BERKELEY – California volleyball (7-13, 0-10 Pac-12) closed out their final home weekend in October on Sunday with an early-afternoon matchup against UCLA (10-9, 4-6), hoping to build off of their improved play on Friday with a victory against the Bruins. Ultimately, it was the latter who found themselves in the win column at the end of the day, out-performing the Bears on both offense and defense in a 3-0 sweep.
Although junior Lydia Grote started off the match with two straight kills, the Bruins quickly seized control of the set by posting a pair of scoring runs worth five and four points, respectively, to go up by six. Cal accumulated points at a steady pace throughout the rest of the set, aided by freshman Mikayla Hayden and senior Sydney Lilomaiava, who posted two blocks apiece; however, UCLA kept pace to stay ahead, eventually clinching the first set 25-19.
The Bears scored first once again to kick off the second set off a block from Grote and freshman Sophie Scott, but just like before, the Bruins raced ahead on a 5-0 run. Cal had no intentions of letting UCLA keep a strong lead this time around, taking advantage of Bruins errors and outpacing the visiting team to stay competitive the whole time. UCLA won the second set by a margin of 25-22 – just three points – leaving home fans with plenty of optimism and energy entering the third set. Unfortunately for the Bears, their guests were determined to end the match then and there, leaping out to an early seven-point lead and…
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