BERKELEY – The California volleyball team found itself in a five-set battle at Haas Pavilion for the second-straight Wednesday evening, looking to turn its fortunes around against UC Davis after experiencing a pair of losses over the weekend. Ultimately, however, the contest went to the visiting Aggies, who improved to 4-4 after winning 20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 19-25, 15-11; meanwhile, the Golden Bears dropped to 3-5 on the year.
 
Senior Natalie Lau posted her second double-double of the season with 41 assists and 12 digs while also recording three aces, while freshman Arissa Carbonara led the team with 19 kills – the most by any Bear this season. Junior Sophia Johnson led the court with 17 digs, while classmate Sawyer Thomsen contributed on both sides of the net with a match-high nine blocks with seven kills on .429 hitting.
 
For UC Davis, Jade Light led both teams with 22 kills, while Ally Chandler added another 12 (.391) and posted seven blocks.
 
The first set went to the Bears thanks in part to four service errors from the Aggies and four kills from Carbonara, with sophomore Dominique Phills sealing the win with a kill and a solo block. UC Davis's offense had its best outing of the night in the second set as the Aggies recorded four sequences of three-or-more points to even the match, then carried that momentum into the third set with four more three-point runs and seven kills from Light.
 
Cal took an early four-point lead in the fourth, then fended off three-straight points from UC Davis by posting a five-point run capped off by Carbonara's 13th kill. The Aggies responded by scoring eight of the next nine points (including six straight), but the Bears roared back with five of the next seven scores, including two-consecutive blocks from Thomsen and senior Peyton DeJardin. Cal won the set on one final five-point run, sealed by freshman Francesca Popescu's second ace of the night. The home squad scored the first two points of the fifth set and kept things close early on as senior Mikayla Hayden posted her 300th career block, but UC Davis eventually raced ahead to clinch the win with one final Light kill.
 
 
UP NEXT
The Bears will hit the road to Los Angeles, facing LSU (6-2) at Galen Center on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT and No. 19 USC (6-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
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