SEATTLE - California volleyball hoped to earn its second Pac-12 win on Sunday afternoon following a loss on Friday night, but ultimately found itself on the wrong end of a 3-1 result courtesy of Washington, which came into the match with just one conference win of its own.
 
The match was arguably decided at the service line, where the Golden Bears (12-5, 1-5 Pac-12) struggled, posting 14 total errors to four aces. Washington (11-6, 2-4) came into the weekend ranked among the nation's top-25 teams in service aces per set and total aces; despite missing top server Lauren Bays, the Huskies made up for her absence with nine aces on the day.
 
Senior Tara DeSa once again paced the court with 15 digs, while junior Ellie Hamm and sophomore Mikayla Hayden posted a court-high four blocks apiece. Junior Annalea Maeder only just missed out on a double-double with 29 assists and nine digs while freshman Xuemeng (Maggie) Li posted stats in all five categories with 15 kills, two assists, two aces, one block and six digs. Senior Sam Taumoepeau also posted a solid offensive outing with 12 kills on .321 hitting.
 
Although the Bears out-hit the Huskies in the first set, .357 to .269, and out-blocked the home team 4-0, Cal's six service errors made the difference in a 20-25 finish. Hayden put together arguably her finest set of the season with a perfect five kills on five attacks and two blocks, but UW inched its way out to a six-point lead that the Bears were unable to overcome, only cutting the deficit to four points at 18-22 off a 3-0 run. The second set, however, saw Cal fare much better as they out-hit their hosts .375 to .194. A pair of early 4-0 runs brought the Bears' lead up to 11-6; afterward, three more kills apiece from Li and Taumoepeau helped the Blue & Gold maintain its advantage all the way to a 25-20 set victory.
 
The third set, however, belonged almost entirely to Washington, who hit .769 as a team and held the Bears to just .053. Cal scored first off an ace from Maeder, but soon trailed by five after a 6-0 Huskies run; that differential grew to 14 points after another 6-0 run from UW, which eventually resulted in a 25-11 Washington win. Down two sets to one, the Bears found themselves at a disadvantage right away in the fourth courtesy of an immediate Huskies ace. Cal put together a pair of 3-0 runs to eventually cut UW's four-point lead to one at 13-12 and kept things close throughout most of the set, but Washington's offense allowed it to pull away late, eventually sealing the match with a 25-19 win.
 
UP NEXT
Cal returns home to Haas Pavilion next weekend, welcoming UCLA (9-7, 1-5 Pac-12) on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and USC (11-5, 5-1 Pac-12) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
 
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