SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Two sets went to extra points and multiple Golden Bears posted career-best performances as the California volleyball team took on Syracuse, hoping to sweep the Orange at the Women's Building for the second time in a row and take a 3-0 all-time series record. This time, it was Syracuse who earned the win, triumphing in four sets (25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 28-26) to improve to 11-4 (3-2 ACC) as Cal fell to 5-10 (2-3) on the year.
 
As a team, the Bears racked up 17.0 blocks – the most by any Cal squad in a four-set match since 2013. Mikayla Hayden became just the fifth player in program history to post 10 blocks in a four-set road match with 10 on the night (the first double-digit performance of her career) as well as a career-best 17 kills on .452 hitting for her first double-double, while Ashley Li obliterated her career highs in kills (17, .412) and blocks (six). Four players – Arissa Carbonara (17), Sophia Johnson (16), Dominique Phills (14) and Francesca Popescu (11) reached double-digit digs on the night, with Carbonara's total acting as a career best.
 
Gabby McLaughlin led the Orange with 21 kills, while Skylar George posted 11 kills. Cal out-hit Syracuse in all four sets for a final margin of .243 to .135, but the home team fared better at the service line with nine aces to the Bears' one.
 
The first point of the match went to Cal on a Hayden kill and the Bears soon jumped out to a three-point advantage at 4-1, but Syracuse responded with a four-point run to take the lead and held onto it for the rest of the set, fending off two more three-point scoring runs from Cal and a six-kill, zero-error performance from Li. The Orange kept their momentum rolling into Set Two, scoring 10 of the first 12 points before the Bears rallied with a 9-1 run to force an 11-11 tie. Cal took their only lead of the set at 16-15, scoring three consecutive points, but Syracuse immediately scored the next three and kept the Bears at bay to go up two sets to none.
 
Cal's offense was at its best in the third set, hitting .312 as a team while Hayden went seven-for-nine (.778) with zero errors; the Bears' defense also stood out by holding Syracuse to just .050 hitting thanks to five blocks from Sawyer Thomsen and four from Li. Despite a 9-2 start by the Orange, Cal had no intentions of going down quietly, slowly shrinking the deficit thanks to a series of scoring runs. After Syracuse reached match point at 24-20, the Bears dug deep and produced a gutsy 6-0 showing that included three of Thomsen's blocks to win the set.
 
The fourth set started much the same as the first, with the Bears scoring the first point off Li's 13th kill and building a 3-1 lead before the Orange leaped ahead on a four-point run. Cal battled back mid-set with a 6-0 sequence to retake the lead at 16-15, then went up again at 18-17 and at 19-18 in a furious back-and-forth battle. Just as they had earlier that evening, the Bears went on a scoring run to fight off match point for the Orange (24-21) and go up 25-24; this time, however, the home squad found its fight, scoring the next three points after one final block from the Bears to take the win.
 
 
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The Bears will head to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to face Boston College (12-5, 1-4) on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. PT.
 
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