BERKELEY – California volleyball welcomed its second-straight top-15 opponent to Haas Pavilion on Friday night as No. 10 SMU visited Berkeley for the first time, with the Mustangs (20-5, 12-3 ACC) prevailing in straight sets, 25-19, 25-14, 25-14. The Golden Bears fell to 7-18 with a 4-11 record in conference play.
 
A trio of Bears – Mikayla Hayden, Peyton DeJardin and Arissa Carbonara – each posted eight kills, with Hayden hitting at a blistering pace of .889 with zero errors. DeJardin also posted two blocks on the night (as did teammate Sophie Scott) and Sophia Johnson once again led her team with seven digs.
 
The Mustangs out-hit the Bears .468 to .115 on the night, led by Malaya Jones and her 15 kills (.448), while SMU libero Jordyn Schilling recorded 10 digs and Maggie Croft earned four blocks for match-high totals of their own.
 
Hayden scored Cal's first point of the match to trigger what was ultimately the most contested set of the evening, with Carbonara posting four of her kills and the duo of Scott and DeJardin recording both blocks, but the Bears could only score consecutive points on two occasions as SMU ultimately fended off a late comeback attempt to claim the set. That pattern ultimately continued throughout the rest of the match, with Cal only scoring one point at a time in Set Two (despite four kills from DeJardin) and mustering one 3-0 run at match point in Set 3.
 
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The Bears will face No. 3 Pitt (21-3, 13-1) on Sunday at Haas Pavilion, with first serve set for noon PT.
 
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