SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Cal volleyball was a team hungry for a win Sunday. So the Bears did what they had to do to register that victory – win as a team.

Cal received contributions from many different players and notched its first Pac-12 Conference victory of the season with a thrilling 22-25, 25-13, 12-25, 25-19, 15-11 victory over Utah.

Senior opposite hitter Lara Vukasovic led the Bears (7-12, 1-7 Pac-12) with 17 kills while junior middle blocker Jenelle Jordan had 11 kills and six blocks. Freshman outside hitter Carmen Annevelink added 13 kills and senior middle blocker Lillian Schonewise had 12 kills and four blocks.

“It felt like a real team win with the adversity we've gone through,” Cal coach Rich Feller said. “We got good performances off the bench. It was a true team effort.”

Junior libero Maddy Kerr contributed 23 digs while sophomore outside hitter Christine Alftin had 10 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore Gaby deGuzman buoyed Cal's efforts with a strong performance behind the service line.

Freshman setter Mackenzie Albrecht got her second straight start but was spelled by junior Alyssa Jensen, and the duo shared time for the final three sets and combined for 55 assists and led the Bears to a .278 hitting percentage. Albrecht and freshman defensive specialist Amanda Kirtley each added 10 digs.

“Mackenzie did a good job but needed to have a little support off the bench,” Feller said. “Alyssa came off the bench in a brand new role for her and did a great job of giving us a spark.”

The Bears started strongly, establishing a 12-9 lead in the first set. But the Utes scored five points in a row to establish a 14-12 advantage. After Utah led 18-15, Cal tied it up with back-to-back kills by Vukasovic and a kill from Schonewise. But with the set knotted up at 19-19, the Utes reeled off three straight points to pull away and win the set.

But the Bears roared back with an impressive answer in the second set. They stormed out to an 8-2 lead and the Utes never got within three the rest of the set.

As impressive as Cal's win was in the second set, Utah returned the favor in the third set. The Bears were still within 9-7 before the Utes went on a 7-2 run to lead 16-9 and they cruised to the win in the third set.

Cal then thoroughly outplayed the Utes in the final two sets. Utah was as close as 9-7 in the fourth set before the Bears scored five straight points, three coming on kills by Vukasovic. Cal led by as many as seven points before closing it out and forcing the fifth and deciding set.

 Cal once again led 9-7 in the pivotal fifth set and once again Vukasovic had two kills and Schonewise had another to make it 12-7. After three straight points by Utah trimmed Cal's advantage to 12-10, Vukasovic came up with a huge kill to make it 13-10. The Utes answered with a kill, but another kill from Schonewise and a hitting error by the Utes ended it.

Nine of Vukasovic's kills came in the final two sets. She now leads the Bears at 2.80 kills per set.

“Vook got on some streaks and she really made some good plays out of some situations that maybe weren't ideal,.” Feller said. “She did a very good job with that.”

With 40 digs over the two matches this weekend, Kerr now has 1,185 for her career, which moves her into sixth place on Cal's all-time list.

The Bears begin a four-match homestand Friday against No. 4 Washington at 6 p.m. at Haas Pavilion. The match will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.