Cal Beach Volleyball, M & W Tennis opens postseason with Friday wins
Also a recap of the exciting NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship match where Cal fell just short
As it should be, Cal Athletics is rather busy during the NCAA postseason period right now.
While the best chances for team national titles are non-NCAA-sponsored sports like Rugby (more on their D1A Championship Final this Saturday in an earlier article) and Men’s Rowing (No.2 Cal did fall short against rival No.1 Washington this past weekend), this post will concentrate on the programs competing for the NCAA titles.
No.8 Cal Beach Volleyball outlasts No.9 Long Beach State in NCAA 1st Round
With all five matches happening simultaneously at the NCAA Championships, the insanely close dual between No.8 Cal and No.9 Long Beach State came down to a deciding 3rd set on the No.4 pair. The two schools had already played three 3rd sets before everything rides on this one match. Long Beach State got the first two dual points, but the Bears will not quit!
Watch the final 5+ minutes in the YouTube clip below.
When it was all over, Cal’s Fisher and Haughy (an Arizona State transfer) were victorious to send the Golden Bears through to tomorrow’s NCAA Quarterfinals round.
Bears won on the No.1, No.3, and No.4 pairs. Emma Donley and Portia Sherman extended their Cal single-season record by recording their 30th win. Colligan and Vugrincic were able to win in straight sets. Donley and Sherman needed a deciding 3rd set to win their match.
Cal will next play No.1 seed Stanford bright and early on Saturday at 7 AM PT (10 AM local time in Gulf Shores, Alabama). The match will again be broadcast live on ESPN2.
Cal’s season opener was a narrow 2-3 loss to Stanford, and somewhat shockingly, the two had not faced each other again this season.
ROLL ON YOU BEARS!
No.42 Cal Men’s Tennis upsets No.26 Kentucky in NCAA 1st Round
It is a bit of a rebuilding season for Cal Men’s Tennis, as they did not secure a top-16 seed and be home for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Instead, Cal Bears had to travel to Columbus, Ohio to play Kentucky in the first round. Bears lost the doubles point in the tightest possible scenario - last point in the final doubles matchup.
But Cal quickly evened the match by winning at No.3 singles. The dual went back and forth, but Cal earned the upset victory when they beat two seeded individuals: Stepanov def. No. 23 Stephenson- 7-5, 6-4 at No.1 and the decider at No.5 where Luemkemann def. No. 82 Loutit - 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Things will get much tougher for the Bears as they play host No.3 Ohio State on Saturday at 1 pm PT. Ohio State defeated Buffalo 4-0. The winner between Cal and Ohio State will advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.
No.23 Cal defeated No.39 Utah in NCAA 1st Round
Cal lost the doubles point to Utah, but proceeded to sweep all six first sets. Naomi Xu, at the No.5 singles, clinched the victory with a 3-set win.
Cal will likely have to play host No.13 USC Trojans on Saturday. The Trojans will face Sacramento State later on Friday in their first round match.
Cal Women’s Golf qualifies one individual to the NCAA Regional
Despite being one of the few fully endowed sports, Cal Women’s Golf was only able to qualify a single individual to the postseason. Senior Adora Liu will play at the nearby Stanford Regional on May 11-13.
The second year under head coach Sofie Aagard saw Cal ranked No.52 via Scoreboard ranking. Yet Cal did not earn one of the 72 spots for teams across the six NCAA regionals.
Cal Men’s Golf, ranked No.47 via Scoreboard rankings, will find out its fate on Wednesday, May 6th.
Cal Women’s Water Polo fell just short of the program’s 1st championship title
I don’t think I can overstate how significant it was to see Cal Women’s Water Polo playing like a legit championship contender on a non-Olympic year (when collegiate women’s water polo is depleted by top players away with their national teams).
Cal Women’s Water Polo played valiantly in the 10-9 loss to the USC Trojans. Golden Bears had so many opportunities for that equalizer, drawing exclusion fouls to have a power play, but just missed by inches off the cage or the fingertips of the USC keeper Anna Reed.
Sure, this missed opportunity stings in the short term. One also have to feel for Cal senior Abbi Magee, who missed her final collegiate shot that could have been that elusive late equalizer. However, outside of Magee and Claire Rowell, who had a great 2024 when she stepped up to fill the vacuum left by players taking the Olympic sabbatical, the rest of the key players should be back.
After an uneven regular season, Cal peaked at just the right weekend and clearly played their best water polo at the NCAA Championship weekend in La Jolla, CA.
"The chemistry on this team is special," Cal head coach Coralie Simmons said. "We've just gotten better and better throughout the season and we knew we deserved to be here. It hurts to lose this one, but we believe in ourselves and we are so thankful for our seniors. It's been a joy to see this group grow and thrive, and we know our future is bright."
Continuing the feat that she first achieved in 2024, Coralie Simmons is still the only woman head coach to coach in an NCAA Women’s Water Polo final.
Leading the scoring charge for the Bears was Eszter Varró with a game-high three goals, while Holly Dunn and Despoina Drakotou added two goals each for Cal. Goalie Talia Fonseca hauled in 10 saves for the Bears. All of these Cal Bears should be back in 2027.