The Huskies fell to 2-2 in the Pac-10 after their first conference home-stand, losing in sweeps to the California Bears (28-26, 25-22, 25-23) and the Stanford Cardinal (25-17 25-15 27-25).

The Huskies kept the score close in both matches but were unable to get over the hump and win a game.

“We’re good for segments,” said coach Jim McLaughlin. “But we’ve gotta be good from start to finish.”

The Huskies opened the first set against Cal with a strong 4-3 lead. The Dawgs led the game until the Bears tied the score at 20-20 on a Washington attack error. The score stayed close until Cal took control en route to a 28-26 victory.

The other two games were just as close

The Dawgs started game two with a 3-0 lead before allowing Cal to tie the score. Washington retook the lead and was in control until a three-point run by Cal put the Golden Bears within one at 17-16. Washington won the next point on a kill by Airial Salvo, but gave up the following two to tie the score 18-18.

Both teams battled leading to 19-19, 20-20, and 21-21 ties before Cal pulled away with a three-point run to take a 24-21 lead. The Bears eventually won the set 25-22.

With the momentum fully on Cal’s side of the court, the Huskies started the third set slowly, giving up a 4-1 lead. Washington quickly recovered and scored on two quick kills by Jill Collymore and Kindra Carlson. The Huskies remained within two points until Cal went on another three-point run to make the score 14-10. The Huskies came back and pulled within one but ultimately came up short as Cal won the game and swept the match on the next serve with a kill by Morgan Beck.

The Stanford match was no better for the Dawgs.

After losing the first two games, the Huskies seemed to find their stride in the third game, forcing overtime on the Cardinal. However, Stanford rallied with two quick points to put the game away 27-25.

“It was the first time this year I could really see the pain on the faces of these girls, which was a good thing,” said McLaughlin. “I just hope that practices will be different from now on and that we train in a more deliberate way. If we do that we’ll be good.”

The UW will have another chance to put that training to the test next weekend when the team heads to southern California to take on No.5 UCLA and No.4 USC.

Reach reporter Zach Ruby at sports@dailyuw.com.