Bears’ Defense Forces Five Sets Against Eagles

BERKELEY – California volleyball posted a tremendous defensive effort on Friday night at Haas Pavilion, holding visitor Boston College to .174 hitting and earning the advantage in total digs, but ultimately lost after five sets (25-21, 25-21, 17-25, 19-25, 17-19) to the Eagles (8-9, 1-4 ACC). The Golden Bears are now 9-8 (1-4) on the season.
 
Three Cal players – Natalie Lau (41 assists, 12 digs), Xuemeng (Maggie) Li (16 kills, 12 digs) and Peyton DeJardin (12 kills, 11 digs) – recorded double-doubles; Lau also matched her single-match career high with three service aces. An additional two Bears notched double-digit digs, with Gianna Bartalo’s 27 marking a new season best while Sophia Johnson contributed 14; meanwhile, both Sawyer Thomsen and Ellie Hamm recorded six blocks, with Hamm also posting a season-high nine kills.
 
Cal struggled to find an offensive rhythm throughout the match, never surpassing .175 in a single set; nevertheless, its defense was stout in the first two sets, out-blocking the Eagles 9.0 to 4.0. Li posted five of her kills in the first set alone, while freshman Kate Mansfield had six after two. Boston College stayed competitive the entire way, however, forcing seven tie scores in the first set and another four in the second; the Eagles seized control at the very start of the third set, scoring the first point and stringing together several small scoring runs to build a lead that they eventually grew to eight points. The fourth set unfolded in much the same way, with two…