No. 10 Cal Heads To NCAA Championship

BVB4/30/2025 2:08 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Bears Face Seventh-Seeded Texas On Friday

The No. 10 California beach volleyball team (27-9) is set for its fourth straight NCAA Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Golden Bears face seventh-seeded Texas (27-9) in the first round Friday at 11 a.m. PT.
 
The tournament will follow a single-elimination format. The first two days of competition will be aired on ESPN2 with the final day being broadcast on ESPN. Live streams of all five courts can be found on ESPN+.
 
The Bears and Longhorns split the regular season series 1-1 with each team winning a dual that came down to the final court. Cal handed Texas its first home loss of the season on March 21 and was one of just two teams to accomplish the feat.
 
Cal won its first-round matchup in each of the last two years, defeating Long Beach State twice. Texas will be making its NCAA Championship debut. The winner will go on to face the victor between No. 2 TCU and No. 15 Georgia State on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHP (May 2-4)
Gulf Shores, AL
Tournament Central
 
Wednesday
Game 1: #7 Texas | 11:00 a.m. PT | ESPN2/ESPN+
 
SHERMAN, DONLEY NAMED AVCA FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Junior Portia Sherman and sophomore Emma Donley became the first Bears in program history to be named AVCA First Team All-Americans on Wednesday.
 
Cal’s court-one pair has enjoyed a successful season in the top spot of the lineup, boasting a 27-7 overall record. The two Bears have won 17 of their last 20 matches, 11 of which have come against ranked opponents. They have 16 total ranked wins on the year, including a dual-clinching win over reigning national champion USC.
 
On April 13, the duo broke the program record for most wins on court one by a single pair with their 22^nd and did so in its first season together.
 
A DOZEN DUBS
On April 18, the Bears broke the program’s all-time win streak record with their 12th straight victory. A 5-0 win over No. 19 Washington broke a record set back in 2018. The streak featured eight ranked wins and spanned from March 21- April 18.
 
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 Ellas 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 26-7 record this year. On April 18 she became the first Bear to reach 100 wins and now sits at 104.
 
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).