Cal Closes Regular Season With 25th Win
STANFORD – The No. 9 California beach volleyball team split a pair of matches Saturday to close out the regular season. The Golden Bears (25-8) fell to No. 7 Grand Canyon (23-6) 4-1 before picking up their 25th win of the season with a sweep over Pacific (0-23).
No. 7 GCU 4, No. 9 Cal 1
The day began with a rematch between the Bears and Lopes and the heated battle came right down to the end with three matches going to three sets. Once again GCU managed to edge Cal as it did back in March at TCU’s Fight at The Fort.
GCU took an early lead with a win on court two, but the Bears answered quickly with a win on court four. Senior Lexi McKeown and sophomore Ella Dreibholz dropped their first set 21-17 but answered with a hard fought 21-15 in the second and finished the job in the third 15-10 to even out the first flight. Both Bears now have 48 career wins.
GCU regained the lead with a win on court five leaving two matches on courts one and three to decide the dual. Cal lost the first set on both courts, but bounced back with two second-set wins to force a pair of tie breakers.
Both matches were close, but the Lopes sealed the dual on court one and made it 4-1 with their win on three.
1 Abbie Hughes and Allison Hansen (GCU) def. Sierra Caffo and Liz Waters-Leiga (CAL) 18-21 21-17 15-13
2 Samaya Morin and Allanis Navas (GCU) def. Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Radell (CAL) 21-17 21-17
3 Cami Sanchez and Anaya Evans (GCU) def. Maya Gessner and Gia Fisher (CAL) 21-19 14-21 15-13
4 Lexi McKeown and Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Dana Roskic and Jessica Drake (GCU) 17-21 21-15 15-10
5 Krista Rowan and Brooke Birch (GCU) def. Brooke Buchner and Alex Young-Gomez (CAL) 21-17 21-19
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 1, 3
No. 9 Cal 5, Pacific 0
All five matches with the winless Tigers were over in a hurry including an impressive 21-5, 21-15 victory on court five by junior Ava Mann and sophomore Ella Sears. The first set deficit and the largest of the year by any pair and it was the 45th win of Mann’s career.
Senior Ainsley Radell picked up her 79th win and junior Brooke Buchner found her 59th.
1 Sierra Caffo and Liz Waters-Leiga (CAL) def. Camdyn Albrecht and Hania Taduran (PAC) 21-10 21-13
2 Ashley Delgado and Ainsley Radell (CAL) def. Josephine Kinlan and Darina Kumanova (PAC) 21-13 21-7
3 Maya Gessner and Gia Fisher (CAL) def. Jenny Todd and…
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