Sept. 1, 1999

BERKELEY, CA - The University of California women's volleyball team (0-1) started off the 1999 season playing one of the premier teams in the nation, falling to No. 4 ranked Hawaii, 3-0 (15-8, 15-7, 15-5) Wednesday night at the Recreational Sports Facility Fieldhouse on the Cal campus. It was the Bears inaugural match under first year head coach Rich Feller.

"We have taken the first step," said Feller, who was an assistant for the USA National Team last year after 14 successful seasons as head coach at Colorado State. "It is the first of several steps we are going to have to take, but we saw what we are capable of. There was only so much we were able to do against a formable opponent like Hawaii, yet there were some positive things and we had lots of opportunities. Sometimes we capitalized, and sometimes we didn't. Still, it was a lot of fun."

Hawaii (1-0), which finished last season 32-3, was led by senior middle hitter Heather Bown with 16 kills and only one error in 30 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Bown was the WAC Pacific Division Player of the Year last season. Another top player for the Rainbow Wahines was freshman Lily Kahumoku, who had 10 kills and two errors in 20 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage.

Cal was led by freshman outside hitter Leah Young, who was impressive in her first match as a Golden Bear, recording seven kills with no errors in 13 attempts for a .538 hitting percentage. Junior Alicia Perry led Cal with 11 digs.

The Bears will next travel to Colorado to face the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, Sept. 3 and then take on the University of Denver Pioneers on Saturday, Sept. 4.