Bears Open Against No. 1 UCLA, No. 18 Cal Poly On Friday
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….
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