BERKELEY – Mima Mirkovic and Caroline Schafer obviously know how to handle their business.

Not only are the Cal beach volleyball sophomores students in the prestigious Haas School of Business, they took care of business on the sand earlier this week at the USA Volleyball U21 National Team Selection Tryout at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.

Mirkovic and Schafer were one of three pairs to qualify for the 2019 FIVB U21 World Championships, which will take place June 18-23 in Udonthani, Thailand.

"I'm humbled but also honored," said Mirkovic, a two-time bronze medalist at the FIVB World Championships. "To be able to be partnered with Caroline and qualify – I still can't believe it. It was a great experience."

USA Volleyball contacted Cal head coach Meagan Owusu early last week to invite Mirkovic and freshman Jordan Polo to the two-day tryout held Sunday and Monday. When it was determined Polo wasn't able to attend, Owusu called Schafer, who has extensive experience in USA Volleyball's High Performance program.

"I was really excited," Schafer said. "I've been doing USA stuff for a while and was super excited to go back to Chula Vista. That facility just brings out the best in me. I feel like it's where I get better as a player."

All invitees to the tryout came as individuals rather than predetermined pairs. The athletes spent the first day training and playing with different partners while USA Volleyball staff evaluated them. Pairs were then created based on performance during the first day and input from the players.

Mirkovic and Schafer were paired together as the No. 1 seed for the qualification tournament held on the second day.

"We didn't even make contact when they announced the bracket. I just gave her a side fist bump," MIrkovic said.

MIrkovic and Schafer advanced to the championship match of the qualifying tournament before falling to Bella Bauman and Teagan DeFalco of Grand Canyon in two close sets. Mirkovic and Schafer were ranked as the No. 2 pair for the FIVB World Championships. A third pair was named as a reserve.

Mirkovic and Schafer have never played together as a pair at Cal.

"We were both playing so well, I felt like it was ours for the taking," Mirkovic said. "From the first point of the first match, playing with Caroline just felt right. Neither of us had any fear or any hesitation. We were just going after it."

Mirkovic teamed with Stanford's Kathryn Plummer to win the bronze medal at the FIVB U19 World Championships in 2016 and then repeated the feat the next year at the U21 tournament. She was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team as a freshman last season and also is a member of Cal's indoor program.

"I'm stoked to be with someone who has done this before and can take the lead on this and show me the ropes," Schafer said. "It instills confidence when your partner is confident. This is my first time doing something on the international level and it really fuels me because I hope to play internationally. I'm really excited to be playing with Meems at such a high level."