Bears Host Colorado, Utah At Haas

VB11/3/2022 4:32 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Team Celebrates Title IX On Friday

BERKELEY – California volleyball (7-15, 0-12 Pac-12) returns to Haas Pavilion this weekend to rematch Colorado (15-7, 7-5) at 7:00 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 4 and Utah (13-10, 6-6) at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6.

The Buffaloes currently have a 16-6 advantage in the all-time series against the Bears, their last meeting resulting in a 3-0 Colorado win. Buffs senior Meegan Hart leads the Pac-12 with a .438 hitting percentage, while junior Alexia Kuehl is 46^th in the nation with 1.26 blocks per set.

For their part, the Utes hold a 17-10 advantage over Cal in the all-time series between the two teams, having also swept the Bears in their last meeting. As a team, Utah is 37^th in the NCAA with 13.79 kills per set and 49^th with 12.53 assists per set. Senior Madelyn Robinson paces the Utes on offense, posting an eye-popping 11.67 attacks per set (18^th NCAA) on her way to 327 total kills and 4.67 kills per set thus far on the season, which respectively rank third and second in the conference.

The Bears will honor the 50^th anniversary of Title IX on Friday night and will also be giving away free t-shirts to the first 250 students in attendance.

 

NEVER SAY DIE

Although the Bears have only won 3 Pac-12 sets out of 39 total played, it would be disengenous to say that Cal lacks competitiveness – 19 of those 36 losing sets were decided by a margin of 5 points or fewer, including 7 of 12 final sets. An additional 5 sets were decided by 6 points.

 

START ‘EM YOUNG

After Week Nine Cal boasts two of the country’s top-blocking freshmen in Sophie Scott and Mikayla Hayden. No other program boasts two members ranked in the NCAA’s Top 20 freshmen in blocks per set (Hayden 1.07, Scott 1.05). Scott and Hayden are also the No. 1 and No. 2 freshmen in the Pac-12 in total blocks, with Scott ranking 7th overall (80.0) and Hayden ranking 9th (79.0).

 

TEAM LEADERS

Junior Tara DeSa currently ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in both total digs (304) and digs per set (3.95), while classmate Lydia Grote leads the Bears in both kills (276) and points (325.5). Both players are posting the best seasons of their careers, pacing Cal with a strong presence on the stat chart and in the locker room.

 

USA VOLLEYBALL TAKES NOTICE

Juniors Lydia Grote and Leah Schmidt participated in the 2022 USA Volleyball National Team Open Program on Feb. 25-27, scoring invitations after…