Bears Sweep Utah, Fall To No. 2 Stanford
TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 7 California beach volleyball team split its Saturday matches at the Pac-12 South Tournament hosted by Arizona State, winning every set in a 5-0 win over Utah before falling to No. 2 Stanford 5-0.
No. 7 Cal 5, Utah 0
Playing in the first match of the morning at ASU’s Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility, the Golden Bears (7-3) started the day strong against Utah (6-6) with a quick 21-15, 21-9 win by sophomore Portia Sherman and junior Ella Dreibholz in the No. 4 spot. The pair improved to a team-best 8-1 record together on the year.
The sophomore duos of Marilu Pally and Gia Fisher and Jenna Colligan and Amelia Vugrincic followed that up with comfortable wins on courts two and five, with each pair winning a set by double digits. Freshman Alex Adishian made her Cal debut in a court three win alongside graduate student Lara Boos, 23-21, 21-9. Freshman Emma Donley and junior Alexandria Young-Gomez finished off the clean sweep with a 21-15, 22-20 win on court one.
1 – Emma Donley/Alexandria Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Langley Griffin/Katie McAlister (UTAH) 21-15, 22-20
2 – Marilu Pally/Gia Fisher (CAL) def. Rylee Johnson/Bella Vezzani (UTAH) 21-11, 21-15
3 – Alex Adishian/Lara Boos (CAL) def. Chloe Narancich/Lauren Sayre (UTAH) 23-21, 21-9
4 – Portia Sherman/Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Marissa Koch/Kylie Pitzak (UTAH) 21-15, 21-9
5 – Jenna Colligan/Amelia Vugrincic (CAL) def. Milan Ray/Sonja Wessel (UTAH) 21-9, 21-17
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 1
No. 2 Stanford 5, No. 7 Cal 0
Nearly eight hours after their opening serve against the Utes, the Bears took on their first ranked opponent of the weekend in the rival Cardinal (9-2).
Cal – which went 1-1 against top-5 opponents last weekend in Los Angeles – hung in tight in four of five sets, but wasn’t able to get over the hump. Pally and Fisher came close on court three, forcing an extended first set and leading late in set two, but falling 23-21, 21-18.
On the 1s court, a rested senior Sierra Caffo and graduate student Kendall Peters bounced back from a 21-15 opening-set defeat to win the second 21-14. In a hard-fought final set, the Bears had a match point opportunity after taking a 14-13 lead before a 3-0 Stanford run ended the match.
1 – Xolani Hodel/Brooke Rockwell (STAN) def. Sierra Caffo/Kendall Peters (CAL) 21-15, 14-21, 16-14
2 – Xolani…
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