On its first weekend back in Haas Pavilion, Cal volleyball hoped to redeem its previous losses against the Washington teams but fell short once again. While Washington’s big block bound the Bears in a four-set loss, Washington State’s powerful offense proved to be just too much for Cal in a gritty three-set loss.
What made the major difference was serve-receive and, unexpectedly, blocking.
Both teams managed to excel in serving, with each squad posting 10 aces, but it was the defensive response that fell flat on the Bears’ end. Coupled with a significant deficit in blocking, Washington posted an impressive 13 blocks to Cal’s meager five.
The blue and gold started off hot with a kill from redshirt sophomore opposite Ava Mehrten, which sparked a 3-0 run and forced an early Husky timeout. The Bears and the Huskies clawed back and forth to a 13-point tie, followed by a 5-0 serving run by freshman DS/libero Sophia Johnson — bringing Cal to a 19-14 lead.
Washington’s senior libero Grace Zilbert then served the Bears back with a 5-0 run herself to eliminate the gap. In the final battle for points, kills from freshman outside hitter Kierstyn Barton and blocks from Katy Wessels allowed the Huskies to seal the deal at 27-25.
Despite Washington’s hitting of .286 to Cal’s .156 in the first set, the Bears’ offense resurrected in the second set with Cal hitting .375, just one error and four kills from Li, senior outside hitter Sam Tamoepeau and sophomore middle blocker Sophie Scott.
This allowed them to stay ahead of the Huskies despite kills from junior outside hitters Barton and Madi Endsley. Another catfight ensued, with four draws, multiple timeouts and a rallying battle ending in a 25-22 victory for Cal.
A blocking battle ensued, as the Bears started off with blocks from Scott and Mehrten, followed by back-to-back blocks with big help from Pertofsky, but Washington held an early 11-6 advantage. More kills and a total of seven blocks from Washington held Cal, all culminating in a decisive 25-16 win for Washington.
The drained Bears tried to come back in the fourth set, but a triad of four-point Husky runs kept Washington ahead to take the set at 25-17. Cal found a spark plug in sophomore outside hitter Peyton DeJardin, who entered the game and recorded three quick kills to force an early tie — but her efforts proved to be just not enough.
Although the Bears fell in three sets to an arguably more intimidating team in No. 9 Washington State, they had unprecedented grit that forced the Cougars’ hand on multiple occasions.
Tara DeSa led Cal’s defensive charge again with 10 digs, while Li led the offense once more with 14 kills to tie for the game-high, along with six digs and an ace. However, the Cougars’ offensive prowess would prove to be too much for the Bears, with Washington State posting a dozen blocks and .400 hitting.
Though some of Cal’s hits in the first set fell short to another six blocks, the team was able to elevate its serve-receive by taking advantage of six of Washington State’s 14 service errors.
Despite the Bears starting from behind right away, they continued to fight with kills from Tamoepeau, Scott and freshman opposite Ashley Li, who got to make some plays for the first time in weeks.
However, in the end, Washington State came out on top 25-20.
The second set followed suit with the Bears at an early disadvantage. Cal managed a comeback to take a 15-14 lead until the Cougars overpowered after a battle of ties, eventually taking the set 25-19.
Cal and Washington State pulled out all the stops in the third set, forcing an extended game to a 32-30 finish. This was a result of intense rallying and 19 ties in the third set, with both teams hitting above .340.
With three losses in the last four Pac-12 matchups, the Bears will look to flip the script in conference play as a slew of Pac-12 opponents awaits.
