Bears Dropped By Devils

BERKELEY –California volleyball fell in a hard-fought 25-14, 19-25, 20-25, 21-25 battle to Arizona State Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion.

Bella Bergmark and Katie Smoot each had 10 kills for the Bears (7-8, 0-4 Pac-12).

Mima Mirkovic recorded a team-high 17 digs and California served up a season-best 11 aces as a team.

Iman Isanovic tallied a match-high 16 kills for the Sun Devils (8-7, 1-3 Pac-12). 

How It Happened:
Cal started strong and led 12-8 in the first on a Leah Schmidt kill and block on back-to-back plays as ASU took its first timeout of the match. The Bears extended the lead to 16-9 with a run of three straight points, capped by a Kendall Jensen service ace. The lead got as large as 10 on another kill from Schmidt and she ended it with her third kill of the frame as Cal took the first set, 25-14.

The Bears scored six straight in the second, propelled by another service run from Jensen to build a 10-8 advantage and force a Sun Devil timeout. The visitors answered out of the break, scoring five in a row of their own, making it 13-10 as Cal used a timeout. Arizona State was able to extend the lead from there, taking the set 25-19.

Cal erased an early deficit in the third by using a 5-0 run for a one-point lead at 7-6. The Bears trailed 16-14 until ASU scored five straight to take a seven-point advantage and went on from there to take the set, 25-20 for a 2-1 lead in the match. Sam Taumoepeau nailed a cross court kill to give Cal an 11-8 lead in the fourth, but ASU scored five of the next six to tie the score at 12 apiece. After trading points to a 21-all tie, the Devils scored the final four points to take the match, 3-1.

Up Next: The Bears travel to Oregon for a 7 p.m. first serve against the Ducks on Friday, Oct. 8 at Matthew Knight Arena. The match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.   

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