SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – California volleyball (8-0, 0-0 Pac-12) continued its red-hot streak on Friday with a solid performance against a pair of talented teams, taking down Southeastern Louisiana (5-3, 0-0 Southland Conference) and Texas State (4-3, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) in four sets each.
Vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Southeastern Louisiana entered the day with four wins under its belt and 15 returners from its 2022 NCAA Tournament squad. At the end of the match, they proved unable to stop the Golden Bears’ offense, which featured a team .329 hitting percentage, Maggie Li’s third double-double (19 kills, 15 digs), and career highs from senior Sam Taumoepeau (20 kills, four assists), junior Annalea Maeder (53 assists), sophomore Mikayla Hayden (13 kills) and redshirt sophomore Ava Mehrten (eight kills, three blocks).
For the first time all season, the Bears found themselves in a deficit after one set as the Lady Lions slammed down 24 kills on their way to a narrow 30-28 victory. Although Cal kept pace with Southeastern Louisiana the entire way, forcing no fewer than 17 ties throughout the set, the latter squad’s .294 offense (led by eight of match leader Kailin Newsom’s 21 kills) just outmatched the Bears’ .258 hitting despite five kills apiece from Hayden, Li and Taumoepeau.
Cal was much more efficient in the second set, hitting .433 as a team on 30 total attacks. Powered by solid serving from Maeder, the Blue & Gold got off to a 4-0 start and never relinquished the lead; freshman Sophia Johnson was also a major contributor behind the service line, sparking two additional scoring…
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