SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Volleyball held off the California Golden Bears on Sunday to pick up its first Pac-12 win of the season in a five-set battle (25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 17-25, 15-13) in Salt Lake City.
Utah broke open the first set after scoring four unanswered points to pull ahead 9-5. Cal earned a sideout, but the Utes continued the momentum and scored five of the next six points to lead 14-7. The Utes called a timeout after their lead was cut to 14-10 and Cal later trimmed the score to just 16-13, but a 3-0 run from Utah pushed the lead to 19-13 and the Utes rolled on to a comfortable first-set win, 25-17, behind a 4-0 run to end the frame. Lauren Jardine recorded six kills on .385 hitting to lead the offense in the first set.
Cal took the first punch in the second set as the Golden Bears jumped out to a 7-3 lead. Utah was able to pull back within one point four times before a 3-0 run from Cal extended the deficit, 13-9. Utah continued to play from behind and chip away at the lead again and again, until four straight points pushed the Utes ahead 19-17, forcing Cal to call a timeout.
Out of the break, the Golden Bears scored a pair of points to even the score, but Utah countered with consecutive points to gain the two-point lead back. Once again, Cal scored back-to-back points to tie the set at 21-21, and Utah responded yet again with a pair of its own points. A kill from Allie Olsen handed Utah set point (24-22) before a Cal block cut…
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