LOS ANGELES – California (12-10, 4-7 Pac-12) finished a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-15, 25-22) of the No. 20 UCLA Bruins (11-7, 6-5 Pac-12) Friday night at Pauley Pavilion on a 4-0 scoring run that highlighted a decisive and much anticipated victory for the Golden Bears who have won at least one Pac-12 game in each of the last three weekends, including two other upsets over top-25 opponents.
 
The Bears fought back in a closely-contested third set in which they trailed for the majority of the set but recovered with a late run to edge UCLA 25-22 and get their first win over the Bruins since 2013 to clip an eight-game losing streak and split the series.
 
Cal's fourth Pac-12 victory marks the first time since 2011 that the Bears have taken down at least three ranked conference teams in a season. The sweep is also the first against the Bruins since Oct. 4, 2013, also in LA.
 
Led by Mima Mirkovic, who recorded her 10th double-double (17 kills, 12 digs) of the season, the sophomore matched her career best in kills to lead the game. Maddie Haynes added nine kills and Preslie Anderson contributed six the Bears outhit the Bruins 40-36 on a combined .270 hitting effort. Cal's defense led by libero Kat Knop with 16 digs and Anderson's 5.0 total blocks, limited UCLA to a .171 attacking clip. Headed into the match UCLA averaged .212 hitting percentage.
 
"I'm so proud of the Bears for their resilience and attention to doing their jobs through stressful times tonight," said head coach Jennifer Dorr, who recalled the Bears last 3-0 win in Pauley from 2013 before the game. "Serving and passing was the difference. Our primary passers stepped up their games as wells as strong serving performances by handful of players."
 
Despite starting the second game with a 7-1 deficit, the Bears controlled the tempo of the set. Cal posted a 6-0 run to move ahead 10-9 and then continued on the offensive attack from there. Another 5-0 run sent UCLA to the bench with Cal ahead 16-11. The Bears didn't let up and finished things off on a 7-2 run, highlighted by a pair of aces from Bailee Huizenga, who finished with a career-best performance from behind the line tallying four aces on the night.
 
Sophomore setter Isabel Potter also added three aces as she led with 32 assists.
 
Cal was able to overcome six errors in an evenly-matched opening set that was underlined by 14 tie scores and seven lead changes. The Bears outhit the Bruins, who only committed three errors, 15-9, but ultimately were lifted by a late 3-0 run to move give them a 23-20 cushion and swing the momentum their favor.
 
Cal completes its LA tour on Sunday at 1 p.m. (PT) at No. 15 USC. The match will be live streamed on Pac-12.com.
 
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