LOS ANGELES – The No. 6 California beach volleyball team split a pair of matches against top-8 teams on Friday at the East Meets West Invitational at Manhattan Beach Pier.

The Golden Bears (10-4) started their morning with a tough five-set loss to No. 8 LSU (9-2) but would close out the day on a high note, claiming a 4-1 win over No. 4 Florida State (14-1) to hand the Seminoles their first loss of the season.

LSU 3, Cal 2
The Golden Bears (10-4) fell behind early to the eighth-ranked Tigers dropping a pair of matches on the even courts, including a three-set decision on court two. Down 2-0, Cal rose to the occasion winning the next two matches to even the count.

The court-five pair of Ella Dreibholz and Portia Sherman were the first in the win column taking their match 21-18, 16-21,15-10. Sierra Caffo and Kendall Peters followed with a 21-16, 21-16 victory on court one.

Tied at two apiece, the match would come down to court three where Gia Fisher and Marilu Pally came up just short in a three-set thriller, 16-21, 21-19, 15-12.

1 - Sierra Caffo/Kendall Peters (CAL) def. Gabi Bailey/Amber Haynes (LSU) 21-16, 21-16
2 - Parker Bracken/Reilly Allred (LSU) def. Emma Donley/Alex Young-Gomez (CAL) 15-21, 21-19, 15-11
3 - Ella Larkin/Ellie Shank (LSU) def. Gia Fisher/Marilu Pally (CAL) 16-21, 21-19, 15-12
4 - Emily Meyer/Ashush Yali (LSU) def. Brooke Buchner/Lara Boos (CAL) 21-18, 21-15
5 - Portia Sherman/Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Skylar Martin/Brooke Blutreich (LSU) 21-18, 16-21, 15-10

Cal 4, FSU 1
After dropping the first match of the weekend, Cal bounced back in a major way topping a top-five team for the second time this season and ending the Seminoles' run of 14 straight wins to start the year.

Emma Donley and Alex Young-Gomez were the first off the sand with a 21-12, 21-15 sweep on court two, but the Seminoles quickly answered with a win on court four to tie it. Caffo and Peters took care of business in the top spot, finishing off their second straight sweep 21-17, 21-19 to give the lead back to the Bears.

Pally and Fisher sealed the deal with a dominant 21-19, 21-13 win on court three. Sherman and Dreibholz added one more for good measure with a 21-17, 15-21, 15-12 win on court five.

1 – Sierra Caffo/Kendall Peters (CAL) def. Maddie Anderson/Skyler Germann (FSU) 21-17, 21-19
2 – Emma Donley/Alexandria Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Audrey Koenig/Raelyn White (FSU) 21-12, 21-15
3 – Marilu Pally/Gia Fisher (CAL) def. Alli Hansen/Morgan Chacon (FSU) 21-19, 21-13
4 – Anna Long/Alexis Durish (FSU) def. Lara Boos/Jenna Colligan (CAL) 26-24, 21-14
5 – Portia Sherman/Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Kaeli Crews/Caitlin Moon (FSU) 21-17, 15-21, 15-12

Next Up
The Bears head back to Manhattan Beach tomorrow to finish the East Meets West Invitational against No. 15 Georgia State at 11 a.m. PT and No. 13 Hawaii at 3 p.m.

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