California women's gymnastics (20-7, 7-4 ACC) will make its 13th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, and first under head coach Geralen Stack-Eaton, at the Tempe Regional hosted at the Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz. this weekend. The Golden Bears, who are seeded 14th in the nation, will participate in Session 2 of the regional semifinals in a quad meet with No. 3 Florida, No. 20 Penn State and the winner of the Round 1 play-in, featuring Arizona State and Arizona. The quad meet is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and will be shown live on ESPN+. The top two teams of the quad meet will advance to Saturday's regional final, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.
 
NCAA Regional Semifinals - Session 2
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2026
Time: 7 p.m. PT                        
Location: Desert Financial Arena | Tempe, AZ
Streaming/TV: ESPN+
 
The other side of the bracket features No. 6 Georgia, No. 11 Michigan State, Brigham Young and Southern Utah, which will compete in the first session of Round 2. The top two finishers of the regional final will advance to the national championship in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 16-18 at Dickies Arena.
 
The Bears are the second-highest ranked ACC team in the Week 12 Road To Nationals standings behind No. 7 Stanford. Cal is in the top 21 on all four events, sitting in eighth on uneven bars, 19th on balance beam, 20th on floor exercise and 21st on vault.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Cal took third at the ACC Championships two weeks ago and placed three gymnasts on the ACC's All-Championship team (Tonya Paulsson - AA, UB, Sarah Lee - BB, Casey Brown - V). Paulsson became the first freshman in ACC history to win the all-around at the conference championships and was awarded ACC Newcomer of the Year, as voted on by the league's coaches.
 
The Bears got off to a hot start at the second session that also included No. 7 Stanford, No. 15 Clemson and No. 20 NC State. Cal led through the first three rotations before ultimately finishing in third place in a tight contest at the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Bears put together a 196.900 overall, outscoring NC State's 196.500 but falling to Stanford (197.075) and Clemson (197.100). In session one, North Carolina scored a 196.025 while Pittsburgh put together a 194.450.
 
The Bears started the meet on their strongest event – uneven bars – and jumped out to an early lead with a 49.325 event score. Paulsson paced the Bears with a 9.950, her third of the season, to claim the ACC uneven bars championship title. Sarah Lee's career high-matching 9.900 balance beam routine earned the freshman a share of third place on the event and was the Bears' top score of the second rotation. Paulsson took a portion of silver on floor with a 9.925 routine as the Bears' anchor of the third rotation while Casey Brown posted Cal's highest score on vault with a 9.850 in the final rotation.
 
BEARS AT REGIONALS
The Bears finished third at the 2025 Tuscaloosa Regional after winning back-to-back regional championships at the 2023 Pittsburgh Regional and 2024 Berkeley Regional. The Bears had four regional event champions in 2024 and went on to have their highest finish in program history as the NCAA Championship runners-up. Cal is one of five ACC teams to advance to the postseason this year and is the second-highest seed among conference teams.
 
PAULSSON CONTINUES TO SHINE
Tonya Paulsson was recently named a WCGA Regular-Season All-American, earning a first team nod on bars and second team honors in the all-around. The distinction follows Paulsson's ACC Newcomer of the Year award and historic ACC Championships all-around title. Paulsson became the first freshman to win the all-around at the ACC Championships and was named to the ACC's All-Championship all-around and bars teams following her stellar postseason debut performance, which included an event win on bars and a podium finish on floor. Paulsson has tallied 21 individual event titles this season and 32 podium finishes overall, in addition to winning the most ACC Newcomer of the Week awards of any gymnast in the conference this season with five.
 
Paulsson made a statement in her first season of NCAA competition, earning a 9.925 on bars in her first-ever routine as a collegiate gymnast to set the tone for a standout debut campaign. She ranks tied for fifth in the nation on bars with a 9.945 national qualifying score (NQS) and is the highest rated ACC gymnast on the event. She is also the second-highest ranked gymnast in the West behind UCLA's Jordan Chiles on bars. Paulsson has tallied 10 bars routines that have gone 9.925 or higher, punctuated by a career-high 9.975 at the Cal Tri Meet on March 13.
 
Paulsson began competing in the all-around in Week 4, taking the gold in her first time competing on all four disciplines at Cal's dual meet versus NC State on Jan. 24. She has collected five all-around wins this season and set a career-high 39.500 at the Sac State Tri Meet. Paulsson is tied for 15th in the nation in the all-around with a 39.415 NQS.
 
ALL-AROUNDER ANNALISE
Junior Annalise Newman-Achee earned the first WCGA Regular-Season All-America recognition of her career, taking second team honors in the all-around. Newman-Achee made an immediate impact for the Bears as an all-arounder in 2026 after primarily competing on uneven bars the first two years of her collegiate career. She has set career highs on all five disciplines this season and compiled 29 podium finishes, nine of which were first-place titles. She medaled in the all-around in all 12 of the Bears' regular-season meets and stood atop the podium at three. Newman-Achee ranks 14th in the nation in the all-around with a 39.435 NQS.
 
Newman-Achee was named regular-season All-ACC on beam and in the all-around. She was named to the ACC's Preseason Watch List in December 2025 and was honored as the conference's Gymnast of the Week after Week 1.
 
BEARS ON BARS
Cal continues to excel on uneven bars, now sitting in eighth nationally on the event and seeing five of the six gymnasts in the lineup ranked in the top 100 as individuals. Tonya Paulsson paces the Bears with a share of fifth in the nation, while Annalise Newman-Achee ranks tied for 54th and Casey Brown and Sage Melkonian each have a portion of 64th place. As a team, the Bears have tallied 15 routines that have score 9.925 or higher this season, with Paulsson accounting for 10 of them.
 
MAKING STRIDES ON FLOOR EXERCISE
Cal set its season high on floor exercise at the Cal Tri Meet, compiling a 49.500 on the event. The Bears ran a streak of improving their season best on the event every week for eight consecutive weeks. Cal's current No. 20 ranking on the event is its highest placement in the Road To Nationals weekly rankings this season since an early-season 10th-place ranking in Week 1.
 
Tonya Paulsson paces the Bears on floor with a 9.915 NQS, which is good for a share of 35th in the nation. Floor specialist CJ Keuneke continues to show consistency on the event, with six of her routines this season going 9.875 or higher. Keuneke and fellow Bear Kyen Mayhew are in a tie for 79th in the country on floor with a 9.885 NQS.
 
LEE MATCHES CAREER-BEST ON BEAM IN POSTSEASON DEBUT
Cal freshman Sarah Lee continues to impress on balance beam, most recently matching her career-best on the event in her postseason debut at the ACC Championships. She was awarded a 9.900, which tied for third place and landed her on the ACC All-Championship team. Lee has recorded three beam routines that have scored a 9.900 and six that have gone 9.875 or higher.
 
STAY POSTED
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