Bailee Huizenga
Cal Athletics
Freshman Bailee Huizenga put down a career-high 19 kills Tuesday.
3
Winner Stanford STAN 7-2, 1-0 Pac-12
1
California CAL 6-5, 0-1 Pac-12
Winner
Stanford STAN
7-2, 1-0 Pac-12
3
Final
1
California CAL
6-5, 0-1 Pac-12
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Stanford STAN 23 25 26 25 (3)
California CAL 25 22 24 13 (1)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Cal Athletics

Bears Challenge No. 11 Stanford Before Falling

BERKELEY – In a match where three of the four sets were decided by three points or less, the Cal volleyball team fell to No. 11 Stanford 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-13 in the bi-annual Big Spike at Haas Pavilion, which also served as both teams' Pac-12 opener.

Freshman Bailee Huizenga had one of the best performances in recent memory for a Cal player against Stanford, putting down a career-high 19 kills at a blistering .567 hitting percentage. She only committed two hitting errors on 30 attempts on the night.

Junior Christine Alftin had 12 kills, 11 digs and three blocks while senior Jenelle Jordan added nine kills and four blocks.

In their first televised match of the season, the Bears' went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's premier programs before running out of gas in the fourth set. Cal fell behind 13-9 in the first set but came back to take a 17-16 lead on a Stanford hitting error. A Huizenga kill pushed the Bears' advantage to 22-19, but the Cardinal scored three in a row to tie it up. After the teams exchanged points, Cal closed out the set on a pair of Stanford attack errors.

The Bears started the second set strongly, jumping out to a 6-3 lead before the Cardinal scored six in a row to go in front. Stanford pushed the advantage to 14-8 before Cal started slicing into the deficit. With the Cardinal leading 23-18, the Bears scored three in a row on a kill by freshman Maddie Haynes, a block by senior Jenelle Jordan and a Stanford hitting error. But the Cardinal was able to close out the set.

Cal almost completed a thrilling comeback in the third set. Stanford raced out to a 16-9 lead, but the Bears gradually whittled away the deficit. After cutting the Cardinal's advantage to 20-17, Cal scored three of the next four points to make it 21-20.

Stanford answered with back-to-back points for a 23-20 lead, but the Bears scored four points in a row on a kill by Huizenga, back-to-back blocks and a Stanford hitting error. Facing set point, the Cardinal scored three points in a row to take control.

Haynes finished with nine kills for the Bears while senior Maddy Kerr had 15 digs.

Cal returns to action Friday at No. 24 Oregon.
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