BERKELEY – On Tuesday, the No. 6 California beach volleyball team will be back playing at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts for the first time in over a month. Coming off three straight wins over top-15 ranked opponents, the Golden Bears (12-4) host Feather River and No. 9 Cal Poly. This will be the Bears' second meeting with the Mustangs (20-2), who they fell to 3-2 at the Battle for L.A. on March 1.
MID-WEEK OPPONENTS
Tuesday, March 26
Feather River (10-3) | 10 a.m. PT
No. 9 Cal Poly (20-2) | 2:30 p.m. PT
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears opened the East Meets West Invitational at Manhattan Beach by falling behind 2-0 to No. 8 LSU, but fought back to tie it at 2-2 before the Tigers clinched the dual with a 15-12 third-set win in the final matchup. Cal quickly bounced back in a major way, knocking off then-No. 4 Florida State 4-1 and ending the Seminoles' run of 14 straight wins to start the year. The Bears finished off the weekend with another 4-1 win against No. 15 Georgia State and a 3-2 comeback win over No. 13 Hawaii.
MILESTONE WATCH
Lineup mainstays Lara Boos and Alexandria Young-Gomez – both of whom have competed in every match this season – both have the opportunity to reach 50 career wins on Tuesday. Since 2021, Boos has compiled a 49-13 career record, with 38 wins coming during her time at LSU. Young-Gomez owns an identical 11-5 record as Boos this season, bringing her career mark to 48-21.
THE CHEMISTRY IS REAL
The Bears have compiled one of the nation's best records on the 5s court (14-2), led by the combination of sophomore Portia Sherman and junior Ella Dreibholz. The pair – which initially formed at the club level prior to its Berkeley days – owns the best record on the team, going 6-0 on court four and 8-2 on court five. It enters Tuesday's action on a 6-match win streak.
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 three weeks of action, the Bears earned their first-ever top-6 ranking from CollegeBeachVB.com and the AVCA Coaches Poll. Cal is 5-4 against ranked opponents this year, with two wins coming against top-5 opponents.
THE SQUAD
The Bears' 2024 roster includes 11 returners, three transfers and four true freshmen.
In her first year as a Bear in 2023, 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. Caffo is one of the team's three captains alongside senior Brooke Buchner and sophomore Gia Fisher.
Buchner is in her senior season after posting a .694 win percentage and 25 overall wins in 2023. Those were the second-highest marks among Cal's returners only to Alexandria Young-Gomez's .750 win percentage and 27 total victories. Lara 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.
PAIRED UP
Earlier this month, Buchner earned her 71st career win against No. 11 Arizona State, a mark which edges out Kendall Peters (70) for most on the team. Buchner and Boos have gone 9-3 to begin their partnership, while Sherman and Dreibholz were the first pair to reach double-digit victories, currently at 14-2. The duo of freshman Emma Donley and Young-Gomez is out to an 11-5 start, going a perfect 6-0 on court one. Marilu Pally and Fisher are also 11-5 overall and 6-0 on court two. Caffo Peters have taken court-one duties at recent tournaments, going 5-5.
*2024 Cal Beach Volleyball Records
2023 REWIND
In the program's 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.
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
For further coverage of Cal beach volleyball, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calbeachvb) and Twitter (@calbeachvb).
