SEATTLE – California pushed No. 9 Washington to the limit in a 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 24-26, 6-15 defeat against the Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena on Wednesday evening.

The Bears (20-9, 10-9 Pac-12) were led by a team-high 16 kills from redshirt sophomore Lauren Forte on a blazing .609 hitting clip, and junior Mima Mirkovic returned after missing the last four matches with an injury to record her 13^th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs.  

Washington (24-5, 15-4 Pac-12) got a match-high 25 kills from Kara Bajema and 20 digs from Shayne McPherson.

Senior Maddie Haynes added 14 kills for California, while fellow senior Emma Smith tallied 17 digs. Seniors Savannah Rennie and Bailee Huizenga each added nine kills. 

In a tight match Cal won the dig battle 81-65 and the Huskies had 70 kills to Cal's 67. The Bears had six service aces compared to just one for the Huskies.

Cal jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the first after a Mirkovic kill and service ace, but UW scored five of six points to take a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. Cal took a 17-16 lead after a kill from Forte and didn't give it back the rest of the way as the Bears took the opening frame 25-22.

The Bears took a 7-3 lead in the second on an ace from Mirkovic to force the first Husky timeout of the set. Cal went up 18-15 on the fifth kill of the day from Rennie and led 23-19 after a Forte and Rennie combo block to grab a 23-19 advantage, forcing a UW timeout. Cal closed out the set on Mirkovic's third service to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Washington answered to start the third with a three-point run for an early 6-3 lead. Cal used a 3-0 run of its own to grab a 15-14 lead, its first of the set. The Huskies fought back, building multiple three-point leads before Cal closed to within one at 23-22, but UW grabbed the final two points of the set to take the frame.

Cal responded, opening the fourth frame with a 5-3 lead, forcing UW to use its first timeout of the set. The Bears built the lead to 18-11 on another kill from Forte, but the Huskies battled back behind Bajema to tie the set at 21. Cal retook the lead at 22-21 and tied it at 24 on a service ace from junior Preslie Anderson, but UW took the final two points to close the set and tie the match.

The Huskies carried that momentum into the fifth by going up 10-2 and the Bears weren't able to get close enough as Washington finished off the match with a 15-6 win in the final frame.

Up Next: California closes the regular season on Friday, Nov. 29 at rival No. 3 Stanford. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. PST and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.

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