Noah Parker

Lema was a menace on the Utah side of the field on Friday, contributing three of Cal’s six goals in the match, including that game winner.

Coming off a sweep to the hands of Oregon State — the only other winless conference team entering the contest — the Bears have easily hit the lowest point of the season. At 0-6 in conference play, Cal sits in the Pac-12 basement midway through its season.

If there’s any time for the Bear offense to wake up and its defense to continue stellar play, it is against a Utah team limping into Friday’s matchup.

If Cal can’t take care of business, especially against the drowning Beavers, then the season is all but a wash. But a win or two will propel the Bears forward, and stave off hibernation for just a little longer.

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In their eight season losses, the Bears have only won an even number set three times. And that trend continued during this week’s losses to Arizona and Arizona State.

While Cal volleyball started as well as one could against tough competition, the blue and gold ultimately dropped five straight sets en route to a 0-2 start to conference play.

The Pac-12 conference is certainly an unforgiving powerhouse when it comes to volleyball, and Cal’s two first games coming against top teams in the conference are only the beginning of the tough journey that lies before them.

The Bears will need to take all the lessons they have learned in the preseason — especially the ability to push through the tough sets — into their demanding conference schedule if they are to find success.

After a resounding sweep of Nevada, the tournament host lost its winning streak as it was downed by NDSU and Butler in back-to-back games.