The Bears have a chance to earn their first win over a ranked team since the 2020-21 season.
Bears Prepare To Face No. 21 Arizona State, Arizona
California volleyball will look for its first road wins against the Arizona schools since 2019 this weekend, starting with a rematch against No. 21 Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, on Friday at 6 p.m. PT followed by a showdown against Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, on Sunday at noon.
The Golden Bears (14-7, 3-7 Pac-12) lost in five sets to the Sun Devils (19-3, 7-3 Pac-12) earlier this month and defeated the Wildcats (6-15, 1-9) in four sets in late September, both at Haas Pavilion.
Cal is 34-41 against Arizona State all-time. The Sun Devils have wildly exceeded expectations this season after being picked to finish 10th in the preseason Pac-12 poll, currently sitting in a tie for third in the conference standings. Nationally, they rank 10th with 2.08 aces per set and a .288 team hitting percentage. Senior OH Marta Levinska gave the Bears trouble in the last meeting between the two teams, posting 30 kills on .482 hitting. She currently ranks 16th in the nation with 5.09 points per set and 21st with 4.30 kills per set. Classmate Shannon Shields recorded 54 assists against the Bears and is 39th in Division I with 10.25 assists per set.
The Wildcats are currently on a five-match losing streak and have already lost to Cal once this season, but rank second in the conference with 1,069 total digs. Their top offensive performer against the Bears was senior OH Sofia Maldonado Diaz with 16 kills; she currently leads the team with a 278 hitting percentage on the season. Sophomore S Ana Heath has a team-high 722 assists on the year and led the way with 33 against Cal. Arizona has the all-time series lead over Cal by a margin of 47-28.
LI LEADS
Freshman outside hitter Maggie Li has already cemented her name in the Cal record books as she is the first player in program history to win Pac-12 honors in consecutive weeks, as well as the Bears’ first four-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. She earned Cal’s first Pac-12 weekly honor since 2019 – and its first rookie honor since 2018 – after the Bears’ first three matches of the season. Li totaled 34 kills and 27 digs with a .313 hitting percentage at the Army Invitational, earning her way…
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