At first Rancho Cucamonga volleyball standout Bria Beale thought she wanted to go away from home to get the real college experience. But she has had a change of heart and has decided to stay closer to home and attend and play volleyball at UC Irvine.
Beale has a sister that attends Cornell and watching her experience has made her realize staying close to home isn’t that bad.
Beale, just a junior, also made unofficial visits to Colorado State, Nebraska, UCLA, and Long Beach State but playing at UCI seemed liked the logical choice.
She has made countless trips to the school, the first of those coming in eighth grade. She has been there for several matches and has a former teammate playing there now in Samantha Frost.
She also participated in a volleyball camp there and has been to the school for academic endeavors as well.
“I feel very comfortable there so it should be a smooth transition,” said Beale, who plans to major in biology. “I also liked that it was a little bit of a smaller school atmosphere. I also liked the academics because I am a student first. That is very important to me.”
Beale has helped the Cougars (26-6) to a No. 1 ranking in Division 1A. She has a team-high 265 kills and hit for a .417 percentage. She also has 49 aces, 21 blocks and 255 digs.
