Clemson

Next Match:

at Clemson

10/26/2025 | 10:00 a.m.


Oct. 26 (Sun) / 10:00 a.m.


at Clemson

ATLANTA – The California volleyball team won the first set but eventually lost in four sets Friday evening at O’Keefe Gymnasium to a young but talented Georgia Tech squad, as the Yellow Jackets earned their 10th win of the season after posting set scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-11 and 25-7 to rise to 10-8 (5-4 ACC). Cal is now 6-13 on the year and 3-6 in ACC play.
 
The Golden Bears’ offense was led by Peyton DeJardin, who led the team for the third-straight contest with 14 kills, while Sophia Johnson commanded the defense with 11 digs. Reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Week Mikayla Hayden tied with freshman Maria Știrbu with a team-high three blocks, bringing Hayden’s career total up to 358 to tie for 10th-most in program history and the most career blocks by any Bear since 2012.
 
Georgia Tech fielded three players with double digit kills (led by Anna Fiedorowicz’s 17 on .469 hitting), three with double-digit digs (led by Sofia Velez’s 13) and three with seven or more blocks (led by Bianca Garibaldi’s eight), while freshman Laura Bieleski contributed six of her team’s nine aces. As a squad, the Yellow Jackets hit .390 to Cal’s .123 and totaled 15.0 blocks.
 
DeJardin (seven kills, .462) and Dominique Phills (five kills, .444) helped Cal out-hit Georgia Tech .261 to .237 in the first set, overcoming an early two-point deficit and helping the Bears battle through 12 tie scores to grind out the win and take a 1-0 advantage. The second set was likewise very competitive despite Cal never leading, as the Bears closed a mid-set six-point gap to just two points to force a Yellow Jackets timeout before the home squad claimed their own set win to even up the match.
 
The first point of the third set went to Cal thanks to DeJardin’s 11th kill of the night, but that was to be Cal’s final lead of the match as the Yellow Jackets eventually surged far ahead with an eight-point run mid-set to go up by 10 at 18-8 on the way to their second set win. Cal only posted consecutive scores once in the fourth set, as three-straight points from Li in the form of two kills and a block brought the Bears within one point, but Georgia Tech ripped off a 10-point scoring run immediately afterward in an emphatic response and maintained that momentum (with the help of Fiedorowicz’s eight kills on .800 hitting) to close out the match.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will head up to South Carolina to face Clemson (12-9, 0-9 ACC) on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on X (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball) and TikTok (@calbearsvb).
Â