SALT LAKE CITY – The California volleyball team fell to both No. 8 Purdue (27-29, 12-25, 25-18, 23-25) and Utah (16-25, 23-25, 19-25) in a doubleheader at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City Thursday. Xuemeng (Maggie) Li and Peyton DeJardin registered double-digit kills in both matches. Annalea Maeder served two aces across both matches putting her just three away from the fifth spot on Cal’s all-time career list.
The Golden Bears (3-2) were down 0-2 against Purdue (4-0) and won the third set and got edged out in the fourth, just missing out on forcing a fifth set before getting swept against Utah (4-0).
Vs. Purdue
In the first set, back-to-back kills from Sawyer Thomsen and Kate Mansfield gave the Bears an early 4-3 lead. Purdue went on a 3-1 run to go up 9-6 before Peyton DeJardin and Mikayla Hayden registered consecutive kills to get within one point. Li posted a kill to re-gain the lead for the Bears at 11-10. After the Boilermakers used a 3-0 run to go up 17-15, Annalea Maeder notched her eighth assist of the set to get the Bears to within one. From there, the set remained at a one-point differential until Li and DeJardin fueled a 3-0 run to go up 23-21 and force a Purdue timeout. The two teams combined to reach set point five times, but the Boilermakers ultimately won the set.
The Boilermakers used a 5-1 run to take an early 9-4 lead which forced a Cal timeout in the second set. Purdue kept the run going scoring the next four points before DeJardin ended it with a kill. The Bears were never able to get back into the set as the Boilermakers registered a .538 kill…
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