Bears Set To Face Quartet Of Top-15 Teams
BERKELEY – The No. 6 California beach volleyball team carries its highest national ranking ever into this weekend’s East Meets West Invitational hosted by No. 2 UCLA at Manhattan Beach. The field is made up of eight teams ranked in the top-17 nationally, including half of the top 10. The Golden Bears (9-3) are coming off a 3-1 showing at last weekend’s Pac-12 South Tournament that ended with a 3-2 win over No. 11 Arizona State, its second of the year over a ranked opponent.
THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS
Friday, March 15
No. 8 LSU (8-1) | 9:30 a.m. | Live Stats
No. 4 Florida State (13-0) | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday, March 16
No. 15 Georgia State (9-4) | 11 a.m. | Live Stats
No. 13 Hawaii (6-5) | 3 p.m. | Live Stats
*All times PT
PAC-12 SOUTH TOURNAMENT RECAP
The Bears split their first two matches last Friday at ASU’s Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility, earning an early-morning 5-0 sweep over Utah before falling to No. 2 Stanford 5-0. They bounced back quickly on Saturday, going a perfect 10-for-10 in sets against Oregon for the second straight time to open the day. After a quick cooldown, they went right back at it against the host Sand Devils, flying out to two opening-set victories and going on to take the first three matchups of the dual, sealing the eventual 3-2 win. It was Cal’s second win in its last three tries against top-10 opposition.
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 are 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
Buchner earned her 71st career win as a Bear last…
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