No. 13 Bears Take A Pair Of Duals At Home
BERKELEY – The No. 13 Cal beach volleyball team won two three-set matches – including a dramatic comeback in the third set by No. 3 pair Brooke Buchner and Ashley Delgado – and got by No. 16 Long Beach State 3-2 on Friday afternoon at Clark Kerr Sand Courts.
The Bears (18-6) also defeated USF 5-0 earlier in the day.
Buchner and Delgado trailed the 49ers' Jillian Rodriguez and Emily Mattoon 20-17 in the first set before scoring the next five points to win. Delgado reeled off an ace to put the Bears in front 21-20 and Cal took the set on an LBSU hitting error on the next point.
Buchner and Delgado dropped the second set 21-19 and trailed 14-12 in the third before staving off two match points and coming back to win, 16-14.
The Bears' top pair of Ainsley Radell and Ava Mann were also forced to stage a comeback. After winning the first set against the 49ers' Sydney Stevens and Katie Kennedy 21-19, the pair dropped the second set, 22-20. But Radell and Mann controlled the third set from the start, racing out to a 7-1 lead before prevailing, 15-7.
Cal's No. 5 pair of Ella Dreibholz and Lexi McKeown also registered a victory, 21-15, 21-8.
The Bears didn't drop a set during their victory over the Dons.
Friday marked the beginning of the lone weekend of home matches for Cal this season. The Bears will host UC Davis on Saturday, and the dual will be preceded by a Senior Day ceremony. Cal will honor seniors Katie Smoot, Francesca Gettings, Kate Bierly, Ashley Delgado, Ana Costa and Mima Mirkovic before taking on the Aggies.
#13 Cal 5, USF 0
#1 – Ainsley Radell/Ava Mann (Cal) def. Orsula Staka/Letizia Aquilino (USF) – 21-10, 21-15
#2 – Ana Costa/Grace Paulson (Cal) def. Katie Wagstaff/Tanner Pemberton (USF) – 21-12, 21-5
#3 – Maya Gessner/Ella Sears (Cal) def. Jessica Eanes/Lana Kutakhina (USF) – 21-6, 21-13
#4 – Natalie Martin/Lexi McKeown (Cal) def. Sophie Sydenham/Sara Denham (USF) – 21-9, 21-6
#5 – Ella Dreibholz/Kate Bierly (Cal) def. Shyia Richardson/Bruna Correa (USF) – 21-11, 21-17
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 1
#13 Cal 3, #16 LBSU 2
#1 - Ava Mann/Ainsley Radell (Cal) def. Sydney Stevens/Katie Kennedy (LBSU) – 21-19, 20-22, 15-7
#2 - Skyler Germann/Alice Pratesi (LBSU) def. Ana Costa/Maya Gessner (Cal) – 21-18, 21-17
#3 - Brooke Buchner/Ashley Delgado (Cal) def. Jillian Rodriguez/Emily Mattoon (LBSU) – 22-20, 19-21, 16-14
#4 - Nicci Reinking/Claire Newlander (LBSU) def. Ella Sears/Natalie Martin (Cal) – 18-21, 21-16, 15-12
#5 - Ella Dreibholz/Lexi McKeown (Cal) def. Sophie Major/Christina Deroos (LBSU) – 21-15, 21-8
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2 ,3 ,1