MALIBU- The No. 12 California beach volleyball team ended a three-day stretch of matches with a pair of 3-2 wins over No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 18 Pepperdine Monday afternoon. The Golden Bears have now won five straight matches and three against ranked opponents.
 
No. 12 Cal 3, No. 14 Long Beach State 2
Cal began its morning in Malibu with a battle with The Beach. The team captain pair of senior Ainsley Radell and fifth-year Ashley Delgado got the Bears on the board first with a 21-19, 21-16 win on court two. It was the sixth-straight win for the pair.
 
Sophomore Alex Young-Gomez and senior Lexi McKeown were the next to strike with a gritty win on court four to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage. The pair took the first set 21-17, but The Beach answered with a spirited 22-20 win in set two to force a third. The tiebreaker would also go to extra points with Bears coming out on top 19-17.
 
LBSU took the match on court five to stay alive, but Cal found the clincher on court one with junior Maya Gessner and sophomore Ella Dreibholz earning a three-set win of their own. After splitting the first two frames 21-19, 16-21, the duo dominated the third 15-7 to seal Cal's fourth-straight win.
 
 
1. Maya Gessner/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. Mari Molina/Christine Deroos (LBSU) - 21-19, 16-21, 15-7
2. Ainsley Radell/Ashley Delgado (Cal) def. Sydney Stevens/Julia Westby (LBSU) - 21-19, 21-16
3. Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah (LBSU) def. Sierra Caffo/Liz Waters-Leiga (Cal) - 13-21, 21-16, 15-12
4. Alex Young-Gomez/Lexi Mckeown (Cal) def. Haley Carrington/Holly Jackson (LBSU) - 21-17, 20-22, 19-17
5. Maggie Walters/Natalie Glenn (LBSU) def. Brooke Buchner/Natalie Martin (Cal) - 21-16, 21-19
Exh. Ava Mann/Gia Fisher (Cal) def. Kate Stoughtong/Savannah Lyons (LBSU) - 21-16, 21-18
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 1*, 3
 
No. 12 Cal 3, No. 18 Pepperdine 2
The match with the host Waves came down to the final match, but once again the Bears got on the board first with McKeown and Young-Gomez earning their fourth-straight sweep on court four 25-23, 21-15.
 
Pepperdine responded with an impressive win on two where all three sets went to extras. A straight-set win on five gave the Waves a 2-1 lead, putting the Bears in a must-win situation on courts one and three.
 
After losing its first match of the season earlier in the day, the court three team of junior Liz Waters-Leiga and sophomore Sierra Caffo bounced back with a clutch 21-13, 21-19 victory to keep its team alive. The fans in attendance would get what every beach fan hopes for – a decider on court one.
 
Gessner and Dreibholz traded punches with the Waves' McKenna Thomas and Lexi McLeod early in the first set but went on a late run to take it 21-15. The second set was a similar story as the Bears led 20-16, but the Pepperdine pair refused to quit and staved off three-straight match points to make it a one-point contest at 20-19. The fourth match-point would go the Bears' way as Gessner and Dreibholz sealed the team's fifth-straight win.
 
1. Maya Gessner/Ella Dreibholz (Cal) def. McKenna Thomas/Lexi Mcleod (PEPP) - 21-15, 21-19
2. Savannah Standage/Kate Clermont (PEPP) def. Ainsley Radell/Ashley Delgado (Cal) - 23-25, 24-22, 16-14
3. Sierra Caffo/Liz Waters-Leiga (Cal) def. Jasmin Suarez/Gracie Pedersen (PEPP) - 21-13, 21-19
4. Lexi McKeown/Alex Young-Gomez (Cal) def. Gracey Campbell/Gabbie Perez (PEPP) - 25-23, 21-15
5. Jordan Benoit/Juju Quintero (PEPP) def. Natalie Martin/Brooke Buchner (Cal) - 21-16, 21-18
6 (Exh.) Ava Mann/Portia Sherman (Cal) def. Chase Curry/Emi Erickson (PEPP) - 21-18, 21-14
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 1*      
 
Up Next
Cal is back on the road this weekend at Hawai'i's Heineken Kings Cup, a three-day event that begins on Friday. There the team will face Nebraska, Washington, Texas, Oregon, and the host Rainbow Wahine.