It was a sloppy night at Haas Pavilion on Sunday.
The Cal women’s volleyball team fell to Utah in four sets as the Bears (10-5, 3-3 Pac 12) never really found a groove and the Utes quickly found theirs.
The first set started with Utah (14-4, 3-3) taking a quick 6-0 lead as Cal struggled to keep up, eventually falling to the Utes 25-23. The second set went better for the Bears when they reduced their errors to just two, as opposed to the 8 they had in the first set. Cal took the second set 25-17, but then the Utes dominated the court.
“Winning set two the way we did, hitting over 300, it seemed like that was Cal volleyball again,” said head coach Rich Feller. “And then that just disappeared.”
The Bears went on to commit 15 combined errors in the final two sets as opposed to the Utes six. Cal’s hitting percentage also hit a season-low .192.
While the Bears weren’t at their best, Utah was, beating Cal’s hitting percentage for three of the four sets. Utah ran an efficient 3-hitter offense, which made it harder for the Bears’ defense to set up. The Utes had four players in double figures in kills, and ended with an average of .264.
The Bears were not completely helpless on offense; senior outside hitter Adrienne Gehan had 20 kills and senior Christina Higgins compiled 13 of her own. But Utah came into Haas ranked 13th in the nation with 2.38 blocks per set, and proved their defensive dominance over the four sets.
“We weren’t hitting great. But that was kind of compounded with their amazing defense,” Gehan said. “They just frustrated us and we let those touches and those plays frustrate us, and we weren’t getting them back.”
Ultimately, the Bears could just not find a groove, and Utah was able to capitalize on Cal’s weaknesses.
“We hit balls that gave them a lot of opportunities to block,” said Feller. “I think that took a little wind out of our sails right away, and made us questions and then we starting hitting errors.”
Alicia Fong covers volleyball. Contact her at [email protected]