Bears’ Season Ends With Quarterfinal Loss
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The No. 8 California beach volleyball team dropped its NCAA Championship quarterfinal dual with No. 1 UCLA Saturday, falling 3-1 to end a historic 2023 season.
The Golden Bears came out hot, leading on all five courts through the middle points/. But the Bruins showed their experience by securing three first sets by identical scores of 21-19.
Cal junior Maya Gessner and freshman Gia Fisher took care of business on court three, sweeping the Bruins 21-14, 21-16 to improve to 2-0 in the tournament and win the first point of the dual. Gessner had 18 kills and three blocks and Fisher added eight kills and 12 digs.
UCLA quickly responded by taking courts four and five for a 2-1 lead. The dual came down to third-set deciders on courts one and two.
After falling 21-19 in the first, Cal’s court one pair of junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo evened things up taking set two, 21-16. But a slow start in the final set of the dual saw the Bruins going on an insurmountable run on their way to a 15-10 win to seal the dual.
Caffo had a team-high 20 kills and Waters-Leiga scooped up a team-high 20 digs.
The 2023 season will be one to remember as the Bears broke the program wins record with 29 and win percentage record at .743. Cal broke a handful of records on the individual side as well with Radell setting the single season wins record (29) and McKeown (.761) wrapping up her career today with the highest career win percentage in program history. The Bears’ 10-year anniversary ended with their strongest postseason run yet making it to the Pac-12 Championship final for the first time and winning their first NCAA Championship dual.
No. 1 UCLA 3, No. 8 Cal 1
1. L. Denaburg/M. Boyd (UCLA) def. S. Caffo/L. Waters-Leiga (Cal) 21-19, 16-21, 15-10
2. A. Van Winkle/P. Brennan (UCLA) led A. Radell/A. Delgado (Cal) 19-21, 21-18, 10-5 unfinished
3. M. Gessner/G. Fisher (Cal) def. H. Hallgren/R. Powers (UCLA) 21-14, 21-16
4. M. Monserez/J. Smith (UCLA) def. L. McKeown/E. Dreibholz (Cal) 21-19, 21-18
5. D. Newberry/J. Whitmarsh (UCLA) def. B. Buchner/A. Young-Gomez (Cal) 21-19, 21-13
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 4, 1
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