Cal Battles Utah To Five Sets

SALT LAKE CITY – California volleyball hoped to play spoiler to Utah’s Pac-12 home opener on Sunday, but ultimately found itself falling just short in a five-set, 3-2 heartbreaker in favor of the Utes (6-6, 1-1 Pac-12).
 
The Golden Bears (11-2, 0-2) held the Utes to .185 hitting on the match. Freshman Maggie Li posted her sixth double-double of the season with a court-leading 22 kills plus 13 digs, while junior Annalea Maeder reached the 2,000 career assists mark by adding 42 to her total. Senior Tara DeSa recorded 21 digs, the most by any player. Junior Ellie Hamm hit .471 with a career-high 10 kills and tied the court lead with seven total blocks; redshirt sophomore Ava Mehrten added another six stops to Cal’s defensive efforts.
 
Li started off the match with a kill, kicking off a 3-0 run for the Bears, but the Utes quickly responded with four straight points. An exchange of scores and a solo block from Hamm tied the score at 5-5; after that, however, Utah took the lead for good thanks to several Cal miscues and solid play (six kills on 13 attacks) from leading Ute attacker Lauren Jardine. Ultimately, the first set went to the home team, 25-17.
 
Utah carried its momentum into the second set, scoring first on a kill from Jardine, but the Bears responded well and took the lead on Mehrten’s first kill of the day. Cal soon extended that lead to 7-3 and maintained a slight lead until the media timeout with the score at 15-12, Bears; after that, momentum swung Utah’s way as it scored seven…