Cal Drops Five-Set Thriller To OSU

BERKELEY – California took Oregon State to the wire in a 25-22, 13-25, 19-25, 25-20, 14-16 defeat in extra points Friday at Haas Pavilion.   

Lydia Grote tallied 13 kills and Katarina Pantovic recorded 13 kills with 13 digs for her second double-double of the season to lead the Golden Bears. Sydney Lilomaiava added eight kills with four blocks and Bella Bergmark had six kills and seven digs.

Jessica Houghton had a match-high 20 digs for California.

Cal fell to 1-12 on the season, while OSU improved to 4-7 behind a match-high 18 kills from Mychael Vernon.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded 3-0 runs early in the first to an 11-all tie. The Bears scored six of the next eight points from there, forcing Oregon State to take a timeout. Cal got kills from Pantovic and Grote out of the timeout to take a five-point lead and held off the Beavers to put away the set, 25-20.   

Oregon State used a big run in the second frame and ran away to an easy set victory, tying the match at one set apiece. Cal answered to start the third, building an 8-2 advantage until a 4-0 OSU run made it 9-7. After trading the next six points, OSU put away the set with an 8-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the set.

Cal refused to go away easily after falling behind 15-11 in the fourth. The Bears used two different four-point runs to go up 20-18 on a Grote service ace. OSU scored the next two points before Cal scored the final five points thanks to a solo block and kill from Sam Taumoepeau.

In the winner-take-all fifth, it went back-and-forth with neither team pulling away as the Bears fought back from a 10-6 deficit. Back-to-back kills from Grote and Pantovic tied the score at 13 and after an OSU point Grote answered with another kill to knot the score once again. The Beavers were able to score the final two points from there to take the 3-2 win in the match.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to Haas Pavilion for a two-match series with Oregon State beginning Friday, March 5 at 2 p.m. PT.  

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