Bears Prepare To Host Washington, No. 9 WSU

Cal needs just one more victory to clinch a winning record for the first time since 2019.

VB11/1/2023 5:06 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Looks To Clinch Winning Record

BERKELEY – California volleyball returns to Haas Pavilion this weekend for its penultimate two-game homestand of the season, welcoming Washington on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and No. 9 Washington State on Sunday at noon.
 
The Golden Bears (15-8, 4-8 Pac-12) are 29-48 all-time against the Huskies (13-10, 4-8), who won in four sets in the first matchup between the two teams earlier this year. Cal’s last win over Washington was over a decade ago on Nov. 12, 2011, but the Bears will look to take advantage of a Huskies squad that has lost its past four matches. As a team, UW ranks 24th in the nation with 1.85 service aces per set and 33rd with 165 total aces; in Cal’s last trip to Seattle, the Dawgs were as good as advertised on that front with nine on the match. UW’s top attacker that day was junior Madi Endsley, who posted 18 kills on .400 hitting.
 
Cal holds the series advantage over the Cougars (18-5, 8-4) at 46-33, but suffered a 3-0 defeat in their first meeting this season. The Bears have not had a win over a top-10 team since 2012 – Washington State has enjoyed a program-record seven straight weeks in that echelon this season. The Cougs have lost their past two matches but still rank 14th in the nation with a team .284 hitting percentage and 26th with 2.57 blocks per set. Senior Magda Jehlárová has been unstoppable for WSU, boasting a .427 hitting percentage (eighth best in Division I), 113 total blocks (16th) and 1.40 blocks per set (17) on the year. She earned 10 kills (.500), seven digs and four service aces against Cal last month in Pullman.
 
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, as well as the Bears’ first five-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. She earned Cal’s first Pac-12 weekly honor since 2019 – and its first rookie honor since 2018 – after the Bears’ first three matches of the season. Li totaled 34 kills and 27 digs with a .313 hitting percentage at the Army Invitational, earning her way onto the all-tournament team. The next week, Li added two stellar matches to her season with a…