STANFORD - The No. 12 Cal beach volleyball team battled hard against the stiffest competition it will see all season Saturday but came up short, falling to No. 2 USC 5-0 and No. 1 UCLA 4-1 at the Pac-12 North Tournament.  

The Bears (14-5) played both duals without All-Pac-12 sophomore Mima Mirkovic, who usually plays on Cal's No. 1 pair and was sidelined with the flu.

Without Mirkovic, Cal played with some new pairs and the No. 3 pair of senior Grace Campbell and junior Iya Lindahl provided a bright spot by defeating their UCLA opponents in a come-from-behind three-set victory.

"It is awesome for the program," Lindahl said. "It was awesome to have the whole team there supporting. It doesn't feel like it's just me and Grace. It's everyone;. It's all the hard work we've put in. We play for everyone and we play for the team."

Head Coach Meagan Owusu was particularly proud of Campbell and Lindahl for continuing to compete even though the dual was out of reach.

"The dual was already decided so a lot of people would have packed it in," Owusu said. "But rather than excepting defeat they battled for each other and battled for the team until the end and came out with the victory."

To take even one point off UCLA is an accomplishment in itself. With their victory over Cal, the reigning national champion Bruins ran their undefeated streak to a staggering 29 duals.  

The USC dual was not without its positives, either. Redshirt freshman Jaqueline Ribeiro followed up her strong debut last weekend with another superb effort against the Trojans. Thrown into the fire against the No. 2 team in the country in just her second career dual, Ribeiro and her No. 5 pair partner Madison Dueck nearly took a point for the Bears. The 5s took their match to extra points in the third set before finally succumbing to USC.

"Jackie is such a versatile player," Owusu said. "We know we can rely on her to step up in many different situations and I'm really proud of how she competed."

Cal nearly took the No. 4 match against USC as well, with senior Mia Merino and junior Abby Waldburger coming up just short, 15-10, in the third set.

The Bears will not have much time to lick their wounds after Saturday's losses. Cal will be back at the Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium on Sunday for the second day of the Pac-12 North Tournament. The Bears will take on Washington at 3 p.m. before doing battle against No. 19 Stanford at 5 p.m.

"We're stoked to get a good night's sleep and fight tomorrow," Lindahl said.

No. 2 USC 5, No. 12 Cal 0
No. 1: Abril Bustamante-Tina Graudina (USC) def. Jordan Polo-Caroline Schafer, 21-11, 21-15
No. 2: Terese Cannon-Sammy Slater (USC) def. Grace Campell-Maddie Micheletti 21-14, 21-13
No. 3: Haley Hallgren-Alexandra Poletto (USC) def. Alexia Inman-IyaLindahl 21-8, 21-15
No. 4: Joy Dennis-Maja Kaiser (USC) def. Mia Merino - Abby Waldburger, 21-14, 16-21, 15-10
No. 5. Laurel Kujan-Hannah Martin (USC) def. Madison Dueck-Jaqueline Ribeiro, 21-14, 16-21,17-15

No. 1 UCLA 4, No. 12 Cal 1
No. 1: Nicole McNamara-Megan McNamara (UCLA) def. Jordan Polo-Chloe Luyties, 21-8, 21-13
No. 2: Sarah Sponcil-Lily Justine (UCLA) def. Maddie Micheletti-Caroline Schafer, 21-18, 21-16
No. 3: Grace Campbell-Iya Lindahl (CAL) def. Zana Muno-Abby Van Winkle 16-21, 21-16, 15-13
No. 4: Lea Monkhouse-Savvy Simo (UCLA) Alexia Inman-Madison Dueck, 21-12, 21-15
No. 5: Izzy Carey-Lindsey Sparks (UCLA) def. Mia Merino-Abby Waldburger 21-16, 21-14.