MORAGA – California volleyball posted a slew of career performances and three double-doubles against Saint Mary's on Tuesday night, overcoming the Gaels (0-4), 3-2, in five sets (25-13, 23-25, 25-22, 26-28, 15-10) at University Credit Union Pavilion. The Golden Bears are now 5-2 on the year.
 
Sophomore Xuemeng (Maggie) Li, who hit .328 with 28 kills – including match point – for a new career best, also added 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. She was joined in that category by juniors Peyton DeJardin (16 kills, 14 digs) and Natalie Lau (64 assists, 18 digs), the latter of whom notched career highs in both categories.
 
In total, five Bears – Li, DeJardin, Lau, senior Gianna Bartalo (24) and sophomore Sophia Johnson (15) recorded double-digit digs on the night. Rookie Kate Mansfield was stellar on both offense and defense with 11 kills (.474) and five blocks, while sophomore Sawyer Thomsen led all Bears with six blocks.
 
Cal dominated the first set, out-hitting the Gaels (0-4) .286 to .030 that included a five-kill, .556 effort from Li and three blocks apiece from Thomsen and Mansfield. The Bears took control right off the bat with a 3-0 run and never trailed, eventually stretching their lead to 12 points (21-9) off a 7-0 run; those 12 points were the eventual margin of victory in Set 1, with a service ace from Johnson acting as the final point.
 
The next three sets were much closer. Set 2 went to Saint Mary's as the Gaels pieced together a ferocious blocking front, earning six stops, and hit .333 to Cal's .250 to overcome Li's eight additional kills and tie up the match. The Bears took back Set 3 thanks to a gutsy come-from-behind effort, eliminating a three-point deficit and taking their first lead of the set at 21-20 while holding Saint Mary's to just .146, but the Gaels responded by forcing the next set to extra points thanks to a heavy-hitting offense (.333) and four solo blocks to tie the match yet again.
 
Although the home team scored first in the final set and kept pace with Cal for quite some time, the Bears eventually broke things open with a 4-0 run – all kills – to jump out to an 8-6 lead. Li's 25th kill forced a Saint Mary's timeout at 10-7; shortly afterward, her 26th kill triggered another timeout at 12-8, followed by kill No. 27. Three points later, Lau set Li up for her final kill of the night, a tip that floated over the net and found bare floor to clinch the win for Cal.
 
UP NEXT
Cal heads to Boulder, Colorado, for the Buffs Invitational, matching up first against Wyoming (5-0) on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.
 
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