BERKELEY – The seventh-seeded California beach volleyball team is set to make its third straight NCAA Championship appearance this weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where it will face No. 10 Long Beach State in a first-round rematch from last year on Friday at noon PT.
 
Although the Golden Bears (20-11) come into the weekend as the higher tournament seed, the AVCA Coaches Poll ranks Long Beach State (25-7) seventh and Cal eighth.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE
Every match of the NCAA Championship will be aired on the ESPN family of networks. Friday's matches will air on ESPNU, Saturday's will be on ESPN2, and the Sunday final will be on ESPN.

WE MEET AGAIN
Cal, then the eighth seed, picked up its first NCAA Championship win over then ninth-seeded Long Beach State 3-2 at the 2023 tournament. The dual came down to a third-set tiebreaker on court four where Ella Dreibholz and Lexi McKeown clinched the victory with a late run 21-14, 19-21, 15-8. Additional déjà vu could potentially await Cal in the second round with second-seeded UCLA facing No. 15 Texas A&M Corpus Christi on the other side of the bracket. The Bruins defeated the Bears 3-1 in the NCAA quarterfinal last year.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Cal will be making its third all-time NCAA Championship appearance, with all three selections coming in as many years (2022-24). The 11-year old program has made coming to Gulf Shores, Alabama a tradition as of late and has improved its seeding every year. The Bears saw a first-round exit in 2022 and picked up their first win in 2023.
 
LOCK ON FIVE
The court-five duo of sophomores Portia Sherman and Jenna Colligan have been a lock for the Bears the past few weeks with a perfect 5-0 record. Colligan is 8-0 on court five this season and Sherman is 20-6. The pair could be moved up to court four for the first time this week.
 
SENIOR DAY SWEEP
Last weekend the Golden Bears posted two 5-0 wins over Sacramento State on senior day. Cal lost just one set across the two matches in its final day of competition at Clark Kerr this season.

MILESTONE MADE
In late April junior Ella Dreibholz picked up a pair of wins at the Stanford Invitational and became the fourth Bear in program history to reach 75 career wins. She now boasts a 76-31 record and is 24-9 this season.

50-WIN CLUB
Junior Alexandria Young-Gomez and graduate student Lara Boos hit a career milestone last month, reaching 50 career wins as individuals. Boos joined the club with a court-four win over Feather River College on March 26 and Young-Gomez hit the mark with a victory over LSU's court-four pair just three days later.

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 teams as well as men's gymnastics team 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 associate head coach last July, while former volunteer coach 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).