BERKELEY, Calif. - Virginia fell 3-1 at Cal on Friday night in its first of two matches on the West Coast to close out its opening ACC road swing.
The Cavaliers (5-7, 1-2 ACC) dropped the first two sets in close fashion before responding with a strong performance in the third to cut the Cal (11-3, 1-2 ACC) lead to 2-1. The Golden Bears held off Virginia in a tightly contested fourth set, securing a 25-23 win to clinch the match.
First-year Ella Brodner led the Hoos with 12 kills in her first career start while Reese Wuebker added 10. For the Golden Bears, Abby Zimmerman and Grace Agolli had 12 kills apiece while Sawyer Thomsen had 11.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Cal 25 (1), Virginia 21 (0)
Virginia took an early 5-4 lead in a back-and-forth opening before Cal used a 6-0 run to seize momentum. The Golden Bears maintained the lead for the remainder of the set, extending their advantage to 19-14. A late Virginia rally cut the deficit to 20-17, but the teams traded points down the stretch as Cal closed out the set, 25-21.
Set 2: Cal 25 (2), Virginia 22 (0)
A late run from the Golden Bears was the difference in a back-and-forth second set that saw no team lead by more than two. Virginia led 12-10 midway through before a 5-1 run from the Bears put Cal ahead 15-13. The Hoos evened it back up at 18-18, 19-19 and 20-20 before taking a brief 21-20 lead, but the Golden Bears followed with a 3-0 run before getting two of the final three points.
Set 3: Virginia 25 (1), Cal 20 (2)
The Hoos burst out to an early 8-3 lead and never looked back, building their lead to as high as 15-8. Cal made a small run to cut it to 19-16, but the Cavaliers responded with four of the next five points to go ahead 23-16. The Golden Bears made another late run to make it 24-20 before a Lauryn Bowie kill sealed the set for the Hoos.
Set 4: Cal 25 (3), Virginia 23 (1)
A back-and-forth fourth set saw the Golden Bears break away late. The teams were tied at 11-11, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 and 16-16 before a 3-0 run from Cal saw the Bears take a 19-16 lead. Virginia got it back within one at 23-22 but Cal responded with two of the next three points to seal the match.
MATCH NOTES
- First-year outside hitter Ella Brodner made her first career start. She finished with season highs in kills (12), digs (8) and blocks (3).
- Emily Fowler led all players in the match with seven total blocks. She entered the weekend among the top 25 players nationally in blocks per set.
NEXT UP
Virginia closes its California trip with its first ranked match of the season at No. 13 Stanford on Saturday. First serve is set for 10 p.m. ET and the match will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.