Bears Sweep Through First Day In Stockton
Stockton, Calif. – California volleyball swept the day at the Pacific Tournament in dominating fashion, taking a 25-20, 25-12, 25-14 victory over UC San Diego before a 25-20, 25-23, 25-12 win over Tarleton State at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Mima Mirkovic led the Bears with 19 kills and 28 digs combined on the day, while Katie Smoot tallied 23 kills.
Cal used a strong offensive attack throughout the afternoon with Leah Schmidt recording 17 kills and Bella Bergmark adding 15.
The Bears improved to 4-1 on the season with the victories and face host, Pacific, at 2 p.m. on Saturday to close out the tournament.
Cal 3, Tarleton State 0
It was back-and-forth early in the match before Cal used a run of four straight points to take a 15-12 lead in the first thanks to three kills from Bergmark. Schmidt went crosscourt for a kill to make it 22-18 and finished off the set with a hammer from Smoot to take the frame 25-20.
Cal jumped in front to start the second, going up 10-5 on back-to-back kills from Mirkovic and Smoot. Tarleton wouldn't go away easily, coming back to get within one at 24-23 before Smoot ended the set with a kill after a Golden Bear timeout.
The Bears didn't give the Texans a chance in the third as they built a 13-5 lead and didn't look back from there, closing out the match and the day with a dominating 25-12 final frame.
Mirkovic led Cal with a double-double, tallying 10 kills and a match-high 18 digs. Libero Sarah Schrag added 16 digs and Smoot turned in her second-straight match with double-digit kills, recording 10.
Cal 3, UC San Diego 0
The Bears turned a tight first set into a 25-20 win thanks to a late run, propelled by Annalea Maeder at the service line. Leading 15-14, Cal scored six of the next 10 points to take a 21-18 advantage after a kill on an overpass from Bergmark. After a kill from Mirkovic made it 24-19, an error from UCSD ended the frame giving Cal the first.
UCSD answered to start the second, taking an early 5-3 lead. It didn't last long as Cal scored seven of the next eight points to go up 10-6 on two Schmidt kills and a big block from Ellie Hamm. The Bears didn't slow down from there and built a 21-11 lead before closing the set on a Bergmark kill.
It was tight again to begin the third until Cal used another run to put the match away. Leading 16-12, the Bears scored nine of the final 11 points to take the sweep at 25-14.
Cal displayed a balanced offensive attack with Smoot recording a match-high 13 kills, while Mirkovic and Schmidt both tallied nine. Maeder added 29 assists for the Bears as they won the kill battle 44-29 and outhit the Tritons .367-.092.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball) and Facebook (Cal Volleyball).