Austin, TX
No. 9 Bears Split Rematches With No. 12 LSU, No. 10 Texas – California Golden Bears Athletics
Caffo Reaches 75 Career Wins
AUSTIN – The No. 9 California beach volleyball team split its two duals Friday to open the East vs West Invitational in Austin, Texas. After sweeping No. 12 LSU and falling to No. 10 Texas last week, the Golden Bears flipped the script this time around with a 3-2 win over the host Longhorns and a 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
Cal (12-6) handed Texas its first home loss of the season and avenged a tough 3-2 loss at last week’s East Meets West Invitational. The Bears now five ranked wins this season.
With a pair of court-two victories, graduate student Sierra Caffo surpassed 75 career wins – 49 of which have come in her time at Cal. Her 75th win came against her former team, LSU.
Cal took a 2-0 lead in its first match of the weekend with wins from Caffo and junior Gia Fisher on court two and the court-four pair of junior Marilu Pally and senior Ella Dreibholz. The Bears were just a few points away from clinching the match on court three but suffered a reverse sweep for the first time this season.
Texas took a 1-0 lead to begin the second dual, but the momentum changed when Fisher and Caffo grinded out a huge three-set win on court two that went to extra points in two of the sets. Junior Jenna Colligan and senior Ella Sears picked up their first win as a pair this season on court five to put the Bears in position to win the dual.
With the Longhorns snagging court three, it would all come down to the top spot in the lineup where junior Portia Sherman and sophomore Emma Donley had already won their first set handedly. As both teams gathered around court one, the Bears put the dual to bed in dominant fashion winning it 21-16, 21-12.
Cal is back on the sand tomorrow to face No. 20 FIU, which the Bears defeated last weekend 4-1, and No. 18 Georgia State. The first match is set for 7:30 a.m. PT and the second match is slated for 10:30 a.m. PT.
No. 12 LSU – 3, No. 9 Cal – 2
- Parker Bracken / Gabi Bailey (LSU) def. Emma Donley/Portia Sherman (Cal) 21-11, 24-22
- Gia Fisher/Sierra Caffo (Cal) def. Aubrey/Julia Specher (LSU) 24-22, 21-23, 15-13
- Elle Evers/Camryn Chatellier (LSU) def. Alex Adishian/Christine DeRoos (Cal) 21-15, 10-21, 21-19
- Marilu Pally/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. Katie Baker/Tatum Finlason (LSU) 21-17, 21-18
- Skyler Martin/Emily Meyer (LSU) def. Ella Sears/Jenna Colligan (Cal) 21-18, 21-15
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 1
No. 9 Cal – 3, No. 10 Texas – 2
- Emma Donley/Portia Sherman (Cal) def. Chloe Charles/Eva Kuivonen (TEX) 21-16, 21-12
- Gia Fisher/Sierra Caffo (Cal) def. Emma Grace Robertson/Katie Hashman (TEX) 23-21, 17-21, 17-15
- Karin Zolnercikova/Maddison Parmelly (TEX) def. Christine DeRoos/Alex Adishian (Cal) 21-18, 21-15
- Macey Butler/Noa Sonneville (TEX) def. Marilu Pally/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) 21-14, 21-13
- Jenna Colligan/Ella Sears (CAL) def. Carys Patton/Vivian Johnson (Cal) 23-21, 21-9
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 1