BERKELEY, Calif. — No. 19 California (5-4) swept its home-opener tri-meet Tuesday with back-to-back 4-1 victories over No. 13 USF and No. 18 Pacific at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts.
The Golden Bears' No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 pairs won all their matches Tuesday to help secure the wins. In both matches Cal held a 2-1 lead and didn't take its foot off the gas when its No. 2 and No. 1 pairs took the court to clinch the wins.
“The mentality we talked about headed into today was to take the match from the opponent not wait for them to give it us,” said head Cal women's beach volleyball coach Meagan Schmitt. “Today I thought the girls did an awesome job of controlling their destiny.”
The Bears' No. 5 and No. 6 pair split each of their two matches on Tuesday. The No. 6 pair of Katie Regalia and Emily Shults beat the Dons in two-sets while the No. 5 pair of Teya Neff and Rachel Wilson defeated the Tigers in Cal's second match.
Wilson and Neff won in three-sets, it was the Bears' only three-set match in the tri-meet.
Coming in clutch for Cal all day was the pair of Olivia Rodberg and Grace Campbell. The No. 3 pair's closest set was its clinching set over Pacific, which they won 21-17. They won very other set in both matches by at least six points.
In both of the Bears' matches their No. 2 pair of Kory Lamet and Bryce Bark on court No. 2 was the victory-clinching matches. The pair made quick work of both of its opponents. They secured the tri-meet sweep with a 21-16 win in the second set against Pacific.
On court one, Cal's No. 1 pair of Mia Merino and Sarah Cole was able to relax a little towards the end knowing the win was in the bag but didn't stop them from also having dominating victories.
“We're starting to come together as a partnership,” Merino said. “It makes these games a lot easier and not as close.”
Close matches have been a theme throughout the season. In six of the Bears' previous seven matches Cal either won or loss by a score of 3-2. Its 5-0 victory over Cal Poly on March 5th had been its only non-3-2 match all season. However, Schmitt still sees room to improve.
“We got better at this during the match today but we still need to do a better job of our in-play and between-play communication,” Schmitt said. “Today they took the points when they needed to and didn't wait. And there's a lot to build off of that.”
No. 19 Cal 4, No. 18 Pacific 1
No. 1: Sarah Cole- Mia Merino (Cal) def. Lexi Elman-Andie Shleton, 21-17, 21-12
No. 2: Bryce Bark-Kory Lamet (Cal) def. Ali Wilk-Kimmy Whitson, 21-14, 21-6
No. 3: Grace Campbell-Olivia Rodberg (Cal) def.Jess Hess-Katrin Gotterba, 21-17, 21-15
No. 4: Rachel Wilson-Teya Neff (Cal) def. Mia Feiner-Maycie Labass, 21-15, 13-21, 15-3
No. 5: Jess Diederich-Alex Holt (UoP) def. Katie Regalia-Emily Shultz, 21-18, 21-16
No. 19 Cal 4, No. 13 USF 1
No. 1: Sarah Cole- Mia Merino (Cal) def. Sara Staengle-Oluoma Okaro, 21-18, 21-17
No. 2: Bryce Bark-Kory Lamet (Cal) def. Katarina Pilepic-Juria Vlasic, 21-17, 21-17
No. 3: Grace Campbell-Olivia Rodberg (Cal) def. Emily Reed-Courtney Sabahi, 21-12, 21-14
No. 4: Kiara McKibben – Jessica Gaffney (USF) def. Rachel Wilson-Teya Neff, 22-20, 21-17
No. 5: Katie Regalia-Emily Shults (Cal) def. Jessica Keenan-Kim Gutierrez, 21-17, 23-21
