TUCSON, ARIZ. – California volleyball (7-11, 0-8 Pac-12) closed out the weekend in a midday matchup against Arizona (12-7, 2-6 Pac-12) on Saturday, hoping to notch its first conference win of the season against a team that had lost four straight games. Just like many other Golden Bear matches of late, however, this particular one was characterized by a rough first set and two subsequent highly competitive sets that only just fell outside of Cal's reach. With the help of Wildcat senior Zyonna Fellows' career-high 12 blocks, Arizona was able to stop their skid and defeat the Bears, 3-0.

Cal scored first on an Arizona service error, but the Wildcats were determined to set the tone quickly, posting a 5-0 scoring run that put the Bears in a hole from which they were unable to recover. Each time Cal earned a point, the home team responded with a vengeance, putting together three- and four-point runs to widen the lead to eventually clinch the first set, 25-13.

The Bears' offense woke up in the second set, putting together two early 3-0 runs that included two straight kills from junior Lydia Grote and three straight points – a kill, a solo block and a kill – from freshman Sophie Scott. Arizona responded by posting a pair of 3-0 runs themselves to tie up the score, but Cal took advantage of a string of Wildcat errors to pull ahead once more and follow up with kills from Grote, DeJardin and junior Leah Schmidt, beating their opponents to the 20-point threshold. Freshman Mikayla Hayden impressed toward the end of the set with a pair of blocks and a kill, but the Wildcats dug deep and pulled out a 4-0 run to jump ahead of the Bears and take the second set, 25-23.

With its collective back up against the wall, Cal quickly took control of the third set with an early 6-0 scoring run to go up 8-3, making the most of three straight Arizona errors and some additional help from Grote and Hayden. Shortly afterward, the Bears put together another 6-0 run that included four straight kills (two straight from Scott), giving them a comfortable lead of 17-9 and keeping spirits high. Facing the potential of a fourth set and a massive swing in momentum, the Wildcats had no intention of going away quietly, stringing together a pair of late 4-0 runs to come within striking distance of the Bears. Grote responded with a kill to keep Cal on top, 21-17, but Arizona responded with a 7-point run – the longest of the match – to pull ahead for good and win the final set, 25-22.
 
 
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Cal returns to Haas Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 21, for a 7:00 p.m. PT matchup against USC (15-4, 7-1 Pac-12), followed by a 1:00 p.m. Sunday contest against UCLA (9-7, 3-4 Pac-12).  

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