BERKELEY – No. 15 California persevered through a 28-26, 15-25, 25-15, 21-25, 15-6 battle with No. 18 Utah to open Homecoming weekend with a victory in front of 1,172 at Haas Pavilion on Friday night.

The Bears improved to 16-1 on the season and 6-1 in conference play to remain tied for first-place in the Pac-12 and surpass their win total from last season in front of several former Bears who returned home for alumni weekend. 

It was a back-and-forth match from start to finish, featuring 23 tied scores and 13 lead changes before the Bears hit .478 in the fifth to put away the Utes.

Leading 2-1 in the match, Cal held an 18-11 advantage in the fourth set and looked like they were going to finish off Utah before the visitors scored 11 of the next 12 points to take the set and force the deciding final frame. 

"We made it a point to regroup and we knew we had to optimize each opportunity in the fifth set," Junior Mima Mirkovic said. "I think we did just that. We took it one point at a time and we were really good at playing within ourselves. I think in the fourth set we started to worry about the previous point and then the next one. We were a lot more mentally steady in the fifth."

Mirkovic recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 18 kills and 11 digs to lead the Bears, while the Utes (13-5, 5-2 Pac-12) were led by a game-high 25 kills from Dani Drews.  

The opening stanza got the seesaw battle underway with 13 tied scores and seven lead changes, before a service ace from Mirkovic, kill by senior Maddie Haynes and a Ute error gave the Bears the set. The second and third sets featured big unanswered runs from both sides, as Utah used an 11-0 streak to end the second and even the match, while California went on an 8-0 run of their own in the third to go up 2-1.   

California got 13 kills from sophomore Lauren Forte on .435 hitting and 11 kills from Haynes. Senior libero Emma Smith and sophomore setter Jade Blevins each added a team-high 14 digs.  

The Bears recorded 60 kills compared to 58 for the Utes and out-hit Utah .262-.183. Cal won the dig battle 77-70 and had 11 blocks compared to six for Utah. 

"We're not paying attention to our record, our ranking, or any of that," Mirkovic said. "That's not our ultimate goal. We haven't proven anything yet, that all comes later down the line. In order to prove anything in the postseason, we need to continue grinding through the Pac-12 because it's really hard. You can't sleep on any team, we need to keep playing our game."

Up Next: The Bears finish off a four-match homestand with Colorado visiting Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon for a 12 p.m. first serve. The match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.