IRVINE – The Cal volleyball team won its fourth match of the season on Saturday night.

But as far as the Golden Bears are concerned, it was the first one they earned.

Cal overcame a disappointing start to come back and defeat UC Irvine 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 on the final night of the Long Beach State/UC Irvine Mizuno Invitational at the Bren Events Center. Junior outside hitter Christine Alftin led the Bears (4-1) with 17 kills while senior middle blocker Jenelle Jordan had a career-high nine blocks.

"Christine said she felt like this was the only match so far that we really earned, and I agree," said Cal libero Maddy Kerr, who led the Bears with 20 digs. "Even when we are down, I have confidence in this team to come back, and we did that. It's a hump that we had to get over, and tonight we definitely proved we can do it."

Freshman outside hitter Maddie Haynes added a career-high 13 kills and freshman opposite hitter Bailee Huizenga had 11 kills and three blocks.

The Bears, who needed five sets to defeat Northeastern earlier in the day, came out sluggishly against the Anteaters. UC Irvine raced out to a 10-2 lead and led comfortably throughout the first set. The Anteaters outhit the Cal .444-.138 and the Bears were reeling.

"I thought we came out super lethargic," Cal coach Rich Feller said. "We looked tired and Irvine looked fired up, and it showed in the score. We responded and did very well after that."

After the Bears won the second set comfortably, each of the last two sets were tight throughout. Neither team had more than a three-point lead at any point, and the lead changed hands several times. With the third set tied 23-23, Alftin and setter Alyssa Jensen came up with back-to-back kills to close it out.

The pivotal sequence in the fourth set came after the score was tied 19-19. Alftin came up with a kill and Jordan followed with a block and a kill to put the Bears in front 22-19. The match ended on a kill by Haynes.

"We had some people that stepped up and made some plays," Feller said. "We had some timely serving and had some luck go our way. Put it together and we were able to have some success."

A major reason the Bears were successful Saturday night was the improved play of Haynes, who had some rough moments during the first few matches of her career. But she was a dependable hitter Saturday, hitting .300 while also adding two blocks.

"I've been talking to Maddie a lot," Feller said. "She has to show confidence in herself for me to keep giving her the opportunity. The only way she's going to get better is if she makes some mistakes. We allowed her to stay in there and make some mistakes so she will understand what to do next time. She came up big tonight."

After setting a career-high in kills in each of the first four matches of the season, Jordan didn't produce as much offensively against the Anteaters but made a huge impact with her blocking. After the Bears didn't register a single block in the first set, they finished with 12, and Jordan was a big reason why.

Six of Jordan's blocks were solo blocks.

"Jenelle is always ready," Kerr said. "Her blocking was really good tonight."

The Bears (4-1) return to action next weekend at the Cal Classic at Haas Pavilion. The Bears will host West Virginia, Grand Canyon and Santa Clara.
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