Sept. 4, 1999

DENVER, CO - The University of California women's volleyball team (1-2) captured its first match of the 1999 season with a come-from-behind 3-1 (8-15, 15-12, 15-12, 15-4) victory over the University of Denver Saturday night at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver. It was the first victory of the Rich Feller era, as Feller joined Cal this season after 14 years as the head coach at Colorado State and a stint as an assistant for the USA National Team. It was also Feller's 300th career victory (300-169).

"This victory feels really good, particularly for the team," said Feller. "We played gutsy, until things started working, and then we were pretty good. It was good to know we were able to overcome some ugly volleyball and get back into the game. It was the first win of a new era. "

The Bears struggled in the first game, playing badly after a hard-fought five-game loss to Colorado Friday, losing 15-8. It was looking bad for the Bears in game two, as well, as Cal trailed Denver, 12-5. But, the Bears made an impressive rally, scoring the next 10 points for the 15-12 win. In game three, Cal let the Pioneers get a 7-3 lead before the Bears tied the game, 8-8. Cal then controlled the game for a 15-12 win. The fourth game was all the Bears after a Brook Coulter service ace tied the game at 4-4. From that point on, Cal scored the next 11 points for the 15-4 win.

The Bears last two matches, versus Colorado Friday night and Denver Saturday, were part of the Powerbar Invitational. Senior outside hitter Coulter and senior middle blocker Kellie Alva were selected to the all-tournament team. Against Denver, Coulter had 13 kills and led Cal with 16 digs. Alva led the Bears with 17 kills with only three errors in 25 attempts for a .560 hitting percentage.

The Bears will next host Eastern Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in Berkeley .