The University of Utah Volleyball team left Berkeley, California victorious in a two-match weekend hosted by the Cal Golden Bears. Similar to their bout the previous week with Arizona, the Utes looked confident but shaky in their Friday night match-up. Utah left the court with their third season win that night after dropping a close second set to Cal 23-25. Cal fought back from a 20-17 deficit to take the set and even the score at 1-1. Unfortunately for the Bears, that was the lowest point for the Utes on Friday, who took the third and fourth sets 25-16 and 25-11.

Junior Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres continues to excel at setting up her teammates to dominate offensively, posting 42 assists in the Friday set and adding six kills, seven digs, a block and an ace. Ka’aha’aina-Torres mixed her sets up to keep Cal on their toes but the resulting kills came from familiar names, with Dani Drews posting 17 kills, Kenzie Koerber had 13 and Madelyn Robinson had nine. 

Sophomore outside hitter Zoe Weatherington tied her overall performance against Arizona in just one match with seven kills, showing she can hang with her more established teammates. True freshman defensive specialist/libero Vanessa Ramirez stretched her 5 foot 4-inch frame all over the court on Friday with 12 digs.

Utah began Sunday’s effort without skipping a beat, taking Cal in the first set 25-10. Junior outside hitter Megan Yett posted four of the six service aces for Utah in the first set with Koerber and Sophomore Emily Smith adding the other two. 

In the second, Utah began to struggle mid-set, allowing Cal to take the lead at 8-9 from a 5-1 deficit. Utah responded accordingly after a kill from Drews to go 9-9. With Ka’aha’aina-Torres at the service line they added four more points to go up 13-9. Utah then went on four three-point runs while allowing only seven to take the set 25-16.

The third set was a nail biter and the hardest fought for Utah on the day. Cal started the set up 0-3. Utah answered with three points of their own but wouldn’t regain the lead until Ka’aha’aina-Torres took over to serve to go up 13-11. Cal took a time out, tied up the score at 15 all, and then went back up 16-17. Utah rallied to get to set point but allowed a three point run from Cal to tie it up at 24-24. After allowing a set point opportunity for Cal, Utah won a point to send Freshman Sommer Daniel to the service line to take the final two points and the match.

Drews predictably led the team in kills with 15 — 32 total in the series — followed by Kenzi Koerber with nine — who has 22 total — and Zoe Weatherington with five — 12 total. Ka’aha’aina-Torres added 34 assists on Sunday. With her 42 from Friday she has 133 assists in the first four matches this season, setting her up to surpass her 2019 record of 1518.

Next week the Utes stay on the road heading to Tempe, Arizona to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils who dropped both of their week-two matches against Washington State. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m MST on Friday Feb. 5 with the second match scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MST on Sunday, Feb. 7.

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