BERKELEY – The California volleyball team found itself tested immediately in its first match of 2025, squaring off against a visiting San Diego State squad that was coming off a 20-win season and determined to make a statement in front of an energetic Haas Pavilion crowd. After four sets, however, it was the Golden Bears (1-0) that took down the Aztecs (0-1), 25-21, 26-28, 25-12, 25-22, in the first match of the three-day California Tournament.
 
"The defensive effort has improved for sure," head coach Jen Malcom said. "The biggest thing that improved was the serving. We spent a lot of time on that (this offseason) and it really paid off."
 
Cal recorded 11 aces against just five errors at the service line, improving the team's previous best total under Malcom by three. Six Bears posted at least one ace, led by senior Mikayla Hayden's three.
 
Senior Peyton DeJardin totaled a match-high 15 kills and classmate Natalie Lau notched 33 assists in her first season opener as the starting setter. Two Bears recorded double-digit digs as junior Sophia Johnson and freshman Francesca Popescu posted a match-high 19 and 13, respectively, while Hayden and junior transfer Ashleigh Woodruff tied for a match-high five blocks apiece. Freshman Arissa Carbonara started in her first collegiate match, posting a solid all-around stat line of 10 kills, two aces, seven digs and three blocks.
 
Carbonara's first collegiate kill – also the first of her five successful Set One attacks – kicked off a 6-0 Cal run early in the match, bringing the score to 9-5 and giving the Bears a lead that they never relinquished for the rest of the set. DeJardin posted consecutive kills to bring the score to 13-8, allowing the home team to later fend off a four-point sequence from the Aztecs that included two kills and a block from San Diego State's Ella Schabort. An ace from Popescu – the first by any Bear this season – ended the set in favor of Cal.
 
Set Two featured a match-high six lead changes and eight tie scores, four of those coming at the very end of the set to force extra points. Despite an early 6-0 run by the Bears (once again triggered by a Carbonara kill) that took them ahead, 10-5, the Aztecs rallied late and outscored Cal 16-11 to force another tie at 21-21 before eventually claiming the set. Cal regrouped and posted a dominant Set Three thanks to a stingy defense that held San Diego State to a -.093 hitting percentage as well as three six-point rallies – the first featured two aces from Hayden, while the second was highlighted by two straight blocks from the transfer pair of Woodruff and sophomore Dominique Phills.
 
The Bears' defensive spark continued into the final set, which included a hard-fought rally (and a diving save from Popescu) to make the score 7-4 as well as two blocks (with one solo stop) apiece from Woodruff and Carbonara. San Diego State made a stout comeback effort, posting 14 points to Cal's next seven to go up 18-14, but the Bears responded with a sequence that included two straight aces from Carbonara. The last point of the match belonged to DeJardin, who crushed the ball into the back row to seal the victory for Cal.
 
 
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Cal will welcome San Francisco (0-0) to Haas Pavilion on Sunday, with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. PT.
 
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