CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – California volleyball started off their last road trip of the season against a tough North Carolina team on Friday night, winning the first set at Carmichael Arena but ultimately falling 25-22, 18-25, 21-25, 19-25 to the Tar Heels (20-6, 12-5 ACC). It was the second match in a row that the Golden Bears (12-17, 4-13) took the first but lost the next three sets to give their opponent its 20th win of the season.
 
Sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li posted her second-consecutive 20-kill outing (.395), her fifth of the season, to lead all players; classmate Sawyer Thomsen had an efficient night of her own with eight kills on .615 hitting. Fifth-year libero Gianna Bartalo paced the Bears with nine digs and a pair of service aces.
 
As a team, North Carolina out-hit Cal .333 to .171 and notched nine total aces to help overcome 16 errors at the line. Mabrey Shaffmaster (19 kills, .500) was one of three Tar Heels with double-digit kills, adding 10 digs to earn herself a double-double.
 
The Bears' offense was red-hot in the first half of Set One, with Thomsen knocking down three of her kills within Cal's first 10 points, but struggled to hold onto a lead early as North Carolina forced seven ties; a 5-0 run for the Blue & Gold allowed them to go ahead for good, stretching the lead to seven (18-11) and triggering a Tar Heels timeout thanks to a kill apiece from Ava Mehrten and Natalie Lau. The home team found its footing late and was able to string together a 7-1 stretch, bringing the score to 24-22, Bears, but the next kill was Li's sixth of the day to seal the first set for Cal.
 
Although Li continued her stellar pace into the second, recording another seven kills at a .667 clip, North Carolina's offense kicked up several notches to finish the set at .522 and prevented Cal from even tying the score from the get-go.  That momentum continued through the beginning of the third set as the Tar Heels scored six-straight points to go up, 7-2; although the Bears later closed that gap to two points (17-15) thanks to a mid-set four-point run, they could only muster consecutive points once more before North Carolina claimed its second set. The fourth and final period featured seven early ties and a pair of Cal three-point runs, but a 7-1 sequence from the Tar Heels broke open the set, 21-15. The next point (kill no. 7 from Peyton DeJardin) was Cal's only offensive score for the rest of the match, as North Carolina overcame three of their own errors to keep pace with the Bears' efforts and close out the win.
 
UP NEXT
Cal heads to Durham, North Carolina, to face Duke (9-19, 5-12) on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.

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