Cal Battles, Falls To No. 16 Georgia Tech

BERKELEY – California volleyball hosted its sixth ranked team in its past seven matches Friday night, facing No. 16 Georgia Tech at Haas Pavilion. Although the Golden Bears (10-15, 2-11 ACC) fought very well for the first two sets, it was the Yellow Jackets (18-4, 10-3) who ultimately prevailed, winning 25-22, 25-23, 25-12.
 
Sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li led the Bears in kills for the third-straight match with 15 on the night, while junior Mikayla Hayden posted 12 of her own on .600 hitting. Junior Natalie Lau recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 32 assists and 11 digs, both team-highs; meanwhile, sophomore Sawyer Thomsen led all players with five total blocks and knocked down two service aces to tie the match high.
 
The Yellow Jackets were led by Tamara Otene, who posted 19 kills on .514 hitting and added 11 digs. They hit .373 as a team to Cal’s .278.
 
Both teams posted identical hitting percentages of .250 in the first set, followed by a near-matching .293 (Cal) to .292 (Georgia Tech) in the second; both sets were also punctuated by seven kills apiece from Li. The Bears’ largest scoring streak of the night came in the second set, coming back from a 10-12 deficit to a 17-12 advantage off a seven-point run capped off by two-straight blocks from Thomsen. That second set also featured 10 tie scores, most of which came in the last 15 combined points (all kills); the next five points in the third set were also kills, but four of those belonged to Georgia Tech, which built a quick 7-1…