Cal Upsets Reigning Champion USC 3-2

Thursday, April 27

Stanford, CA

8:30 AM

California

USC

Photo by: Glen Mitchell

4/27/2023 7:42 PM | Beach Volleyball

Bears Break Program Wins Record

By: Cal Athletics

STANFORD – It was a historic day for the third-seeded California beach volleyball team (27-8) as the Golden Bears upset second-seeded USC (28-4) in the second round of the Pac-12 Championship 3-2. Cal remains in the winner's bracket with its first 2-0 start in program history.

Just the third win over the reigning national champion Trojans in school history, Thursday's victory was also the Bears' first win over a top-two seed in the conference tournament. If that weren't enough, they broke the program wins record with their 27^th of the season and saw a handful of individual milestones reached as well.

No. 3 Cal 3, No. 2 USC 2
A coin flip earlier in the week determined that today's match would begin with the even pairs in the first flight, and they were near perfect.

The court two pair of seniors Ainsley Radell and Ashley Delgado took down the Trojans handedly in the first set 21-14, and the court four pair of senior Lexi McKeown and sophomore Ella Dreibholz grinded out a tight 21-19 win to give the Bears the first two sets of the dual. The second set on both courts would go the Bears' way too, and aligned so perfectly that they earned the first two points of the dual within a minute's time. The four pair ran away with it 21-13 and the two pair earned another convincing win 21-16.

WHAT A FLIGHT! ??

2s and 4s get it done to give us a 2-0 lead!

Watch on Pac-12 Networks??
??https://t.co/TlQQWAfleD #GoBears??| #Pac12BVB pic.twitter.com/apHCWgX5rd
— Cal Beach Volleyball (@CalBeachVB) April 27, 2023

This first flight saw three Bears reach career milestones as Radell picked up her 80^th career win to move into second on the program's wins list and both McKeown and Dreibholz earned their 50^th win.

With their backs against the wall, the Trojans responded in the only way they could – winning their court one and three matchups to tie the dual at 2-2. It would all come down to court five.

On five, junior Brooke Buchner and sophomore Alex Young-Gomez won the first set 21-19 but fell in the second 21-14 to force a tiebreaker. The two teams traded sideouts through the first ten points, but the Bears managed to hold serve a few times late to gain the advantage. Up 14-13, Cal held off USC on its sideout attempt with Buchner finding the dig and the kill to seal the dual.

DOWN GOES SC! ??@brooke_buchner and @younggomezlopez seal the dual with a clutch performance on 5!#GoBears ?? | #Pac12BVB pic.twitter.com/FvpxYIs2qX
— Cal Beach Volleyball (@CalBeachVB) April 27, 2023

1 Megan Kraft and Laynie Maple (USC) def. Sierra Caffo and Liz Waters-Leiga (Cal) 22-20 21-11
2 Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Radell (Cal) def. Madison White and Madison Shields (USC) 21-14 21-16
3 Audrey Nourse and Nicole Nourse (USC) def. Maya Gessner and Gia Fisher (Cal) 22-20 21-19
4 Lexi McKeown and Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. Delaney Karl and Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope (USC) 21-19 21-13
5 Brooke Buchner and Alex Young-Gomez (Cal) def. Olivia Bakos and Gabby Walker (USC) 21-19 14-21 15-13
Order of Finish: 2,4,1,3,5

Up Next
Cal remains in the winner's bracket and will face fourth-seeded Stanford tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. PT. A win would put the Bears into the championship round at 4:00 p.m.