HUNTINGTON BEACH- The fourth-seeded California beach volleyball team split a pair of matches at the inaugural MPSF Championship on Thursday in Huntington Beach. The Golden Bears (27-8) suffered their first loss of the double-elimination tournament to No. 1 UCLA 3-0 before bouncing back to defeat No. 5 seed Grand Canyon 3-0.
 
With their fifth win over the Lopes this season, the Bears advance to the final day of the tournament and will face third-seeded USC tomorrow at 8:45 a.m. on Big Ten Network/B1G+.
 
Cal's path to the first MPSF Championship is a treacherous one as the team will have to defeat the Trojans, the Bruins, and second-seeded Stanford in order to hoist the trophy.
 
The Bruins claimed all five first sets and finished the job winning courts one, three, and four to win the dual. The court-two pair of junior Gia Fisher and graduate student Sierra Caffo held a slight edge in the second set and junior Jenna Colligan and senior Ella Dreibholz were on the verge of forcing a third set on court five.
 
The fifth meeting of the year between new conference foes Cal and GCU was the most one sided affair to date as the Bears claimed four first sets and were on their way to a 5-0 sweep before the horn was blown.
 
After a tough loss to the Bruins, seniors Alexandria Young-Gomez and Ella Sears struck first with a huge win on court three to put Cal on the board. The duo of junior Marilu Pally and graduate student Maile Somera made it a 2-0 contest just moments later winning handily on court four.
 
Sophomore Emma Donley and junior Portia Sherman sealed the dual and improved to 26-7 on the year with a straight-set win on court one. They are now just one victory shy of tying the program's single-season pair wins record.
 
#1 UCLA - 3, #4 Cal - 0
1. Sally Perez/Maggie Boyd (UCLA) def. Emma Donley/Portia Sherman (Cal) 21-16, 21-17
2. Peri Brennan/Natalie Myszkowski (UCLA) vs. Gia Fisher/Sierra Caffo (Cal) 21-16, 16-17 (unf.)
3. Jessie Smith/Kenzie Brower (UCLA) def. Ella Sears/Alexandria Young-Gomez (Cal) 21-18, 21-12
4. Alexa Fernandez/Kaley Mathews (UCLA) def. Marilu Pally/Maile Somera (Cal) 21-16, 21-13
5. Harper Cooper/Ensley Alden (UCLA) vs. Jenna Colligan/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) 21-15, 14-19 (unf.)
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1
 
#4 Cal - 3, #5 Grand Canyon - 0
1. Emma Donley/Portia Sherman (Cal) def. Adrianna Ferro/Ines Piret (GCU) 21-16, 22-20
2. Gia Fisher/Sierra Caffo (Cal) vs. Becca Drake/Katie Keefe (GCU) 21-15, 20-15 (unf.)
3. Ella Sears/Alexandria Young-Gomez (Cal) def. Jessica Drake/Rhea Kohl (SCU) 21-14, 21-10
4. Marilu Pally/Maile Somera (Cal) def. Karynn Garrow/Sophia Hladyniuk (GCU) 21-16, 21-17
5. Jenna Colligan/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. Madi Bogle/Mae Manthe (GCU) 15-21, 21-18, 1-1
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1