BERKELEY – Junior Bryce Bark has been asked to do a lot of things this season for the Cal beach volleyball team.

Friday afternoon at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts, Bark did just one thing – dominate the Washington Huskies.

Bark teamed with freshman Camille Stepanof to clinch the Bears' 4-1 victory over Washington with a 21-6, 21-16 victory on the No. 3 court. Cal won the first four matches to cruise to the win.

"Bryce did an amazing job of converting Camille's solid passes into (kills) and hittable sets," Cal coach Meagan Schmitt said. "She really played at a high level."

Bark, one of Cal's co-captains, began the season playing on the No. 1 pair but since has played on both the No. 2 and No. 3 pairs. She also changed partners, switching from playing with Mia Merino to Stepanof.

"Bryce is our veteran captain," Schmitt said. "She has already seen a lot over the last two and a half years that she has been with Cal beach volleyball. Every conversation we've had and all the changes she's had to make she has embraced and come ready to get better."

It was apparent from the outset Friday that Bark was eready to dominate, and in her 11th match with Stepanof the chemistry of the pair is starting to evolve. Bark took big swings when available and dipped into her arsenal of other shots to lead the duo to the win.

"I felt great," Bark said. "It's definitely been a learning process for Camille and I. In the past couple weeks of practice, there have been some great things happening with the chemistry between the two of us."

The Bears' most impressive win of the afternoon came on the No. 2 court, where Cal's Grace Campbell and Olivia Rodberg swept Washington's Courtney Schwan and Cassie Strickland. Schwan was the Pac-12 Player of the Year during last fall's indoor season while Strickland is a former conference Libero of the Year.

Friday's win snapped a three-match losing streak as the Bears have been navigating a grueling stretch of their schedule where they have played five ranked teams in their past eight duals. The previous five duals before Friday were each decided by a 3-2 score.

"This win was huge," Bark said. "We lost a few matches but we were trying not to hang our heads. Things didn't go in our favor in a couple matches but today we took every point and really embraced it."
 
The Bears are back in action Saturday at the Stanford Tournament, where they will take on Boise State and Oregon.

 
No. 18 Cal 4, Washington 1
No. 1: Crissy Jones-Tia Scambray (UW) def. Jessica Gaffney-Madison Dueck, 21-9, 21-7
No. 2: Grace Campbell-Olivia Rodberg (Cal) def. Cassie Strickland-Courtney Schwan, 21-12, 21-17
No. 3: Bryce Bark-Camille Stepanof (Cal) def. Carly DeHoog-Destiny Julye, 21-16, 21-16
No. 4: Nicole Anderson-Iya Lindahl (Cal) def. Shayne McPherson-Melanie Wade, 17-21, 21-17, 15-11
No. 5: Bridget Gustafson-Teya Neff (Cal) def. Anna Crabtree-Lindsay Chalmers, 21-7, 21-17