Cal Closes Out 2023 Season Against Colorado, No. 2 Stanford

Seniors Kendall Jensen, Sam Taumoepeau and Tara DeSa will be honored at Wednesday’s match.

VB11/20/2023 3:57 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Bears Will Honor 3 For Senior Day On Wednesday

BERKELEY – California volleyball will conclude its 2023 campaign this week, with its final home match scheduled for 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday against Colorado followed by a rematch with No. 2 Stanford at Maples Pavilion on Friday at 7 p.m.
 
The Golden Bears (16-13, 5-13 Pac-12) will be honoring seniors Kendall Jensen, Sam Taumoepeau and Tara DeSa before Wednesday’s match.
 
Cal is 7-17 all-time against the Buffs (15-14, 7-11), last recording a win in 2019. This will be the first meeting between the two teams this year. Colorado is 4-7 on the road and have lost four of their past five but are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Washington. The Buffs rank 21st among all Division I teams with 2.63 blocks per set and 26th with 278.5 total blocks while hitting a 47th-best .253 on the year. Their defense is bolstered by senior Skyy Howard, who averages 1.32 blocks per set and has totaled 136 blocks – both top 25 in the nation.
 
The Cardinal (24-3, 17-1), which clinched sole possession of the Pac-12 conference title Sunday, is battle-tested with 10 wins over top-25 teams this season and is on a six-match winning streak. Stanford swept Cal in September at Haas Pavilion with an all-around strong performance headlined by fifth-year senior Kendall Kipp, who totaled nine kills, seven digs, five blocks and an ace. Kipp is among the nation’s top players this year, averaging 4.14 kills per set, 0.46 aces per set and 5.07 points per set; the Cardinal as a team, meanwhile, rank top five nationally in hitting percentage (.312 – 1st), assists per set (13.63 – 2nd) and kills per set (14.46). Stanford also averages 2.70 blocks per set and 1.92 aces per set, 15th- and 16th-best in the country. Cal trails 13-84 in the all-time series with Stanford.
 
LI LEADS
Freshman outside hitter Maggie Li has already cemented her name in the Cal record books as she is the first player in program history to win Pac-12 honors in consecutive weeks and is the Bears’ first six-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Li is now tied with Mia Jerkov (2001-03) for the most career Pac-12 awards in program history. She earned Cal’s first Pac-12 weekly honor since 2019 – and its first…