11/6/2026 10:44 PM | Beach Volleyball
The Golden Bears Were Well Represented At The AVCA Pairs National Championships
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The California Golden Bears sent two pairs to this weekend's AVCA Beach National Championship.
Cal's representatives were Emma Donley and Julia Sprecher, who were the No. 6 overall seed, and Grace Hong and freshman Sarah Gyepes, who were the No. 20 overall seed.
While Donley and Sprecher are still a relatively new pairing, as Sprecher was an All-American at LSU this past season, they played as if they had been paired together for years. The two kicked things off with a 2-0 sweep of Southeastern Louisiana University's pairing of Cadie Kusy and Emma Neville. The Bears dominated the opener 21-12 before closing out the second set 21-19.
They then matched up with a former Pac-12 foe, taking on Washington's Zoey Brown and Julia Hay, whom they defeated in three sets.
Donley and Sprecher notched a victory in the first set, winning 23-21. Brown and Hay were able to bounce back in the second, pulling off a 21-19 victory. In the race to 15, Cal's duo secured a 15-11 victory. The win keeps them alive in the championship bracket and will pit them against Arizona State's Arden Besecker and Olivia McElroy, with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.
That matchup will take place at 9:15 a.m. CT and will see them take on the winner of Stanford's Avery Jackson and Ruby Sorra versus Texas' Lia Berger and Devin Kahahawai later in the day.
As for Hong and Gyepes, they dropped their first match of the day against Tulane's Tawny Ensign and Kaydence Stormes. The Green Wave pair took the first set 21-17 before Cal bounced back with a 21-18 victory to even things up. Tulane's duo was able to close out the third set 15-10, but the Cal pair didn't let that derail their day.
Following the loss, Gyepes and Hong matched up with UAB's Pien Grooters and Virginia Voitier in the consolation bracket. They won the first set 21-18 and followed that up with a thrilling 23-21 victory in the second.
They will open Saturday's action against USF's Marilou Couture and Sasha Pasloski, who are ranked as the No. 4 seed in the bracket. Their match will begin at 10:30 a.m., and they will need to win two more matches to advance to the Main Draw.
For further coverage of Cal beach volleyball, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calbeachvb) and X (@calbeachvb)
