Box Score STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific volleyball team improved their all-time record versus the Cal Golden Bears to 30-7 and did so by dismantling their Pac-12 rival in straight sets on Friday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Pacific won the opener of the WCC-Pac-12 Showdown by defeating Cal 25-15, 25-17 and 25-14, marking the third straight season the Tigers have taken down the Golden Bears.
For the match, the Tigers hit .393, led by Emily Baptista with 10 kills and Lexi Elman with nine. Andie Shelton notched seven total kills without committing any attack errors, with 30 assists. Elman added 10 digs to lead the Tigers. Ashlyn Fleming chipped in eight kills on the night.
Ashlyn Fleming opened the match with a kill, followed by a team block and a service ace by Maycie LaBass as Pacific won the first four points. Cal rallied and won the next three points before Baptista spiked a kill to stop the Cal momentum. With the Golden Bears cutting the deficit to a point at 6-5, the Tigers rattled off the next four points to take a 10-5 lead and force Cal into using a timeout.
Out of the timeout the Bears won the first point, but Elman got momentum back on the Tigers' side with a block to get the lead back to five, followed by a service ace by Elman to make it 12-6. From that point, the Tigers won five of the next six points, seeing the lead balloon to 15-7 on Fleming's fourth kill of the set followed by back-to-back points that forced Cal into its second timeout of the set at 17-7.
The Golden Bears came out of their second timeout and won three straight points before the Tigers ended that rally on a Baptista kill to get the lead to 18-10. Pacific closed the first set by winning seven of the final 12 points, punctuated by the third kill of the set from Elman as the Tigers took the first set 25-15. Pacific's .636 hit percentage was the highest percentage of any set played on the season.
Pacific opened set number two with a team block followed by Fleming's sixth kill of the match. The teams played to a 4-4 draw to open the set before Cal took its first lead of the match via a team block to make it 5-4. Fleming followed immediately with her seventh kill of the match and second of the set to tie the score at 5-5. A tremendous block by Janie Feldsher put the Tigers back in front 6-5 and a kill by Shelton made it a 7-5 advantage. Cal won the next two points to tie the set at 7-7 before Feldsher recorded her third kill to vault the Tigers back in front 8-7. A Shelton service ace ran the Pacific lead to 9-7. Cal won the next two points to tie the score at 9-9 but an Elman kill gave the Tigers the lead back at 10-9. Once again, the Golden Bears tied it but Pacific earned the lead right back on Skylar Wine's second kill of the match. With the score tied 11-11, Fleming notched her eighth kill of the match to put Pacific back in front. The Tigers went on a 4-1 run to send the set into break with Pacific holding a 15-12 lead.
Following the break Elman notched her fifth kill of the match to start a 3-1 run that promoted the Golden Bears to call a timeout with Pacific leading 18-13. The Tigers widened the lead to 22-16, prompting Cal to use another timeout. An Elman kill accounted for the first point out of the timeout as Pacific went on to win the set 25-17 that came to an end with a Baptista block, capping off a 7-4 run to finish the set.
Leading 2-0, the Tigers won the first three points coming out of the match break. The Golden Bears tallied three of the next four points to cut their deficit to one before a service error by Sabrina Blackwell gave the Tigers a point and the serve back with momentum. Elman's seventh kill of the match ran the Tigers lead to 7-3, followed by a Feldsher kill to make it an 8-3 advantage. A Cal attack error gave Pacific a 9-3 cushion and forced the Golden Bears into using a timeout.
Cal won the first point coming out of the timeout but a Feldsher kill from the right side got the Pacific lead back to six at 10-4. The Tigers would see their lead balloon to 19-10 as they forced Cal to call its second timeout of the set. Cal won the first two points coming out of the timeout before Elman notched her eighth kill of the match to give the Tigers their 20th point of the set. A service ace by Shelton brought Pacific to match point and a combination block from Feldsher and Elman ended the match and polished off Pacific's victory in straight sets. The Tigers hit .357 in set three.
Pacific will host #12 Stanford on Saturday night at the Spanos Center as they try and sweep the WCC-Pac-12 Showdown. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
