BERKELEY – California volleyball battled hard but could not build off its energy from its 3-0 victory Friday night as No. 15 North Carolina won in three, 25-9, 25-22, 25-13. The Golden Bears fell to 7-17 (4-10) on the year, while the Tar Heels improved to 18-5 (11-3).
 
Ashley Li led the court with eight kills for Cal, while Dominique Phills posted seven (including five on .300 hitting in the third set). Sophia Johnson recorded her seventh-straight outing with double digit digs, earning 10 on the day, and went a perfect 14-for-14 on serve-receive.
 
North Carolina fielded six players with five-or-more kills, led by Chelsea Thorpe's seven; however, the Tar Heels' main strength was in their defense, as Lauren Schutter and Laynie Smith posted six blocks apiece while Jackie Taylor added five to stymie the Bears at the net. North Carolina also outdid Cal at the service line with nine aces to zero.
 
The visitors scored the first three points of the match and never relinquished their lead for the entirety of the first set, hitting .409 and preventing Cal from stringing consecutive points together on all but one series. Li scored the first two points of Set Two with two-straight kills to give the Bears their first lead of the match, but North Carolina's blocking came to life as the Tar Heels put up seven to help them stay competitive, finally taking the lead for good off a four-point run that brought the score to 19-16. Cal put together one more three-point run off three-straight North Carolina errors, but the Tar Heels needed – and earned – just two more scores to go up two sets to none.
 
The Bears jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set thanks to four kills and a block from Phills, but a 10-0 run from the Tar Heels a few points later effectively sealed the deal, creating a deficit that proved insurmountable for Cal despite two late kills from Li.
 
Cal faces a challenging November stretch despite spending the majority of the month in the Bay Area, with its next four matches scheduled against national top-10 opponents.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Bears remain at home next week, hosting No. 10 SMU (19-5, 11-3) on Friday night before welcoming No. 3 Pitt (21-3, 13-1) on Sunday at noon.
 
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