LOS ANGELES – The Huskies battled as they have all year trying to stay alive in the Pac-12 Championships, but 12th-ranked Cal was able to end Washington's season with a 3-1 victory in the contender's bracket. The Dawgs wrap up the season with a 9-16 record, but all but one of those defeats came against teams ranked in the top-20.
 
The Huskies were looking to build on last night's thrilling 3-2 win over Utah that kept their hopes alive, and things looked good early as Chloe Newton and Callie Weber picked up a clutch three set win at the No. 5 spot to make it 1-1 going into the top three matches.
 
Cal regained the lead with a 21-14, 21-7 win at the No. 3 spot as Campbell/Lindahl defeated last night's heroes, Avie Niece and Cat McCoy. The Huskies were leading at the No. 2 court, but needed to force a third set at the No. 1 spot to keep it going. After a rough first set, Destiny Julye and Kristen Gengenbacher kept things close in set two, and had it tied at 18-18 against Cal's Mirkovic and Schafer, but the Cal pair won the final three points in a row to get the victory and clinch the match, 3-1.
 
Kara Bajema and Shayne McPherson had won the first set, 22-20, but were down 18-20 in the second set at the No. 2 spot when the match finished.

Assessing the weekend, Head Coach Steve Whitaker said, ""I think we were in UW fashion with peaking at the Pac-12 tournament. I think we were playing our best volleyball at the end, and that's what any coach wants, so I can't complain about that. Against USC I thought we played some of our best volleyball ever. We had some really close matches going, the scores were a lot closer than I think USC wanted them."

"Last night against Utah, it came down to Cat and Avie to win it and they played their best of the year and that's what we needed at that moment," Whitaker said. "Cal has given us a run for our money the last two years, so this was a match that we want back. We did play some good volleyball but we weren't consistent enough to finish it out. It came down to the ones if they could have won their second set and taken it to a third but they came up just short."
 
It was the final dual match for seniors Destiny Julye, Kristen Gengenbacher, and Cat McCoy. Julye finishes second in school history in career dual wins with 43, one behind former teammate Courtney Schwan. Gengenbacher and McCoy made key contributions in their one seasons as Huskies, as they came to the beach after stellar indoor careers at San Diego for Gengenbacher and at Texas for McCoy.

"I can't say enough good things and D.J., Kristen and Cat," said Whitaker. "They're seniors that any coach would want to lead their team. They set the example and they held high standards. A really special group of three young ladies right there. The young ones that are up and coming, the amount of growth they had was amazing and it's fun to see, and I think the future is bright. The whole Pac-12 has gotten consistently better each year and we're seeing that and we have to step it up."


Washington Beach Volleyball
2019 Pac-12 Beach Championships
April 26, 2019
Los Angeles, Calif. | Merle Norman Stadium (USC)
 
(3) California – 3
(7) Washington – 1
 
1. Mirkovic/Schafer (Cal) def. Julye/Gengenbacher (UW), 21-7, 21-18
2. Bajema/McPherson (UW) vs. Micheletti/Polo (Cal), 22-20, 18-20 - DNF
3. Campbell/Lindahl (Cal) def. McCoy/Niece (UW), 21-14, 21-7
4. Inman/Merino (Cal) def. Calle/Drechsel (UW), 21-17, 21-16
5. Newton/Weber (UW) def. Dueck/Waldburger (Cal), 21-18, 11-21, 15-12
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 1