PORTLAND – Head coach Jen Malcom wasted no time getting into the win column in her first season at the helm of the California women's volleyball program. The Golden Bears (1-0) swept Nevada (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) in their first game of the Rose City Showdown in Portland Friday afternoon. Xuemeng (Maggie) Li and Gianna Bartalo led all players with 10 kills and 22 digs respectively. Annalea Maeder recorded two service aces to put her just eight away from tying Teri Donahue for fifth place on Cal's all-time career list.
 
Back-to-back kills from Li opened the first set and helped the Bears jump out to a 5-1 lead before Nevada (0-1) called a timeout. A service ace from Annalea Maeder extended the lead to 7-1. The Wolfpack got to within four points at 17-13 before Li scored consecutive points on a block assist followed by back-to-back service aces to put Cal up 20-13. An attack error from Nevada gave the Bears the winning point for the set.
 
In the second set, after Nevada scored the first point, Cal responded with a 4-0 scoring run fueled by two Li kills, but from that point on the Wolfpack stayed within striking distance, never going down by more than three points until the Bears went on a 5-0 run to go up 21-15. Cal then took four of the next five points with the help of consecutive Nevada errors to win the set.
 
The third set proved to be the most competitive of the match as it saw 10 ties. The Bears got down early as the Wolfpack used a 5-0 run to go up 6-2 before Sawyer Thompson nailed a kill to end the run. Nevada scored three more unanswered to go up 9-3 before Cal responded with a 7-1 run to get within a point. Sophia Johnson served an ace to tie that game at 10-10. Both teams then exchanged points on the next 10 serves to keep the game tied at 15-15. With Cal down 18-17, Mikayla Hayden scored on a kill followed by a block to power a 4-0 run to put the Bears up 21-18. Li scored on two kills and a block assist over the next four points to help seal the win for Cal.   
 
"The team earned this win by doing the small things that we talked about all week: ball handling, serving aggressive and spreading out the offense," Malcom said. "We executed at a high clip and gave us the ability to pull away at the end of sets. It was great to be battle tested in the third set and love how the team responded and found a way to come out on top. It feels great to get this first win of the season and set the tone of where Cal volleyball is heading!"
 
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Cal continues play in the Rose City Showdown taking on San Francisco at 11:30 a.m. PT.
 
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