BERKELEY – California volleyball started off the day with a celebration of its three seniors – Kendall Jensen, Sam Taumoepeau and Tara DeSa – but fell short in the match against Colorado, losing to the Buffaloes in four sets (10-25, 25-16, 19-25, 23-25).
 
The Golden Bears (16-14, 5-14 Pac-12) were led on offense by sophomore Peyton DeJardin, who posted a season-high 13 kills on .444 hitting, and Taumoepeau, who recorded 11 kills. DeSa finished with 11 digs while junior Annalea Maeder led with 31 assists to cross the 1,000 assists margin for the first time in her career.
 
Colorado (16-14, 8-11) posted seven service aces and four scoring runs of four or more points to cruise to its first-set victory, but the Bears responded with a dominant performance in the second set that included seven kills and an ace from Taumoepeau. Cal took a 5-3 lead, its first of the match, after a three-point run that included two kills and Maeder's first ace of four. The Bears followed with three more scoring runs, stretching the lead out to 11 points at 20-9 and never allowing the Buffs to shrink the gap to fewer than eight on the way to their own set win.
 
The visitors scored four-straight to start off set three and soon increased the lead to six off another four-point run – it was DeJardin who triggered Cal's comeback effort, winning a joust at the net after a 42-second rally and slamming down another two kills in a four-point sequence for the Bears. Sophomore Mikayla Hayden contributed further by posting two blocks and a kill in Cal's next five points, but the deficit was too much for the Blue & Gold to overcome as Colorado took a 2-1 advantage.
 
Cal and Colorado forced no fewer than 18 ties in the fourth set, keeping things tight for a long time before DeJardin sparked another three-point run to help the Bears go up 19-16 and trigger a Buffs timeout. Sophomore Sophie Scott brought Cal to 20 points with a kill and DeJardin followed that up with a masterful service ace that painted the corner, but Colorado responded with a 5-1 run to clinch the match.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will close out their season on Friday at 7 p.m. PT at No. 2 Stanford (25-3, 18-1).
 
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