MORAGA – Cal volleyball coach Rich Feller made the decision to give freshman outside hitter Maddie Haynes a longer leash Saturday night.

It was apparently just long enough.

Haynes had 11 of her career-high 18 kills in the final two sets, leading the Bears to a 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23 victory over Saint Mary's at McKeon Pavilion.

Junior Christine Alftin added 13 kills, nine digs and three blocks while freshman Bailee Huizenga had 12 kills for the Bears, who closed out nonconference play with a 6-4 record. Cal opens Pac-12 Conference action Tuesday at home against No. 12 Stanford.

"This was our last preseason match and we've played with a lot of lineups," Feller said. "We felt Maddie hadn't been given a long enough leash, and if she was allowed to have a little more time, she would kind of figure things out. She figured out a lot tonight, particularly down the stretch."

Haynes, redshirt sophomore Ashten Smith-Gooden and sophomore Carmen Annevelink have all seen time at outside hitter this season along with Alftin, with Haynes seeing the most time. Saturday marked the second double-digit match of her career for kills – she registered 13 earlier this season in a win over UC Irvine.

It was Haynes' play down the stretch Saturday that was most impressive. She had the Bears' final four kills of the night, including back-to-back kills that pushed Cal to match point at 24-22 in the fourth set. After the Gaels staved off one match point, Haynes ended it with another kilil.

Haynes finished with a .310 hitting percentage including a .423 mark in the final two sets.

"Those last couple of swings she had were as good any that I've seen from her," Feller said.

Senior libero Maddy Kerr had 19 digs for the Bears, giving her 1,522 in her career. She needs 81 more digs to move into second place on Cal's all-time list.

While Haynes was carrying the offensive load down the stretch, Cal also was demonstrating an improved block. The Bears put up six of their 11 blocks in the final set, and nine in the final two sets.

Senior Jenelle Jordan led Cal with seven blocks to go along with seven kills.

"This is a really hard team to block," Feller said. "They play so fast and it's hard to scheme on them. It really took us a while, but once it started happening, it was good. We made it tough for the to get over some good blocks."

Tuesday's Pac-12 opener against Stanford will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.