The team plays its home games at Haas Pavilion, which was built on top of the old Harmon Gymnasium using money donated in part by the owners of Levi-Strauss.

The California volleyball program has seen great success in recent years, reaching the final four in 2007, winning the Pac-10 championship in 2010, and finishing as the runner-up in the NCAA tournament in 2010.

In 2007, Cal reached the final four for the first time in school history before falling to eventual national champion Penn State in the semifinals.

Cal completed its most successful season in 2010, as they won the Pac-10 title for the first time in school history and advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championship final, where they fell to Penn State.

McShane's first season as head coach did not go well, even with the addition of star recruits in outside hitter Mima Mirkovic, middle blockers Preslie Anderson and Lauren Forte, and transfer libero Emma Smith.

Coach Dorr implored a 6–2 offense, with sophomore Isabel Potter and freshman Jade Blevins at setter, while making Smith their primary libero.

Despite the success of Mirkovic and their new freshmen, notably Blevins, libero Gabby Bellizzi, and middle blocker Bella Bergmark, the Bears missed the tournament for a fourth straight year despite finishing only one game below .500.

After signing two recruits: Turkish outside hitter Deniz Milli and Villa Park High School opposite Sydney Lilomaiava that November, Dorr was left searching for a job as the Bears went on looking for a permanent coach.

Dorr was not considered to take over the job, as Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton had other plans for their situation in order to help them return to national prominence.

[4] After losses to UCLA and USC in LA and Oregon at home, the Bears won three more games, reaching their first 20-win season since 2013, which made it very likely that they would come back to the NCAA tournament.

The loss of Haynes, Huizenga, Smith, and Rennie were tough for Cal, but they signed six freshmen and Arizona transfer Katie Smoot to the roster during the off-season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcements came as a big blow for Cal, as they were left with only two middles whom were inexperienced, putting pressure on Mirkovic and Potter to stay with the team.

[7][8] In the series against Colorado, Cal came knocking on the door and forced the game to 5 sets, but ended up losing despite stellar performances from Pantovic and Lilomaiava.

The team could not replicate their efforts in the second game, losing 3–0, as errors and poor hitting efficiency doomed the Bears, who were unable to stop the Buffs' Elissa Alcantara and Sterling Parker.

They could not complete the sweep two days later, losing in straight sets to split the series with the Cardinal due to poor defense and Stanford's blocking prowess.

Because the Bears were able to win at home before, it was thought that they would be able to take down Arizona at Haas, but they were again swept 3–0 both times despite Grote's double-digit kill performances in both games.

The loss of Potter and Houghton were tough for Cal, and Meyer ended up graduating early to pursue a master's degree at Georgetown, which did not help from a veteran standpoint.

They ended up losing to Stanford 3–1 despite fighting hard at a raucous Maples pavilion and Mirkovic and Smoot doing well for the team overall, leaving them 0–1 to start conference play and 7–5 overall.

A set of sweep losses to Colorado and Utah did not help them either despite Grote's career and match high 21 kills in the latter game, putting them 0–8 in conference play.