SANTA MONICA – Members of the No. 16 Cal beach volleyball team have friends on other high-level programs, and they make a habit of checking in with them to compare notes about their respective teams.

Those conversations are starting to change.

The Golden Bears continued their transformative 2018 season Sunday, knocking off No. 11 Arizona 4-1 at the Pac-12 South Tournament at Ocean Park Beach. It marked the highest-ranked opponent the Bears have ever defeated.

"Our seniors have really been through the growth of our program and experienced it first-hand, while the rest of the team has been watching it from a different lens," Cal head coach Meagan Owusu said. "They all have a bunch of buddies on other teams and are constantly talking and comparing each other's results. They are very much in tune with the significance of today's win."

The Bears registered straight-set sweeps over the Wildcats at the Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 positions. The previous highest-ranked team Cal had beaten was No. 14 Loyola Marymount to open the 2016 season.

"The success we've had this season has given us a level of confidence that we used going into the match," Owusu said. "We expected to beat them, and we went into it with just a nice level of control that we were able to maintain the entire time."

Earlier in the day, the Bears (13-3) fell to No. 2 UCLA, 5-0. On Saturday, Cal narrowly lost to No. 4 USC 3-2 then rolled past No. 19 Washington 5-0.

"There were definitely a few times this weekend where myself and the senior class took a step back and really took it all in," Owusu said. "Our program has come a long way and they've put in a lot of years, and it just feels good to have some success."

Cal returns home this week to host USF on Friday at the Clark Kerr Sand Courts.

 
No. 2 UCLA 5, No. 16 Cal 0
No. 1: Megan McNamara-Nicole McNamara (UCLA) def. Alexia Inman-Mima Mirkovic, 21-13, 24-22
No. 2: Lily Justine-Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Jessica Gaffney-Iya Lindahl, 21-18, 21-13
No. 3: Zana Muno-Savvy Simo (UCLA) def. Bryce Bark-Madison Dueck, 23-21, 21-19
No. 4: Mac May-Elise Zappia (UCLA) def. Mia Merino-Caroline Schafer, 21-19, 21-12
No. 5: Izzy Carey-Megan Muret (UCLA) def. Grace Campbell-Maddie Micheletti, 21-17, 21-18
 
No. 16 Cal 4, No. 11 Arizona 1
No. 1: Alexia Inman-Mima Mirkovic (Cal) def. Natalie Anselmo-Olivia Macdonald, 21-18, 21-19
No. 2: Olivia Hallaran-Kacey Nady (Arizona) def. Jessica Gaffney-Iya Lindahl, 25-23, 21-19
No. 3: Bryce Bark-Madison Dueck (Cal) def. Makenna Martin-Mia Mason, 21-14, 23-21
No. 4: Caroline Schafer-Mia Merino (Cal) def. Hailey Devlin-Stephany Purdue, 21-19, 21-19
No. 5: Grace Campbell-Maddie Micheletti (Cal) def. Jonny Baham-Brooke Burling, 21-15, 21-9