Cal Faces No. 17 UW On Sunday
BERKELEY – California volleyball (7-6, 0-3 Pac-12) welcomed Washington State to Haas Pavilion on Friday night, hoping to break a streak of four straight losses to the Cougars. On this night, it was not to be – the Cougs dominated almost the entire match, sweeping the Bears, 3-0, to improve to 10-4 (2-1 Pac-12) on the season.
Missing usual starter and star freshman Mikayla Hayden, Cal’s vaunted defense struggled against Washington State’s powerful offense, allowing the Cougars to hit .368.
Sophomore Ellie Hamm took to the court for the Bears for the first time this season, posting two blocks in her return from injury.
Cal played well in the first half of the first set, holding off Washington State and jumping out to a four-point lead (10-6), aided by two straight kills from junior Sam Taumoepeau and a block plus a kill from the Bears’ other star freshman Sophie Scott. From there, it was all WSU – the Cougars posted a 4-0 run followed by a 9-1 run to post a lead of 20-13. Cal tried to respond, but the lead was too much to overcome and the Cougs were able to clinch the initial set, 25-17.
Washington State took off with a 7-0 scoring run to start off the second set, a series that included 5 straight kills from the Cougars. Despite a 3-0 run from the Bears that included a solo block from Hamm, WSU was not about to relinquish its momentum, eventually winning its second straight set with a score of 25-11. The third set, although close initially, was much the same – Cal’s only lead came off of junior Lydia Grote’s set-starting kill before the Cougs took the lead for good after a 7-7 tie, winning the set, 25-12, and the match.
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The Bears return to Haas on Sunday, Oct. 2 for a marquee matchup against No. 17 Washington (10-3, 2-1 Pac-12).
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