TUCSON, Ariz. – California volleyball earned its fourth Pac-12 win of the season on Sunday afternoon, posting a 3-0 victory over Arizona at McKale Center to clinch the season sweep of the Wildcats. It was Cal's (15-8, 4-8 Pac-12) first sweep of a Pac-12 opponent since Nov. 7, 2019, which also came in Tucson.
 
The Golden Bears enjoyed a solid day on both sides of the net, out-hitting the Wildcats (6-17, 1-11) .313 to .141. Junior Annalea Maeder led the court with 28 assists, raising her career count to 2,314 for eighth-most in program history, and added two aces, four kills, four digs and a block to Cal's totals. Sophomore Sophie Scott continued her top-blocking ways with a court-leading six, while senior Tara DeSa paced both squads with 16 digs as the only player to reach double-digits. Once again, freshman Xuemeng (Maggie) Li led the squad's offense with 10 kills, six of those coming in the first set.
 
Cal and Arizona kept trading points to start, but a pair of early scoring runs for the Bears allowed them to build a four-point lead at 12-8 and maintain that advantage all the way through the first set thanks in no small part to Arizona's five service errors. The Wildcats forced a Cal timeout after cutting their deficit to one point at 18-17, but the Bears turned the momentum right back around with three consecutive points – a block and two kills – to trigger an Arizona timeout before eventually clinching set one, 25-20.
 
The second set was Cal's best offensively, finding the hardwood at a .462 clip thanks to kills from six different players. Another pair of early scoring runs helped the Bears build a 9-5 lead, which was gradually stretched out to seven points at 18-11. Arizona put together its first 3-0 run of the match late, bringing the score to 22-18, but did not score again before a kill from senior Sam Taumoepeau finished off the set, 25-19.
 
The Bears' defense was the star of the third set, forcing 16 total errors from the Wildcats to put them away for good. Cal scored first and jumped out to a 4-1 lead but surrendered a subsequent four-point streak to Arizona to give the home team what ended up being its final advantage of the match. A kill from Scott tied up the score at 5-5, with two more even scores following at 6-6 and 12-12; Scott then posted a kill and three straight blocks (all with the help of redshirt sophomore Ava Mehrten) to take the lead for good. The Bears took advantage of four straight Arizona errors to increase that advantage to 22-13, then another three to end the third set – and the match – at 25-14.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears return home to Haas Pavilion next weekend, welcoming Washington (13-10, 4-8) on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and hosting No. 6 Washington State (18-4, 8-3) on Sunday at noon.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball), and TikTok (@calbearsvb).