BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 20-ranked UCLA swim and dive team suffered a 167-130 loss at the hands of No. 4 California on Saturday afternoon at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
UCLA (8-2) won two out of three diving events and then nailed down five wins in the pool, all recorded by different swimmers.
Cal, which has one national championship and two national runner-up finishes over the last three years, improved to 7-1 on the season.
UCLA came tantalizingly close to a win in the opening relay for the second straight day, as the UCLA A Team (Emma Schanz, Claire Grover, Emily Lo, Amy Okada) touched in 1:40.26, less than a quarter-second behind Cal's top group.
The Bruins responded by sweeping the 1000 free, placing the top three finishers in the race. Sandra Soe touched first with her second sub-10 minute time in as many days, 9:56.98. Junior Lisa Kaunitz placed second with a season-best time of 10:11.85 while freshman Katie Sulkevich was third at 10:21.14.
Kenisha Liu was UCLA's top finisher in the 200 free, placing third at 1:47.48. Ella Kirschke also scored for the Bruins with a new season-best time of 1:51.03.
UCLA placed 3-4 in the 100 backstroke, led by Emma Schanz's time of 54.21. Jennifer Lathrop improved on her time from Friday, finishing in 55.43 and taking fourth.
Claire Grover won the 100 breast in 1:02.20 to deliver UCLA's its second swim victory of the day. Emily Lo (1:03.35, third) and Emma Smethurst (1:04.92, fourth) also picked up points for the Bruins.
Amy Okada was the runner-up in the 200 fly to lead UCLA in that event, finishing in 2:01.88.
Delaney Smith was the Bruins' top racer in the 50 free, sprinting to a time of 23.67, a new collegiate-best.
The day's first diving event, the 3-meter championship, went to Cal's Briana Thai, though the Bruins had the second (Alice Yanovsky, 288.68) and third-place (Eloise Belanger, 285.45) finishers. It was the best score of the year for Yanovsky, who earlier this year qualified for Zones in 3m with a 285.70 at the Georgia Fall Invitational.
Kenisha Liu had her second-best time of the year in the 100 free at 49.49, but she was edged out for first place by Cal's Amy Bilquist (49.35).
The 200 back was another close race that went Cal's way, as Alicia Wilson (1:58.12) just beat out Lathrop (1:58.34). That time represented a new season-best for Lathrop.
Emma Schanz put another "W" on UCLA's ledger with a time of 2:15.40 in the 200 breast.
After winning the 1000 free, Soe was the runner-up in the 500 free at 4:49.96. At 4:56.09, Kaunitz dipped under the five-minute mark for the second time this season to take third place.
Okada brought another event win home for the Bruins in the 100 fly, touching first in 54.12. Cal took the 2-5 spots.
Belanger bounced back to claim first in the 1-meter diving championship, tallying a score of 304.88. The Montreal native has now finished over the 300-point threshold in all three 1m finals she's competed in this season. Yanovsky (227.10) and Shiver (225.30) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Traci Shiver helped wrap up a successful day for UCLA's divers with a win on tower, logging a final score of 218.10. Shiver had previously qualified for Zones in platform diving with a 241.40 in the finals of the Bruin Diving Invitational. Madeline Russell placed third on tower at 206.25.
The Bruins went 1-3-4 in the 200 IM, paced by Kenisha Liu's winning time of 2:00.33. That time qualified as her second-best of the year. Delaney Smith (2:02.24) and Ella Kirschke (2:03.07) also scored for UCLA.
Cal won the 200 free relay in 1:30.40 to conclude the afternoon's meet. The UCLA A relay team (Grover, Okada, Emily Lo, Liu) was second at 1:31.78.
UCLA has just one meet remaining for the regular season, at crosstown rival USC on Friday, Feb. 15. That meet's platform diving championship will take place the following day, Saturday, Feb. 16.