University Park, here they come.

On Saturday evening, the No. 8 Cal volleyball team closed out its role as host of the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with a second-round victory over New Mexico State, advancing to the round of 16.

In spite of dropping a set in their 3-1 win (25-23, 25-13, 21-25, 25-17) over the Aggies, the Bears were upbeat in the post-match press conference, speaking glowingly of their resilient showing in the face of New Mexico State's quick offense and swarming defense.

"We've been talking about how badly we want to control our game, and I think tonight was a big showing of that," junior middle blocker Mindi Wiley said. "We were making dumb errors here and there. We weren't playing with our heads in the game. And then we flipped the switch. It was all us. That was all to our credit."

Cal (25-6, 13-5 in the Pac-10) dominated the battle in the front row, notching 17.5 blocks to the Aggies' five, and the Bears' outside hitters logged 37 kills while limiting New Mexico State to a .107 hitting percentage on the night.

The Aggies (26-9, 15-1 in the WAC) found success when Cal's digging and passing faltered, but were ultimately unable to contain the Bears' front row production.

After dropping the third set 25-21-a set during which Cal never led-the Bears found themselves down 10-8 in the fourth set. Then, Wiley tipped in the ball for a kill, sparking a 7-3 run to put Cal up 15-13. The Bears never relinquished the lead, and went on to win the set, 25-17.

"They ran a very distinct offense that really tears a defense apart for weak teams," Wiley said. "It's based around getting one-on-one blocks all over the net. And we're not a weak team. We'll respond and bounce back, and we'll get blocks like we did (on Saturday). We really just executed our game plan."

Throughout the match, New Mexico State threw everything it could at Cal, playing six different outside hitters and three different setters, but was still unable to find an offensive combination that could consistently win rallies.

"We had our chances," Aggies coach Mike Jordan said. "Game one was a real close game and there were a few easy balls if we had taken care of, I think we had a chance of winning that game. And (the Bears) just out-executed us down the stretch in game four. So give them credit."

The Bears now travel to University Park, where they will face No. 14 Illinois in the regional hosted by No. 1 Penn State. The Illini won both their opening round matchups 3-0, and went 26-7 in the regular season.

"We're moving on," Cal coach Rich Feller said. "That was a great match for us. We needed to be tested. We need to be pushed a little bit. We needed to be able to fight back.

"We're going to be better next week because of (Saturday night's) match."