Bears Defeat No. 10 Long Beach State 3-1
GULF SHORES, Ala. – For the second consecutive year, the Golden Bears are moving on to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship.
The No. 7 California beach volleyball team defeated No. 10 Long Beach State 3-1 on Friday afternoon for its second NCAA Championship win in program history. The Bears also defeated the Beach in last year’s opening round, and to draw an even further parallel from 2023, Cal will now face No. 2 UCLA in a quarterfinal rematch tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN2.
With all five pairs playing at the same time, the action moves quickly at Gulf Shores. Cal (22-13) claimed three first sets in a span of five minutes to swing the momentum in its favor. Soon after, the Bears had a 2-0 lead with wins on courts five and two.
Playing on court five for the first time together, junior Ella Dreibholz and graduate student Lara Boos earned the first point of the dual in dominant fashion, 21-11, 21-6. Dreibholz posted a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs. Her kills mark paced the team and her .720 hitting percentage ranked second.
The rookie/veteran pairing of freshman Emma Donley and graduate student Kendall Peters succeeded in its NCAA Championship debut, earning a 21-17, 21-9 win on court two. Donley had an errorless, 10-0-16 performance for a .625 hitting percentage to go along with a team-high five. Peters swung at a .722 clip with 14 kills and seven digs.
Despite the Bears taking a 2-0 lead, the momentum began trending towards the Beach (28-10) after it took the first set on courts one and three and forced a third set on five. Long Beach State quickly cut the lead in half with a win on court one.
Needing to win one third set, the court four duo of Jenna Colligan and Portia Sherman jumped out to a commanding lead. The two sophomores got to dual point with a powerful cross-court attack from Colligan and a wide attack from the Beach on the following rally to seal the victory for California. Colligan finished with 16 kills and eight digs and Sherman added 14 kills, five digs, and a pair of aces.
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#7 Cal 3, #10 Long Beach State 1
1 Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Sierra Caffo/Alexandria Young-Gomez 24-22 21-16
2 Emma Donley/Kendall Peters (Cal) def. Gibson/Savannah Standage 21-17 21-9,
3 Gia Fisher/Marilu Pally (Cal) vs. Julia Westby/Natalie Glenn 19-21, 21-18, 9-6 (uf.)
4 Portia…
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