Oct. 18, 2007
Box Score
TEMPE, Ariz. -
The No. 9 California Golden Bears volleyball team (15-4, 5-3 Pac-10) defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-10, 3-5) in a four-game match (27-30, 30-26, 30-20, 30-26) tonight at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. With the win, the Bears get their fifth straight victory in Pac-10 conference play and fifth consecutive win overall.
Powered by senior outside hitter Angie Pressey's career-high 26 kills (6e, 48att, .417), the Bears came back to win after dropping the first game to the Sun Devils. Pressey also registered a double-double with 16 digs on her stat line. Junior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck also delivered a solid performance with 13 kills (2e, 31att), hitting .355 on the night. The Bears put up 14 total team blocks and dug up 64 attacks to hold the Sun Devils to .174 hitting for the match.
By the start of the fourth game, Pressey was within two of her career mark for kills in a match and tied that mark at 25 when her kill put the Bears ahead at 16-15. With a one-point lead at 18-17, the Bears ripped off an eight-point run and put the Devils on their heels. Using a six-point run, Arizona State climbed to within two points at 27-25 before an Am'ra Solomon kill put the Bears back on track. It was Beck's kill that completed the match for the Bears and reeled in Cal's fifth straight conference victory.
Hitting a scorching .425 (21k, 4e, 40att), Cal took a commanding lead in the third game at 16-9 and extended to an 11-point advantage at 28-17 behind six kills from Pressey and five from Beck. With the attack sputtering, it was a Beck kill that put the Bears in position to take the third game and a 2-1 lead in the match but it was senior middle hitter Ellen Orchard's final attack that put the game away for the Bears.
The Bears improved their hitting from the first to the second game, notching 22 kills (7e) on 49 attempts for a .306 hitting percentage. Angie Pressey provided a huge lift with her team high 13 kills in a game two that ended up being just as hotly contested as the first. On a steady run, play stalled for the Sun Devils when freshman outside hitter Sarah Reaves was injured on a chaotic play at the net. Down two points at 11-13, the Bears went on a small run and took a 14-13 lead when Orchard won a joust at the net on an overplayed ball. A Beck and Mindi Wiley block put the Bears up by three at 28-25 but it was two kills by Pressey that would close the second verse for the Bears, tying the match up at a game a piece.
The first game started off as a tug-of-war with seven ties up to 12. It looked like the Sun Devils were going to run off with a big lead before Pressey put a kill straight through a Sara Todorovich block to spur a short Cal run. Staying at a two-point deficit through most of the game, the Bears finally broke out when Beck received a perfect set from Lloyd for a kill from the right side of the court. A 4-1 run of sophomore libero Kristen Kathan serves put the Bears into a tie at 22 but the Devils poured it on through the final eight points, putting the game out of reach by capitalizing on several Cal errors.
The Bears remain in the desert for one more match, traveling up the Interstate 10 to meet the Arizona Wildcats, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. before returning home.
