Bears Host WSU, No. 17 UW At Haas

VB9/29/2022 5:59 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Looks To Earn First Pac-12 Win

BERKELEY – California volleyball (7-5, 0-2 Pac-12) faces a tough test in its second week of Pac-12 play as it prepares to host Washington State (9-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and No. 17 Washington (10-2, 2-0 Pac-12) at Haas this weekend. The Bears hope to get their first conference win of the season, having opened up Pac-12 play last week with tight losses against then-No. 5 Stanford and Oregon State, the latter of which went to five sets.

First serve against the Cougars is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 30, while the match against the Huskies will commence at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2. Both visiting teams boast elite offenses – the latter’s team hitting percentage of .307, sixth-highest in the NCAA, is the only Pac-12 mark that stands above the former’s .287 (13^th NCAA).

Washington State has won 20 straight matches against unranked opponents, including the last 4 against Cal. The Bears currently lead the all-time series between the two teams, 46-30.

Washington ranks No. 8 nationally in kills per set (14.32) and No. 10 in assists per set (13.18). They lead the all-time series against the Bears by a margin of 45-29.

Despite the visitors’ offensive prowess, they will find no easy matchup in Berkeley. Cal currently ranks 13^th in the nation in blocks per set (2.72, 2^nd Pac-12) and 28^th in opponent hitting percentage (.162, 2^nd Pac-12), also leading the conference with 125 total blocks.

 

START ‘EM YOUNG

After Week Five, Cal boasts the Pac-12’s top two blocking freshmen in Sophie Scott and Mikayla Hayden. Both have started every match for the Golden Bears so far this season and currently rank No. 2 (60.0 total blocks) and No. 5 (56.0 total blocks), respectively, among all Pac-12 players. No other program boasts two players among the NCAA’s top 10 freshmen in blocks per set (Scott No. 5, Hayden No. 8), and only one other program (Northwestern State) also has multiple entries in the NCAA’s top 15 freshmen in total blocks (Scott No. 7, Hayden No. 11).

 

LYDIA LEADS

Junior Lydia Grote has posted a fantastic start to the season, accumulating 215.5 points, second-most in the Pac-12, through four weeks of play. She also ranks third in the conference with 179 kills and boasts the NCAA’s 37th-highest total in points per set (4.68). Her play in Week Two of the season earned her All-Utah Valley Tournament honors.

 

DEFENSE DOMINATES

Cal…