MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's hits the sand for the first time this season on Saturday as they will host No. 11 Cal and No. 14 Grand Canyon.  

SCOUTING REPORT
The new beach volleyball season officially kicks off on Saturday, February 22 as the Gaels welcome in No. 11 University of California and No. 14 Grand Canyon University for a doubleheader. Saint Mary's will serve as the host of the opener, taking on Cal at 11:30 am and GCU at 2:00 pm. All-time, the Gaels have had a lot of success beginning seasons, winning 6 of their 7 season openers, dating back to 2013. Last season, Saint Mary's posted a record of 20-9 and then went 9-2 in West Coast conference competition. The Gaels went 3-2 at the WCC Championships as they defeated Portland, Santa Clara, and USF in straight sets, but fell twice to LMU, which secured third place for the Gaels.

NO. 11 CALIFORNIA
The Golden Bears will travel to Moraga for their first games of the 2020 season. Cal ended the previous year with a record of 22-9 and earned third place in the Pac-12 conference. Cal will play Grand Canyon first thing on Saturday morning before taking on SMC. Eight of the ten players from last season are returning to the courts for the 2020 campaign including Honorable Mention All-Americans Mima Mirkovic and Jordan Polo. The Gaels own a 5-9 lifetime record against the Golden Bears, but they haven't picked up a win against Cal in their last four tries.

NO. 14 GRAND CANYON
The matchup against the Lopes in the second half of the double-header represents the first ever contest between the two programs. Grand Canyon will take on Cal first on Saturday prior to facing off against SMC later that day. The Lopes went 20-11 last season with a 13-3 conference record, which was good for second place. GCU saw success early last season as they went on a nine-match winning streak from March 1 to March 14. Grand Canyon will travel to Moraga with a No. 14 national ranking, as the team has finished the previous three seasons in the national top 20: 12th in 2017, 18th in 2018 and 14th in 2019.