it concluded with 3-2 wins over No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 18 Pepperdine.
The Bears got great results from the upper courts with the captain duo of senior Ainsley Radell and fifth-year Ashley Delgado going 5-1 on the weekend on court two. Junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo posted a 4-1 record on court three and are now 6-1 as a pair this season. The team's court-one duo of junior Maya Gessner and sophomore Ella Dreibholz came up big on the final day, clinching the wins over The Beach and the Waves.
Cal Picked 11th in AVCA Preseason Poll
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its Preseason Coaches Poll on Feb. 14, ranking Cal the No. 11 program in the country.
This is the second straight season the Bears began in that spot and it's the same spot they ended the last three seasons. They have been ranked in the top 13 of the AVCA in every poll since April 23, 2018.
On Feb. 20, the Bears were picked as the No. 8 team in the nation by College Beach Volleyball.
Live scoring for all four matches will be available on CalBears.com.
Cal comes into the weekend as the top-ranked team, boasting a 14-5 overall record. It will be the Bears' second match with the Huskies (10-8), whom they defeated 4-1 earlier this month, and their first matchups with the Green Wave (13-5) and Mustangs (7-17).
Caffo and Waters-Leiga Named Pac-12 Pair of the Week
Junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo were named the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Pair of the Week earlier this week after a solid showing at the Fight In The Fort. The transfer duo has been on a hot streak to start its first season with the Bears, boasting an 11-3 overall record, and continued that success this past weekend going 3-1.
Beginning the weekend on court two, Caffo and Waters-Leiga picked up a gritty 21-17, 30-28 win over No. 1 TCU. Following that win the Bears made their debut in the top spot, playing on court one for the rest of the weekend. Their first court-one win came against No. 15 Florida International 22-20, 22-24, 15-8 and they promptly picked up another, topping Missouri State 21-10, 21-15.
Big Spike Comeback
The Bears had a dramatic comeback win over No. 8 Stanford in their home opener this past weekend. After falling behind 2-0 on the lower courts, Cal's top three pairings were forced to win out to capture the victory. The transfer pair of Liz Waters-Leiga and Sierra Caffo kept its team's hopes alive with its first court-two win of the season, and the team of Maya Gessner and Ella Dreibholz grinded out a three-set win on court three to tie the match. It would all come down to the senior duo of Ainsley Radell and Ashley Delgado. Playing in the top spot for the second time this season, the veterans didn't flinch, winning in straight sets to complete the reverse sweep. It was Cal's first win over a top-10 team this season and led to the Bears' highest AVCA ranking of the year at nine.
Nine In A Row
After dropping two of their first three matches, including a heartbreaker to No. 4 USC, the Bears went on an incredible win streak of nine matches. The streak stretched from March 4-12 and featured six sweeps and four wins over ranked opponents. It finally came to end on the final day of the Queen's Cup with a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Hawai'i.
Bears Go 5-1 in L.A.
Cal is coming off of a strong showing in Los Angeles, where it played six matches in three days. After dropping the first contest of the weekend to reigning NCAA champion and No. 4 USC, the Bears bounced back to win their next five and took down three ranked opponents along the way. The run began with three straight 5-0 sweeps over Utah, Oregon and No. 17 Arizona, and it concluded with 3-2 wins over No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 18 Pepperdine.
The Bears got great results from the upper courts with the captain duo of senior Ainsley Radell and fifth-year Ashley Delgado going 5-1 on the weekend on court two. Junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo posted a 4-1 record on court three and are now 6-1 as a pair this season. The team's court-one duo of junior Maya Gessner and sophomore Ella Dreibholz came up big on the final day, clinching the wins over The Beach and the Waves.
Cal Picked 11th in AVCA Preseason Poll
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its Preseason Coaches Poll on Feb. 14, ranking Cal the No. 11 program in the country.
This is the second straight season the Bears began in that spot and it's the same spot they ended the last three seasons. They have been ranked in the top 13 of the AVCA in every poll since April 23, 2018.
On Feb. 20, the Bears were picked as the No. 8 team in the nation by College Beach Volleyball.
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