BERKELEY – They wouldn't be denied.
No. 15 California fought back from a three-point deficit in the fifth set for a dramatic 25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 25-27, 16-14 win over Colorado on Sunday at Haas Pavilion.
The Bears (17-1, 7-1 Pac-12) were led by a second consecutive double-double from junior
Mima Mirkovic with 19 kills and a season-high 20 digs, along with a new-career high 19 kills on .462 hitting from senior
Maddie Haynes.
Trailing 12-9 in the fifth and deciding set, California got a point back on a CU attack error, then pulled within 12-11 on a block by freshman
Sydney Lilomaiava and sophomore
Lauren Forte. After a Colorado point, back-to-back kills from Forte and Haynes tied the score at 13. With it knotted at 14, the Bears got the win on two consecutive kills by Haynes and Mirkovic.
"There were multiple opportunities we could have given in today and we didn't do that," Cal head coach
Sam Crosson said. "We stayed in the moment and had our best offensive set when it mattered. We kept executing and found a way to win. It was a grind today several different times and we stayed steady in the fifth, that's how we scored a couple more points than Colorado did today."
With the seventh conference win, Cal equals the total of Pac-12 wins from the season a year ago. The Bears had five players with double figure kills as senior
Bailee Huizenga added a new season-high 15, Forte recorded 13 and junior
Preslie Anderson tallied 11. The Buffaloes (8-10, 0-8 Pac-12) were led by a game-high 27 kills from Justine Spann.
California pulled out its second straight five-set nail-biter after defeating Utah in five on Friday, with Sunday's match featured 37 tied scores and 14 lead changes.
"Mima (Mirkovic) made some really nice defensive plays today and is really a "glue" for us out there," Crosson said. "We rely on her a lot and she's starting to show great consistency, along with being aggressive in certain situations. I also thought our middles played really well today. They were effective in doing what they do in a back-and-forth match. I'm proud of this group to continue to fight and they found a way to win."
The Bears out-hit the Buffaloes .357-.302, with the .357 mark being Cal's best in a conference match so far this season. Cal had 83 kills to Colorado's 78, won the dig battle 78-76 and had 10 blocks to CU's six.
"We have a big trip next week and we have a fair amount of players from the Los Angeles area who will be excited to go down there," Crosson said. "We can learn a lot from today's match. We'll regroup, get some rest and be ready to go down and battle two of the perennial top teams in the conference."
Up Next: Cal travels to Southern California for matchups with USC and UCLA. The Bears open the trip with an 8 p.m. first serve against USC at the Galen Center on Friday, Oct. 25. The match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
