Berkeley, Calif. - Behind a relentless attack and a suffocating defense, the No. 24 ranked Tigers swept away Cal for the second-straight season at Haas Pavilion, winning 3-0 on Saturday, Sept. 19. The win for the Tigers closed out the pre-WCC slate of games for Pacific at 9-2 while the Bears dropped to 6-5 on the year.

Set scores for the match were: 25-18, 36-34, 25-19.

A night after facing one of the biggest blocks in the nation, the Tigers looked to rebound offensively against the Bears on the road and get back to their winning ways. Yet, despite throwing everything they had at Cal in the first set, it was not the offense that guided the Tigers to the first set win but rather an impenetrable defense that got the ball rolling in the right direction. For every attack the Bears threw at the Tigers, Pacific was there to dig it up led by its sophomore libero Katrin Gotterba who came up with 10 digs in the opening set alone. With the floor remaining clean, the Tigers built their lead, turning a one-point deficit into a six-point lead at 18-12 behind an 8-1 run. During the rally, the Tigers picked up a pair of crucial kills from junior Lexi Elman as the WCC's top hitter started slow with just four kills in the set before exploding in set two.

With one set in the bag after a relatively easy win in set one, the Tigers had no clue what was in store for them in the second set as the Bears attempted to even the match at one a piece. Trailing from the very first point of the set, Pacific was forced to play from behind the entire set with Cal taking a lead by as much as six at 15-9 before pushing its way to the brink of the set leading 24-21. With their backs against the wall the Tigers dug deep and fought back, fending off three straight set points picking up kills from sophomore Janie Feldsher and Elman. The Tigers would fight off two more set points with kills from Elman and sophomore Maycie LaBass before getting a shot of their own to close out at 27-26. The point advantage for the Tigers marked the first time Pacific held a lead in the second set and set off a back-and-forth struggle between the two sides. With Elman in the back row, the burden of the set fell on the young shoulder of Pacific's second-year squadron of Maycie LaBass, Janie Feldsher, and Alex Holt. Unfazed by the task at hand, Pacific continued to throw haymakers at Cal, only to see the Bears respond with punches of their own to fight off set-point after set-point. Finally, after Holt and Feldsher blocked an Bear attack at 34-34, the Tigers broke through for the victory when Gotterba served up an ace to end the marathon. In all, the two teams combined for 14 set-point chances, seven on each side of the net. Elman led the attack with 10 kills in the frame alone while LaBass kept the Tigers alive down the stretch with seven huge digs to go along with five kills. 

The set tied for longest set in Tigers' history after Pacific went 36-34 with Portland in set three of a five-set thriller in 2013. In 2007, Pacific played a set to 38-36, however, at the time rally scoring went to 30 making it just 14 extra points played in the set compared to 24 played at Cal on Saturday night.

Having won the marathon and captured a dominating position in the match with a two set lead, the Tigers finished off the Bears in what would be the third and final set of the night, leading wire-to-wire. Similar to their play in the first set, the Tigers built up a small lead throughout the first 25 points of the set before slowly pulling away at the end. Again, it was the defense that sparked the Tigers and opened up the offense as Pacific came up with four blocks in the set including final point of the night when Feldsher and Holt combined for the stop. Feldsher came up with three of her match-high five blocks in the final set while Gotterba again found her rhythm with seven digs. The defense and passing allowed Pacific to hit .316 in the set led by Elman with seven kills while LaBass closed out with four kills on just six attempts.

In all, the Tigers shook off their slow start offensively to hit .262 led by Elman who posted 21 kills on 53 attacks. The 21 kills was the most in a three-set match for the Tigers this season and the fourth time in 2015 Elman had posted 20+ kills. She would add seven digs to go with two blocks and two aces finishing with 24.0 points. Not far behind, LaBass came up with 10 kills and 11 digs to post her second career double-double while Holt closed the night with 10 kills of her own to go with three blocks. Defensively, Gotterba led all players with 23 digs, the fifth-most for the young libero in her two-year career. 

On the other side of the net, the Bears were paced by Carmen Annevelink who tallied 11 kills on .320 hitting while Lillian Schonewise chipped in 10 kills on .474 hitting. Pacific held the Bears to just .151 hitting as the Tigers out-blocked Cal, 8.0-to-4.0. Alyssa Jensen, Cal's setter, finished with a double-double as she posted 37 assists and 15 digs. Maddy Kerr added 16 digs to lead the Bears' backline defense. 

Pacific now heads into WCC action on Thursday, Sept. 24 when the Tigers head to Spokane, Wash. to take on Gonzaga. The Bulldogs finished their non-conference season at 9-4.