BERKELEY – The No. 9 California beach volleyball team (23-6) is set for it first of two straight weekends at the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium beginning this Friday at the Stanford Invitational. The Golden Bears open with a pair of matches with two teams they are undefeated against this season in No. 10 Stanford (22-10) and Saint Mary's (12-15), and finish on Saturday with a contest versus No. 7 Grand Canyon (20-5) and Pacific (0-18).
The Bears are winners of five straight and 11 of their last 12. They need four more wins to break the program record of 26 set last season.
 
Milestone Watch
Several Bears are nearing career milestones and program records as the 2023 season comes to a close. Sophomore Ella Dreibholz (46), junior Maya Gessner (46), senior Lexi McKeown (46) and junior Ava Mann (44) are all approaching 50 career wins as individuals. Senior Ainsley Radell boasts 77 wins, which is just three away from ranking second all time and seven from breaking the all-time record. The pairs of Dreibholz and McKeown, and Radell and Delgado each has 25 victories, which is four short of ranking second all time.
 
Bears Go 3-1 at Pac-12 North Invite
This past weekend Cal took its talents to the site of the Pac-12 Championships – the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium. After suffering their first 5-0 loss of the season to No. 4 UCLA, the Bears bounced back with three straight wins, topping No. 13 Washington, Arizona State and No. 10 Stanford. The second edition of the Big Spike with the rival Cardinal was one to remember as it came down to a court-one showdown. Momentum swung back and forth to both teams, but the duo of junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo ended the home team's hopes of evening the season series with a 21-11, 18-21, 15-10 win to seal the dual. The two court-one pairs met at 7-7 in the third set before Waters-Leiga and Caffo went on a 8-3 run to end it.
 
Radell and Delgado Named AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week
After an incredible outing at the Mustang Invitational last weekend, Ainsley Radell and Ashley were named the AVCA/CBVB Pair of the Week
 
The captain duo became the first Golden Bear pair to earn the national honor after leading the team to a 4-0 record and posting a 4-0 record of its own. On the season the two boast a 16-4 overall record and have won six straight matches.
 
Radell and Delgado started the weekend with three straight sweeps, including a court-one win over UC Davis and a pair of court-two wins over No. 13 Washington and No. 20 Tulane. They finished with a tight three-set win over the host Mustangs on court one.
 
Milestones Made
In early April two Bear captains reached huge career milestones. Senior Ainsley Radell earned her 70th individual win, moving her into second on the all-time wins list. Junior Brooke Buchner earned her 50th and now ranks eighth on that list.
 
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. 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 its 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 an end on the final day of the Queen's Cup with a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Hawai'i.