SAN LUIS OBISPO – California volleyball posted its second-straight loss Saturday afternoon to close out its time at the Mustang Invitational, falling in three to San Jose State (25-17, 25-15, 25-20) in a neutral-site matchup at the Mott Athletics Center. The Golden Bears will enter their final week of nonconference play with a 3-4 record on the year, while the Spartans improved to 3-3.
 
Senior Mikayla Hayden posted 11 kills for the second-straight match, leading both teams and raising her season total of double-digit kill performances to five. Classmate Natalie Lau posted 18 assists, tied for a match high, while junior Sophia Johnson and freshman Francesca Popescu each collected eight digs.
 
For the second-straight outing, Cal reached double digits on service errors, recording 10 on the day to just one ace. Their lone block came in the third set, off the hands of Hayden and Lau.
 
San Jose State's offense dominated in the first set with a .387 hitting efficiency, while Cal's offense mainly relied on the efforts of Hayden and her five kills. The Bears struggled to find their footing the second set as the Spartans held them to just .053 hitting and one late three-point run before eventually stretching their lead out to 10 points to clinch a 2-0 advantage. Cal's defense tightened up in the third, holding San Jose State's offense to an efficiency of .152 while redshirt freshman Grace Agolli posted five kills (including three straight) for the Bears. It was ultimately Cal's five third-set service errors that sealed the deal as San Jose State won by five, posting a kill and an ace to clinch the sweep.
 
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The Bears return home to play UC Davis (3-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT, followed by a trip to Los Angeles to face LSU (5-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m. and No. 16 USC (6-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
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