BERKELEY – The California beach volleyball team announced Wednesday that seven signees will join the Golden Bears this fall ahead of the 2025 season. Graduate transfers Christine DeRoos and Maile Somera and incoming freshmen Isabella Adishian, Carly Hixson, Kate Morley, and twin sisters Giselle Lau and Savanna Lau will dawn the Blue and Gold next spring.
 
"We are thrilled to welcome these young women into the Cal family," head coach Meagan Owusu said. "They bring a wealth of high level training and competitive experience. They are going to make an immediate impact on our program."
 
Christine DeRoos | Graduate Student | 5-11 | Carlsbad, Calif.
DeRoos comes to Cal as a graduate student after spending the first four years of her career at Long Beach State. After redshirting as a freshman, Deroos became a mainstay in the Beach lineup, posting a 56-41 career record. The 2024 season was the best of her career, as she went 24-11 and was named a 2024 AVCA Top Flight Award recipient and an All-Big-West honorable mention.
 
Maile Somera | Graduate Student | 5-9 | Barrington, R.I.
Somera, the 2023 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, joins the Bears after playing four seasons as a member of the Yale women's volleyball team (indoor). Somera is a two-time All-Ivy-League selection, including first team honors last season. Playing primarily libero for the Bulldogs, she collected 1,366 career digs and averaged over 4.00 digs per set her last three seasons. The Barrington, Rhode Island native ranked second in the Ivy League in digs per set (4.34) and second in total service aces (36) in 2023.
 
Isabella Adishian | Freshman | 5-10 | Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Adishian comes to Berkeley from Manhattan Beach where she played for Harvard-Westlake School and MBsand Volleyball Club. As a junior in 2023, she won the Mission League Pair Championship and took home bronze in the CIF Southern Section Championship. A AAA-rated player since the age of 16, Adishian was named to Volleyball Magazine's Top 25 Underclassmen to Watch list in 2022 and its Girls Beach Volleyball FAB 50 list in 2024. She has also been a member of the USA Beach Volleyball National Training Development Program since age 11. She joins her sister, Alex Adishian, who just completed her freshman season with the Bears.
 
Carly Hixson | Freshman | 5-8 | San Diego, Calif.
Hixson joins the Bears after a decorated prep career with Cathedral Catholic High School and Wave Beach Volleyball. The San Diego native was named First Team All-CIF and Player of the Year in 2023 after leading Cathedral Catholic to its second straight conference title. Volleyball Magazine listed Hixson in its "Top 6 Players" in class of 2024, and she was awarded a Best in Beach honor in 2023, which is given to the nation's top beach athletes, by the Junior Volleyball Association.
 
Giselle Lau | Freshman | 5-7 | Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Giselle Lau is another SoCal signee that hails from Hermosa Beach where she competed for Mira Costa High School and Elite Beach Volleyball. She helped lead Mira Costa to back-to-back CIF Division I titles the past two seasons and was also a CIF pairs championship finalist. On the club side, Gizelle Lau was an AAA-rated player, a West Coast Championship Gold Medalist and was listed on Volleyball Magazine's Fab 50 list. She will be joined by her twin sister, Savanna Lau, this fall.
 
Savanna Lau | Freshman | 5-7 | Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Savanna Lau has a similar resume to her sister's, playing a key role in Mira Costa's success. She was two-time CIF pairs championship finalist the last two seasons, one of which was alongside her sister. Savanna Lau was both an AAU Nationals finalist and a West Coast Championship finalist in 2023. She was also listed in Volleyball Magazine's Fab 50 and was a top-20 ranked CBVA player.
 
Kate Morley | Freshman | 5-8 | Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Morley was high school teammates with the Lau twins at Mira Costa and played club with Adishian at MBSand, giving her plenty of familiarity with her future Golden Bear teammates. She served as a co-captain of the Mira Costa team this year and helped lead the Mustangs to a CIF DI Championship. The Manhattan Beach native had a decorated club career with four AAU Junior Olympics Championship titles, an AAU Junior National Championship, two trips to the AVP Junior National finals, and an AAU Best of the Beach Championship. Morely has received national attention as well being selected for the USA Volleyball National Team development program and making Volleyball Magazine's Fab 50 list.