Despite sweeping Arizona 3-0 on Friday, Cal faced one of its most disappointing tilts of the season in a nail-biting 3-2 loss against Arizona State on Sunday.
Cal’s loss drops it back to a .500 winning percentage, quickly dwindling the squad’s NCAA tournament hopes.
In the first set against Arizona State, the Bears (11-11, 5-7 in Pac-12) initially conducted the pace. By finding gaps in the Sun Devils’ defense, the Bears led 10-2.
But an Arizona State offense led by Macy Gardner, who paces the Pac-12 in kills, recorded a whopping 19 kills in the first set. Despite 10 errors from the Sun Devils, it was their stifling offense that helped Arizona State take a 24-23 lead.
And instead of Cal’s outside hitter Christina Higgins laying a safe hit on set point, Higgins hit the ball behind Arizona State’s backline.
“It’s sad we could not sustain the early-game energy,” Cal head coach Rich Feller said. “The momentum changed significantly because we could not take game one.”
But Cal came into the second set ready to improve subpar performance in the first set. Middle hitter Correy Johnson started off the offense with a spike the Sun Devils could not grasp position of, giving the Bears the early lead.
However, every time the Bears started to build a lead against the Sun Devils, Arizona State would call a timeout, killing the Bears’ offensive momentum.
And while the Bears entered an Arizona State timeout with a 17-14 lead, the Sun Devils came out with hard serves to the backside and open gap kills and tied at 23.
But this time around, instead of falling short, the Bears closed the set when Adrienne Gehan racked two kills, giving the Bears a close 25-23 win.
In the third set, the Bears’ defensive presence faltered because Cal could not make successful blocks or digs.
Taking advantage of the Bears’ defensive slip-up, Gardner and outside hitter Erica Wilson helped the Sun Devils rack 18 kills.
By hitting the ball deep into the Bears’ backcourt, the Sun Devils took an easy 25-18 third-set win.
“We need to pick up the balls in the back row,” said senior Shannon Hawari. “We also need to read where we think they are going to hit the ball better.”
Despite trailing 2-1 in sets, the perfectly timed blocks of Johnson and Hawari carried the Bears into the fourth set. But when the Bears took a 3-0 lead in the final set, ASU called a timeout and promptly took an 8-7 lead afterward.
“We have some younger players, and being in a close fifth set is an uncomfortable situation,” Hawari said. “They need to not be so tentative.”
With her team trailing 11-8, Hawari added to her career-high 18 kills and 12 blocks by scoring three consecutive points for the Bears.
With an 11-11 tie, both teams went back and forth until the game was tied at 14 points apiece.
Wilson then locked in two blazing kills, giving the Sun Devils a nail-biting win over Cal.
“It’s a steep uphill climb now,” Feller said. “It’s hard for them to have confidence after losing a close one like this.”
Andrew Davis covers volleyball. [email protected]
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