Bears Handle Business On Day 1 Of Pac-12s
TEMPE, Ariz. – Opening up the 2024 Pac-12 Championships on Wednesday at the Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility, the No. 4-seeded California beach volleyball team won the first three flights against No. 5 seed Washington in straight sets to clinch their second dual victory in five days over the Huskies.
The Golden Bears (21-11) advance to face No. 1 USC in Thursday's quarterfinals, a team they defeated 3-2 in the same round last year.
With a fortunately-timed blanket of clouds covering the courts on a 90-degree day, an energized Cal squad got out to a flying start and never looked back. No. 4 pair Lara Boos and Ella Dreibholz took their first set 21-17 and stayed sharp in a 21-12 set-two win. Seconds after that win was clinched, Emma Donley and Kendall Peters finished off a 21-18, 21-18 sweep on the adjacent court.
Facing the same pair they defeated last Friday at the Stanford Invite, No. 1 pair Sierra Caffo and Alexandria Young-Gomez separated themselves midway through set one, going on a 5-0 run to go up 17-10. After a set-clinching kill from Caffo, they quickly jumped out to a 5-2 advantage in set two and led comfortably the rest of the way, with Caffo eventually putting away a second straight set with a decisive cross-court slam at the net.
That ended the dual ahead of schedule with Cal's No. 5 pair of Jenna Colligan and Portia Sherman dominating a 21-15, 12-6 unfinished match and Gia Fisher and Marilu Pally leading 7-5 in the second set of flight three.
Tomorrow morning, the Bears and Trojans will face off for the second time this year at 10:15 a.m. PT. USC came away with a 3-2 win over Cal at the Pac-12 North Tournament on April 6 in a match where Caffo and Young came back to win flight one in three sets and Sherman and Dreibholz earned a convincing sweep in the battle of the 5s.
#4 Cal 3, #5 Washington 0
1 Sierra Caffo/Alexandria Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Piper Monk-Hedrich/Maggy Rabitsch (UW) 21-17, 21-18
2 Emma Donley/Kendall Peters (CAL) def. Zoey Henson/Lauren Wilcock (UW) 21-18, 21-18
3 Gia Fisher/Marilu Pally (CAL) vs. Kierstyn Barton/Kendall Mather (UW) 13-21, 7-5 (uf)
4 Lara Boos/Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Scarlett Dahl/Josie Ulrich (UW) 21-17, 21-12
5 Jenna Colligan/Portia Sherman (CAL) vs. Brooke Balue/Sarah Wilcock (UW) 21-15, 12-6 (uf)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
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