Cal Beats Viks In Four-Set Thriller

BERKELEY – California volleyball (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12) came into its home opener hoping to put on a show for fans and more than delivered in the entertainment factor, toppling Portland State (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky), 3-1, in front of a raucous Haas Pavilion crowd.
 
The star of the show was reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Maggie Li, who recorded 20 kills and sparked a massive first-set comeback with three straight service aces; the Beijing native also posted nine digs on the night. Senior Sam Taumoepeau also reached the double-digit kills mark with 10, adding a career-high 16 digs for Cal’s third double-double of the season.
 
Sophomores Mikayla Hayden and Sophie Scott each added four blocks to their career total, while senior libero Tara DeSa contributed 24 digs and junior setter Annalea Maeder led with 32 assists and three more service aces.
 
Taumoepeau recorded the first kill of the match, but the Viks were undaunted and quickly darted out to a sizable nine-point lead. Late in the set, the differential remained at nine, with Cal having scored just 10 points to Portland State’s 19; at that point, Li had had enough, smacking down a kill to head into her three-ace run. Another 4-0 run followed shortly afterward, with Cal taking advantage of multiple Vikings errors and adding a block to Hayden’s and redshirt sophomore Ava Mehrten’s stat lines, thus bringing the score to 20-18 in favor of the visitors. Portland State could only muster up three more kills as the home fans roared and…