BERKELEY – Following a nearly perfect opening weekend in which it won 40 out of 41 sets, the California beach volleyball team gets its first taste of top competition this weekend in the Battle For L.A. co-hosted by UCLA and Loyola Marymount at Mapes Beach. The Golden Bears (4-0) earned as high as a No. 6 national ranking (TruVolley) following its quartet of 5-0 sweeps last weekend at home.

Cal will play its first road matches of the year Friday against the No. 1 Bruins at 10 a.m. PT and No. 18 Cal Poly at 2 p.m. The Bears close out the weekend Saturday against Concordia University Irvine at noon and LMU at 2 p.m.

WEEK 1 RECAP
Opening the season at home for just the third time, the Bears flew through their first four matches of the year. They didn't drop a single set on day one, holding American River to single digits in eight out of 10 before earning another clean sweep over San Jose State. The following day, they got out to fast starts in every matchup. Junior Ella Sears and Tulane graduate transfer Kendall Peters took a 21-12, 22-24, 15-12 court-five win over Saint Mary's in the team's first three-setter of the season. Several hours later, Cal comfortably won every set against Santa Clara by at least four points.

GOLDEN DEBUTS
Cal's season-opening wins were highlighted by the program debuts of seven different Bears. All three of the team's new transfers – sophomore Finley Rollins (UC Davis) and graduate students Lara Boos (LSU) and Kendall Peters (Tulane) – earned their first wins with the program, as did sophomores Amelia Vugrincic and Jenna Colligan and freshmen Emma Donley and Audrey Liddle. Sophomore Portia Sherman – who saw limited action during her freshman campaign – also had a standout performance with four match wins in her first official action at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts.

THE SQUAD
The Bears 2024 roster includes 11 returners, three transfers and four true freshmen.

In her first year as a Bear, Sierra Caffo established herself as one of the team's top players. The San Diego native earned AVCA All-America honors after leading the team with 10 wins on court one and a 24-12 overall record. This past summer, she played for Team USA and won silver at the Norceca Beach Championship with her former LSU teammate Ella Larkin.

Ava Mann and Brooke Buchner are also back for their senior seasons. Buchner's .694 win percentage and 25 overall wins in 2023 are both the second-highest among Cal's returners only to Alex Young-Gomez's .750 win percentage and 27 total victories. Boos owns the most accomplished resume among the team's three transfers, having gone 29-6 last year with seven wins against top-20 teams.

2023 REWIND
In its 10th season ever, Cal won nine straight matches from March 4-12 – including four over ranked opponents –  with six sweeps. The Bears later broke the program wins record with their 27th on April 27 with a 3-2 win over then-No. 3 USC and went on to enter the NCAA Championship with their highest seeding ever at No. 8. Their final win came in a 3-2 victory over ninth-seeded Long Beach State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship. One day later, they fell 3-1 to No. 1 seed and eventual NCAA runner-up UCLA.

BEARS IN THE RANKINGS
After ending 2023 ranked seventh in the final AVCA poll, Cal entered this year with a No. 8 national ranking, three spots higher than its starting spot prior to the 2023 season. Following one week of action, the Bears are currently ranked No. 6 by TruVolley, No. 7 by CollegeBeachVB.com and No. 8 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

THE SCHEDULE
This season, Cal will face the entire top 10 from the final 2023 AVCA poll as well as 13 of the 16 teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Championship. The Bears won't be back in Berkeley until a March 26 doubleheader against Feather River and Cal Poly. Senior Day will take place on April 12 against Sacramento State.

CAL TO JOIN MPSF IN 2025
It was announced last November that California beach volleyball will be one of seven programs moving to the MPSF for its inaugural season in 2025. Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington and Grand Canyon will make up the other six teams in the conference. Cal beach volleyball joins the Golden Bear men's and women's water polo and gymnastics teams in the MPSF.

THE STAFF
Meagan Owusu is in her eighth season in charge of the program in 2024. Under her leadership, the Bears have moved into the national conversation of NCAA beach volleyball, finishing 2023 with a program-record 29 wins and ranked in the top 12 for the sixth consecutive year.

Joseph Mayer is in his third season overall with the team. He became the program's first associate head coach last July, while Dancer Styles was promoted to assistant coach. The coaching trio helped bring Cal to new heights with its first NCAA Championship win in its second straight appearance last year.

STAY POSTED
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