Three members of the California volleyball team earned All-Pac-12 honors Tuesday, highlighted by Xuemeng (Maggie) Li being named the 2023 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
 
Libero Tara DeSa and setter Annalea Maeder also earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, while Li was named to the All-Pac-12 Team.
 
Li joins Holly McPeak in 1987 and Cara Dane in 1990 as the only Cal volleyball players ever to be named the conference Freshman of the Year, is the only representative of the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team to also appear on the main All-Pac-12 Team, and is the first Golden Bear to be named to the All-Pac-12 Team since 2019. She averaged 3.90 kills per set on amassed 441 total kills this season, both fourth-best of any freshman in Division I and fourth and third, respectively, among all Pac-12 players. Li's total kills are the most by any Golden Bear since Tarah Murray's 475 in the 2011 season. Li, who earned six Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards – tied for second-most in conference history and for the most career Pac-12 awards in program history – posted double-digit kills in 26 of Cal's 31 matches and tied for the team lead with 11 double-doubles. She also ranked second on the team with 34 service aces and third with 265 digs. Her best outing came against a Texas State team that made the NCAA Tournament, slamming down 24 kills on .429 hitting with 11 digs.
 
"I've been amazed by the load that Maggie managed as a freshman," interim head coach Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd said. "She led us to many wins and is always wanting to be better for her team. She's physical, smart and gifted – the best is yet to come from her."
 
DeSa led the Pac-12 by a significant margin with 513 total digs – the most by any Bear since Robin Rostratter's 571 in 2011 and fourth-most in program history – and 4.46 digs per set. She matched her career-high of 32 digs against No. 6 Oregon – one off the program record – and followed that up with a 31-dig performance at No. 24 USC in the very next match. DeSa is the only player in Cal history to have multiple outings of 32 digs or more, as well as the only Bear to have three career matches with 30-or-more digs. She ended her Cal career with 1,361 career digs, sixth-most in program history. DeSa was at her best against Top-25 opponents this season, averaging 4.5 digs per set in 32 total sets.
 
"Tara had an amazing season," Jones Schoonderwoerd said. "She kept a lot of rallies alive for us and allowed us to be competitive on defense against some of the best teams in the country."
 
Maeder, a junior, recorded the first 1,000-assist season of her career with 1,037 on the year (the most by any Bear since Alyssa Jensen's 1,053 in 2015) and excelled at the service line, notching 46 aces to tie for 10th most in program history and third-most in the conference. Her serving powered 21 scoring streaks of four or more consecutive points, second-most on the team. She is currently ranked sixth in Cal history with 116 career aces and seventh with 2,584 career assists. Maeder posted her best day of the season on Sept. 8, facing two NCAA Tournament teams in Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State and posting a combined 107 assists against them. She tied with Li for a team-high 11 double-doubles on the year, including a standout performance against No. 25 Arizona State where she recorded 49 assists, 11 digs and three aces.
 
"Anna has been a strong vocal leader for us," Jones Schoonderwoerd said. "She worked on her distribution all season – she's extremely talented and I'm proud to coach her."
 
As a team, the Bears posted their first winning record – 16-15 – since 2019 and went undefeated in nonconference play (11-0) for the first time since 2011.
 
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