Travel is inevitable in any team's schedule.

Having the toughest roadtrip of the season come on the heels of a two-week homestand, however, makes that inevitability more difficult.

After a long, comfortable homestand that saw the Cal volleyball team win three out of four matches, the Bears take to the road for the first time in three weeks to face arguably their hardest stretch away from Haas Pavilion starting tonight with No. 25 Washington State (16-6, 5-6 in the Pac-10) at 7 p.m.

While the rest of the conference roadtrips are separated by no more than a two- to three-hour drive, the trip to the Washington schools involves three cities.

The Bears flew into Spokane, Wash., on Thursday night, bussed two hours to Pullman today and will return to Spokane tonight. The Bears will then fly to Seattle tomorrow morning, the same day they are due to take on No. 4 Washington.

"It's tough when you have to fly on the same day that you play," coach Rich Feller said. "You're breathing rare air, you're sitting in airports and you are disrupting your schedule. This trip is always a challenge no matter which way you go."

Despite the long commutes, jet lag is not the primary concern. Cal (13-8, 6-5) is currently at fourth place in the Pac-10 but sits only 2.5 games out of first. A sweep this weekend would give the Bears an outside but legitimate shot at winning the Pac-10.

"Other conferences have teams that aren't ranked and are nobodies," junior setter Carli Lloyd said. "Washington State can win every match. They have nothing to lose and they're playing balls-out on every point."

The biggest change from when Cal played the Washington schools four weeks ago is its defense. After compiling only nine total blocks in their last games against the Washington schools-including just one against Washington (19-2, 9-2)-the Bears have since vastly improved their defense at the net.

Cal compiled 25 total blocks in last week's split against UCLA and USC, highlighted by a wild final point against the Trojans that featured two team blocks.

The Huskies, in particular, will be a saunch test for the Bears. Washington is hitting .301 as a team and has five players with 100 or more kills.

But the team that handily defated Cal four weeks ago saw a far more disjointed Bears defense. Feller highlighted the play of some of his less experienced players as a big reason why the team has progressed in its team defense since opening up conference play.

"We're a little more set in our starting lineup," Feller said. "Correy (Johnson) has been on the outside full-time for the last month or so and is learning how to block there and make those adjustments."

With a 1-3 conference road record, the Bears likely need to win both games this weekend in order to win the conference. Cal is already more than midway through conference play but has only swept one of five weekends.

"I'm excited. I really want to get out of here," Lloyd said. "We're all pumped because we have a lot to show everybody. We're a better team than we have shown. We have been too up-and-down and too inconsistent."

Tags: RICH FELLER, HANA CUTURA, CAL VOLLEYBALL