SYRACUSE, N.Y. – California volleyball ended its 2024 road slate in tremendous fashion Wednesday at Syracuse's Women's Building, earning a sweep (27-25, 25-15, 25-8) over the Orange to head into Saturday's season finale. The Golden Bears are now 14-17 on the year and 6-13 in ACC play, while Syracuse fell to 14-17 (2-17).
 
Cal outdid Syracuse in every statistical category, including a lopsided hitting percentage differential of .317 to .021. The Orange came into the day ranked 34th in the nation in blocks per set but were outdone by the Bears, who posted 7.5 stuffs to the home team's 7.0.
 
Junior setter Natalie Lau totaled 45 assists, the most by any ACC setter this year in a three-set contest that also tied the highest three-set total by an ACC player since 2018.
 
Five Cal players posted eight or more kills, led by Xuemeng (Maggie) Li, who notched 15 on .393 hitting and added 11 digs for her second-straight double-double. Middle blockers Mikayla Hayden (.400) and Sawyer Thomsen (.500) added another nine kills apiece, with Thomsen tying her career high; she also posted four blocks to reach 100 on the season. Ava Mehrten (.500) and Peyton DeJardin each contributed eight kills – a season best for Mehrten. Libero Gianna Bartalo was exceptional in commanding the Bears' defense, earning 19 digs on the day.
 
Syracuse posted the first point of the match on the way to a quick 4-1 lead, but the Bears responded with an 8-1 run, triggered by Mehrten's first kill of the match. Three kills from Li eventually helped Cal build a seven-point lead at 16-9, but the Orange then went on a scoring streak of its own, winning 12 of the next 14 points to take a 21-18 advantage and force two Cal timeouts. The Bears regained the lead at 22-21 thanks to two kills and a block from Hayden as well as a Syracuse error. Tt took three Cal set points before Mehrten finally finished it off with kill number three.
 
The Bears scored the first four points of the second set and never relinquished the lead, quickly building a 12-point advantage at 20-8 thanks to two additional four-point scoring runs. Syracuse's defense started to clamp down, but in the end it was no match for Li, who posted Cal's final three points of the set and increased her total to 10 kills. She added another for the first point of the final set, in which the Bears hit a blistering .536 while holding the Orange to -.032 thanks in large part to Bartalo's 11 third-set digs. The Orange tied the score at 4-4 in one last gasp, but Cal smelled victory and earned eight of the next nine points to build a 12-5 lead. One final nine-point run by Cal, featuring two kills apiece from Mehrten and Thomsen and capped off with a short service ace from Li, eventually ended the match.
 
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The Bears will conclude their 2024 campaign with a rematch against Notre Dame (12-16, 5-14) at Haas Pavilion on Saturday, with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. PT. The team will be celebrating the careers of its five seniors immediately following the game.
 
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