After blasting out to an 18-8 lead in game 1, the Bears have ...
They held on to win set one 25-21.
But, set two is a disaster - Sam and Schmidt are negative. Bears got down 22-8 and lose set two 25-15

Set Tree: UVU 25 Cal 18.
UVU is 1-3 on the season, but they lost to Kansas and Utah, playing Utah close. But, UVU didn't win a set against either of those schools.
Schmidt is at -583 (1 kill, 8 errors on 12 attacks)
Sam witjh 3 kills, 5 errors, on 16 attacks for -125
Bears at .023 for the match through three sets.
Yikes.

P.S. UVU has 11 blocks to Cal's 5 so far.

Utah Valley? Really? What the hell is going on with CAL volleyball? One step forward, two steps backwards…

Cal fights back from down 22-18 but loses set four 26-24.
Cal loses match 3-1

I quite literally didn't know Utah Valley University existed

CalFanatic said:

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I quite literally didn't know Utah Valley University existed

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They are in the WAC.

Wow. Down 20-14, Cal comes back in Set 1 to take it 25-21.

Cal wins the match:
25-21
25-21 (I didn't see it) (play by play shows Cal got up 17-11 for largest lead with NAU cutting lead to 2 at 22-20, 20-18 and 18-16)
25-21 (I only saw match point) (play by play seems to show neither team had a lead more than 3 points - Cal with 23-20 and 22-19 leads).

After watching the NAU match, I was pleasantly surprised that our serve receive has improved greatly compared to last year. In addition, we have Lydia Grote starting from the beginning of the season compared to 2021 when she didn't play until October 15th.

Although the loss of Bella Bergmark is huge, both frosh MHs have played well. The question is can we develop another reliable OH? Both Sam Taumoepeau and Leah Schmidt looked great in the NAU match and wishing Peyton DeJardin recovers from her ailment that has limited her play in the last few matches.

Hopefully, we can keep improving on serve receives and reduce the number of attack errors in the remaining 5 OOC matches. We should be a better team than last season, but it may be difficult to win many matches since the Pac-12 is loaded.

Go Bears!

Ever hopeful am I.
I haven't watched enough to see how Bears are at Middle Block. Grote and Schmidt - with what I've watched - were outside. But, then, I didn't see the other teams challenging the Bears' middle.

I do wonder what is up with Lilo? and Sam T has been erratic in limited play - to me.

CalBears.com has an article with quotes from HC Crosson about the team's progress. Hopefully, it's on an upward trend.

Cal WVB Tourney

Utah Tech…really?

Utah Tech was Dixie State until this year.