STANFORD – The No. 7 California beach volleyball team split a pair of duals on the first day of the Stanford West Coast Classic on Friday, defeating Pepperdine 4-1 before dropping a nail-biter to No. 2 Stanford, 3-2.

The Golden Bears (21-10) got two wins from No. 1 pair Portia Sherman and Emma Donley, including a victory over Stanford top pair Kelly Belardi and Avery Jackson, who is ranked No. 4 nationally by TruVolley. Sherman and Donley, who improved to 27-3 on the season, are ranked No. 3 in the country.

Among Cal's four match victories over the Waves, twin sisters Giselle Lau and Savanna Lau notched their first career win playing as a pair together.

The Bears and Cardinal engaged in a back-and-forth affair. They exchanged match wins to make it 2-2, including an impressive Cal victory on Court 2 when Marilu Pally and Grace Hong erased an 11-6 deficit in the second set to win 23-21, 21-18.

Sherman and Donley's victory knotted the dual with the Court 3 match still in the second set. Cal's No. 3 pair of Mila Vugrincic and Jenna Colligan won the first set 21-19 before Stanford's Charlotta Bell and Logan Tusher responded to win the second set, 21-18. The Cardinal duo took a 10-6 lead only to see the Bears trim the deficit to 10-9, and then had match point at 14-10 before Cal cut it to 14-13.

The Bears continue play in the Stanford West Coast Classic on Saturday against No. Cal Poly and San Jose State.

 
No. 7 California 4, Pepperdine 1
No. 1: Portia Sherman/Emma Donley (Cal) def. Emma Eden/Michaela Cyrani, 21-18, 21-15
No. 2: Mila Vugrincic/Jenna Colligan (Cal) def. Maddy Snow/Gabriella Perez, 21-14, 21-14
No. 3: Alice Jagielska/Sonia Mancuso (Pepp) def. Gia Fisher/Ava Haughy, 21-17, 21-15
No. 4: Savanna Lau/Giselle Lau (Cal) def. Ginevra Merlini/Emi Erickson, 22-20, 21-16
No. 5: Bella Adishian/Mila Yarich (Cal) def. Emma Bubelis/Bella Avelar, 21-13, 21-10

No. 2 Stanford 3, No. 7 California 2
No. 1: Portia Sherman/Emma Donley (Cal) def. Kelly Belardi/Avery Jackson, 21-15, 21-12
No. 2: Marilu Pally/Grace Hong (Cal) def. Brooke Rockwell/Ruby Sorra, 23-21, 21-18
No. 3: Charlotta Bell/Logan Tusher (Stan) def. Mila Vugrincic/Jenna Colligan, 19-21, 21-18, 15-13
No. 4: Indigo Clarke/Clara Stowell (Stan) def. Gia Fisher/Ava Haughy, 21-18, 21-13
No. 5: Elena Fisher/Chloe Hoffman (Stan) def. Bella Adishian/Mila Yarich, 21-12, 21-15