RALEIGH, N.C.  – The California volleyball team won its first set against NC State on Sunday but dropped the next three as the Wolfpack (11-11, 4-8 ACC) took down the Golden Bears (6-16, 3-9) 20-25, 28-26, 25-19, 25-19 at Reynolds Coliseum.
 
Cal was unable to take full advantage of 17 NC State service errors in a fiercely-competitive match that featured a total of 27 tie scores and 11 lead changes. Only the final set was entirely dominated by one team, with the Wolfpack taking the lead from the get-go and never allowing Cal to come within more than two points.
 
Libero Sophia Johnson posted a career-high 26 digs as one of four Cal players to reach double digits, helping the Bears to a season-high 88 digs on the day. Peyton DeJardin led Cal with 17 kills and had a season-best 12 digs to record her third double-double of the year, while Dominique Phills led the squad with four blocks. Mikayla Hayden added three blocks of her own to bring her career total to 366, good for ninth-most all-time at Cal.
 
NC State's Rebecca Ring posted a career day of her own with 22 kills, while setter Elaisa Villar recorded a double-double with a team-high 41 assists and 21 digs. Talia Francom led both teams with six total blocks.
 
Both DeJardin and Phills posted five kills in the first set as Cal hit an efficient .303, taking the lead for good off a late four-point run capped off by a defensive play from Johnson that found the floor on the other side of the net and brought the score to 21-17. Two DeJardin kills helped fend off any comeback attempt from NC State before the Bears finally clinched the set off an attack error.
 
The second set went to extra points as both defenses tightened up late, with the Bears and the Wolfpack each using both timeouts in the second half of the set to try and swing momentum their way. Cal overcame the first NC State set point and reached one of their own at 25-24 off a kill from Sophie Scott, but the Wolfpack scored four of the next five points to even up the match.
 
NC State posted seven of its service errors in the third set but also had its best defensive outing of the afternoon as the Bears scored on consecutive plays just four times. The home squad kept that momentum rolling into the final set, with eight kills from Ring keeping Cal at bay despite the Bears closing the gap to two at 19-17. Eventually, it was a solo block from Ring that finally sealed the match in favor of NC State.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will return home for the first two matches of a three-week stretch in the Bay Area, first welcoming Duke (5-18, 2-10) on Friday at 7 p.m. PT before hosting No. 21 North Carolina (17-4, 10-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m.