The fourth-seeded California beach volleyball team (25-7) is set for the inaugural MPSF Championship in Huntington Beach this week. The Golden Bears will take on No. 5 seed Grand Canyon (22-9) in a first-round matchup Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. PT.
 
The tournament will follow a double-elimination format. The first two days of competition will be aired on B1G+ with the final day airing on Big Ten Network.
 
The Bears are 3-0 against the Lopes this year, including a pair of 4-1 wins at the Hawai'i Invitational less than 10 days ago. A fourth win over GCU would put Cal in a second-round matchup with No. 1 UCLA on Thursday at 11 a.m., while a loss would put the team in an elimination match at 9:30 a.m. against a TBD opponent.
 
MPSF CHAMPIONSHP (April 23-25)
Spiker Beach
Huntington Beach, CA
Tournament Central
 
Wednesday
Game 1: #5 Grand Canyon | 12:30 p.m. PT | B1G+
 
ONES GETTING IT DONE
Cal's court-one pair of junior Portia Sherman and sophomore Emma Donley have enjoyed a successful season in the top spot of the lineup, boasting a 25-5 overall record. The two Bears have won 16 of their last 18 matches, 11 of which have come against ranked opponents. They have 14 total ranked wins on the year including a dual-clinching win over reigning national champion USC.
 
The duo broke the program record for most wins on court one by a single pair (22) on April 13, and did so in its first season together.
 
A DOZEN DUBS
The Bears broke the program's all-time win streak record with their 12th straight victory last Friday. The 5-0 win over No. 19 Washington broke the former record that was previously set in 2018. This year's streak featured eight ranked wins and spanned from March 21-April 18.
 
MILESTONES MET
A number of Bears met individual career milestones over the past two weekends, with Sherman, junior Gia Fisher, and junior Marilu Pally all reaching 50 wins, and senior Alexandria Young-Gomez becoming just the fifth Bear in program history to reach 75 wins. Graduate student Christine DeRoos currently sits at 74 wins.
 
DREIBHOLZ MAKES HISTORY
Senior Ella Dreibholz became the program's all-time wins leader with her 84th career victory on March 1. Playing alongside fellow senior Ella Sears as the 4s pair, the two Ella's defeated the Sacramento State pairing of Victoria Marthaler and Mia Guevara 21-13, 21-14. Dreibholz collected 28 wins as a freshman, 25 as a sophomore, 25 more as a junior, and boasts a 24-7 record this year. Last Friday she became the first Bear to reach 100 wins and now sits at 102.
 
INAUGURAL MPSF SEASON
After spending the last nine years in the Pac-12, the Golden Bears are officially in their MPSF era. Many familiar faces make up the new conference, including Oregon, USC, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington. Grand Canyon joins the mix this year and a quartet of top-tier teams in Florida State, LSU, South Carolina, and Texas will join in 2026.

THE STAFF
Meagan Owusu is in her ninth season in charge of the program in 2025. Under her leadership, the Bears have moved into the national conversation of NCAA beach volleyball, finishing last season as the seventh-ranked program, which is a school record. Cal has now finished in the top 12 for seven consecutive years. Joseph Mayer is in his fourth season overall with the team. He became the program's associate head coach in July 2023 while former volunteer coach Dancer Styles was promoted to assistant coach. The coaching trio helped bring Cal to new heights with its second consecutive NCAA Championship win in its third straight appearance last year.

STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal beach volleyball, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calbeachvb) and Twitter (@calbeachvb).