After an eventful weekend down in Los Angeles, Cal volleyball added both a victory and a loss to its record. Despite winning earlier on in the season, the Bears fell to No. 24 USC but triumphed over UCLA — whom they had been swept by back on Oct. 13.
Although the Bears lost in a four-set battle to the Trojans on Friday, they also held them to their lowest hitting percentage in over a month — a result of the outstanding defensive front put up by Cal’s sophomore middle blocker Sophie Scott and senior libero Tara DeSa.
Meanwhile, USC had some good defense of its own, putting up five blocks and five scoring runs in the first set to forge ahead for the first win, 25-15. The biggest difference lay in the teams’ offenses, however, as the Trojans still found ways around the Bears’ defense to significantly out-hit them.
USC’s senior outside hitter Skylar Fields helped out on this front, as she led the Trojans with 21 kills along with 12 digs — contributing seven in the first set alone. Although the defense held USC to just a .263 hitting, Cal’s negative .023 hitting meant its offense clearly could not work around the Trojans.
Despite five kills from senior outside hitter Sam Taumoepeau in the second set, the Bears fell to similar results at a 25-17 win for the Trojans.
It was in the third set that Cal managed a 25-23 comeback win with the Bears out-hitting USC .225 to .195, fueled by kills from freshman outside hitter Maggie Li, blocks from Scott and freshman middle blocker Sawyer Thomsen and more digs from DeSa.
Although the Bears again out-hit the Trojans in the fourth and final set, USC still managed to take the neck-and-neck battle at 25-22.
“We needed to be more intentional about our errors and have better communication, and just be more aggressive,” Li said.
A couple of days later, Cal still remained in LA but with a new thirst to redeem themselves. This manifested in Cal’s first victory over UCLA since 2018, a triumph that came to life with the resuscitation of Li’s match-leading 23 kills.
“I think it’s definitely been the mentality that’s supporting me, just like believing that we’re gonna come out strong and have the chance to beat them,” Li said.
All the Bears saw massive improvements, with Taumoepeau’s career-high 18 digs, double-doubles from DeSa and junior setter Annalea Maeder, Thomsen’s career-best eight kills and four blocks, and Scott’s season-high seven blocks.
Meanwhile, the Bruins were led by sophomore outside hitter Grayce Olson, with 19 kills, and senior setter Audrey Pak, with 41 assists and 15 digs.
UCLA’s offensive strength fell short with a mere .169 hitting percentage.
The first set started off strong for Cal, taking a 16-8 lead, but UCLA quickly caught up 19-18. After a final 5-0 point run and three kills from Li, the Bears sealed the deal on set one, 25-21.
In the second set, however, the Bruins bounced back with .400 hitting, paced by senior outside hitter/opposite Iman Ndiaye and back-to-back aces from sophomore libero Mokihana Tufono.
Set three was an all-around defensive struggle, with neither team hitting above .143. With a five-point streak, Cal took an early lead that UCLA could not surpass.
Li remained strong in the fourth and final set, starting it off with a bang of three straight kills for the Bears. However, the Bruins put up a tough fight, tying the score multiple times with kills and a seven-point streak to take the lead, 14-11.
After three straight kills from Cal to tie, Scott sealed the deal with three consecutive roof blocks, reclaiming an 18-15 lead for the Bears. UCLA continued to fight, scoring five more points up to the 20-point mark, until kills from Thomsen and Li forced a tie and then claimed the game for Cal, 25-23.
“I think executing our game plan has really helped us and made a difference between the two games,” Li said. “So that’s our mentality, we believe we can do better, we’re gonna defend it, we’re gonna make changes.”
