Pac-12 Championship weekend for Cal Beach Volleyball, Lacrosse, Tennis

No.10 Cal Beach Volleyball in loser’s bracket

Despite the strongest regular season in program history, No.10 Cal Beach Volleyball (19-8, 6-1 in Pac-12), who earned the 3rd seed in the Pac-12 tournament in LA this weekend, hit a speed bump in the opening round Thursday to drop their dual against the 6th seed ASU.

Bears lost on pair 4, but equalized by winning pair 5. After taking the lead with a win in pair 3, Cal lost in pair 1 to have everything rest on pair 2 which went to a deciding 3rd set. Unfortunately, things did not go Bears’ way and ASU prevailed.

The loss means that the Golden Bears are now in the “contenders bracket” and cannot afford another loss if they want to extend their season. With there only being two at-large bids (and some strong teams in other conference), Cal would need to win the Pac-12 tournament for the automatic bid (or maybe just make the championship final) to advance to their first NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship.

Cal will next play Washington for survival on Friday morning. The optimal outcome would mean 3 duals on Friday before Saturdays’ semifinal and Sunday’s final. The path will be tough, but certainly not impossible.

Cal Lacrosse beats ASU to advance to Pac-12 semifinal

Cal had some issue with ASU, the latest team to join Pac-12 lacrosse, last year, but not so much in 2019. Cal Lacrosse (7-11, 3-7 in Pac-12) defeated ASU for the 3rd time on Thursday to advance to a date with USC in the Pac-12 semifinal on Friday.

It was all Cal Bears in the 12-8 win over ASU with the season on the line. Senior Kirsten Swanson led the Bears with 5 points. With the win, Cal Lacrosse does secure at least a better season than last year (which is an important stepping stone for the program).

Bears will play Pac-12 regular season champs USC at 4:30 pm PT on Friday. This match will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks.

Cal Men’s Tennis in Pac-12 semifinal

In yet another Cal vs. ASU matchup, Cal Men’s Tennis (13-11, 4-4 in Pac-12) were triumphant.

Bears took the doubles point and won in courts 6, 2, and 1 for the victory.

No.33 Bears will play top seed No.13 UCLA on Friday in the Pac-12 semifinals at 1 pm PT. The Bruins have a pair of 4-2 wins over Cal in the regular season. This match will also be on the Pac-12 Networks.

Cal Women’s Tennis upset in Pac-12 quarterfinal

Out of the 4 teams featured this week, Cal Women’s Tennis (12-8, 6-4 in Pac-12) has least at stake this week/weekend as their place in the NCAA tournament is quite secured thanks to their top 20 ranking as a team.

No.16 Bears drew a very tough opponent in No.15 USC in the opening round and fell 4-1. Sophomore Anna Bright was the lone bright spot for the Bears with a win in No.4 singles.

Bears will find out their NCAA postseason fate on April 29th.

GO BEARS!