Bears Edged By No. 4 USC, Sweep Utah
LOS ANGELES- The No. 12 California beach volleyball team split a pair matches on day one of the Pac-12 South Invitational falling to No. 4 USC 3-2 Saturday morning before bouncing back to sweep Utah 5-0.
The Golden Bears came out hot in their first conference matchup of the season taking a match off the reigning national champs on court two. Senior Ainsley Radell and fifth-year senior Ashley Delgado earned a straight-set win topping the Trojans 21-17, 21-13 at Merle Norman Stadium.
Court four featured a gritty battle as senior Lexi McKeown and sophomore Alex Young-Gomez battled back from a 21-16 first set loss on court four to tie it with a 21-17 win in the second frame. The third set went well into extras with the Bears staving off multiple match-points, but ultimately fell the Trojans’ way 23-21 to even the overall match at 1-1.
USC then took straight-set wins on courts one and five to seal the match but the transfer duo of sophomore Sierra Caffo and junior Liz Water-Leiga grinded out a 21-14, 20-22, 17-15 win on court three to improve to 3-0 as a pair.
No. 4 USC 3, No. 12 Cal 2
1. Megan Kraft/Delaynie Mapel (USC) def. Ella Dreibholz/Maya Gessner (Cal) 21-10, 21-13
2. Ashley Delgado/Ainsley Radell (Cal) def. Audrey Nourse/Nicole Nourse (USC); 21-17, 21-13
3. Sierra Caffo/Liz Waters-Leiga (Cal) def. Madison Shields/Madison White (USC); 21-14, 20-22, 17-15
4. Olivia Bakos/Gabby Walker (USC) def. Lexi McKeown/Alex Young-Gomez (Cal); 21-16, 17-21, 23-21
5. Delaney Karl/Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope (USC) def. Brooke Buchner/Natalie Martin (Cal); 21-14, 21-19
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 5*, 3
No. 12 Cal 5, Utah 0
After dropping to 1-2 on the season with a loss to USC, Cal was quick to get back to .500 with a 5-0 sweep over Utah at UCLA’s Mapes Beach.
The lower four courts all earned sweeps with Delgado and Radell keeping their opponents in single digits in their 21-8, 21-5 win. Junior Ava Mann earned a court five win on her birthday paired with freshman Portia Sherman who picked up her first collegiate win 21-13, 21-13. The court one pair of junior Maya Gessner and sophomore Ella Dreibholz battled but took a win in the top spot 21-17, 19-21, 15-13.
1. Maya Gessner and Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. Amaya Messier and Katie McAlister (Utah) 21-17, 19-21, 15-13
2. Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Radell (Cal) def. Bella Vezzani and Grace…
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