DURHAM, N.C. – California volleyball returned to the win column Sunday thanks to several standout performances from its players, leading the Golden Bears (13-17, 5-13 ACC) to victory over Duke, 25-21, 16-25, 25-17, 25-19, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Cal’s win was highlighted by sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li’s third-straight game with 20 or more kills; she was just one shy of her career high Sunday, notching a match-high 27 on .381 hitting with just three attack errors while also adding 13 digs (and two blocks) for her sixth double-double of the season. Peyton DeJardin recorded a double-double of her own – her seventh – with 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs, while Natalie Lau led all players with 51 assists to tie for the second-best performance in a four-set match by any ACC player this season.
Further adding to Cal’s defensive efforts were defensive specialists Gianna Bartalo (16 digs) and Sophia Johnson (14 digs) as well as middle blocker Sawyer Thomsen, who led all players with six blocks and tied a match high with two service aces.
The Blue Devils (9-20, 5-13) kept their defense stout in the first set, out-blocking Cal four to one and forcing nine ties with six lead changes, but in the end it was not enough to overcome the red-hot Li, who posted eight kills at a .727 clip (including a six-for-six start). An early seven-point run for the home squad put Cal down by five, but the Bears responded with five-straight points of their own to tie up the score at nine apiece. From there, Duke could only string together consecutive scores three more times as a quartet of 3-0 runs for the Bears…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at California Golden Bears Athletics…