Bears Sweep Clemson, Snap 7-Game Losing Streak

The Bears relied on excellent offense and defense to clinch their third ACC win.

VB11/9/2024 10:10 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Li Records Double-Double As 3 Cal Players Post 11 Kills

BERKELEY – California volleyball bounced back from Friday night’s loss to Georgia Tech in tremendous fashion Saturday, sweeping Clemson 25-21, 25-15, 25-13 at Haas Pavilion to snap a seven-game losing streak and close out the weekend. The Golden Bears are now 11-14 on the year (3-11 ACC), while the Tigers fell to 8-17 (0-14).
 
Three Cal players – Mikayla Hayden, Peyton DeJardin and Xuemeng (Maggie) Li, recorded 11 kills on the night; for the second match in a row, Hayden did not post a single error, bringing her weekend hitting percentage to .605 with 23 total kills. Li also matched a season-high 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while Sophia Johnson led both teams with a 14-dig performance – the best of her career in a three-set match and just two shy of her overall collegiate best.
 
As a team, the Bears hit .321 – their best outing of the year in conference play.
 
The first set was by far the most competitive of the match, with Cal out-hitting Clemson .324 to .297 despite the furious efforts of the Tigers’ Mia McGrath, who posted seven kills (.357) in that period alone. The Bears scored the first two points off a Clemson error and a block from Li and Sawyer Thomsen, the latter of whom led all players with five total stops in addition to eight kills (.667) on the night. Although Cal allowed the Tigers to take the lead twice off a pair of three-point runs, it regained its advantage for good thanks to a 6-1 sequence to bring the score to 21-18; finally, Li’s fifth kill finished the job to put the Bears up 1-0.
 
Both Li (six kills, .307) and Hayden (five kills, .714) were at their offensive best in Set Two, helping the Bears post a .371 hitting percentage while the defense held the Tigers to just .114. Although Clemson scored the first point with a service ace, the Bears took the next two points (with an ace of their own from Li) and did not trail for the rest of the set, with Cal stringing together three-or-more points on four separate occasions; the last of those was a 5-0 run that included four Li kills.
 
DeJardin was the offensive star of the third set with six…