Oct. 4, 2007

Box Score

EUGENE, ORE. - The No. 10 California Golden Bear volleyball team (11-4, 1-3 Pac-10) got back to their winning ways by earning a 3-1 victory on the road against the No. 19 Oregon Ducks (14-3, 3-2). The win is the first on the season for the Bears in Pac-10 conference play but is a landmark victory for Cal head coach Rich Feller who won his 150th match at the helm for Cal.

The Golden Bears put up 71 kills against the Ducks, the most for a four-game match this season and were able to maintain a .314 hitting percentage (71k, 22e, 156att). In each of the games that the Bears won, they were able to hit over .360. Senior outside hitter Angie Pressey posted a double-double with 15 kills (1e, 37att, .378) and 13 digs and also served for two of the Bears' five service aces on the night. Junior outside/middle hitter Morgan Beck also locked up a double-double performance with her 10th dig on the night, adding to her 13 kills (4e, 31att, .290).

It was a kill by sophomore outside hitter Hana Cutura from freshman setter Carli Lloyd that sealed the deal for the Bears. Cutura led the Bears with 23 kills (6e, 42att, .405), her second most on the season and also set a season high in hitting percentage. Cutura also had two service aces for the Bears, registering a team-high 26 points. Lloyd had a solid performance, missing her career-high in assists by only one, putting up 61 in the match. Senior Ellen Orchard was the fourth Bear with double-digit kills, getting to 11 with only five errors on 23 attempts (.261).

Although Cal surrendered 31 kills to Gorana Maricic, the conference leader in that category, the Bears were able to dig up and block the right attacks to preserve their win. The next most effective Oregon hitter had seven kills and hit for .056 in the match.

The first two games of the match were close with the Golden Bears winning by three in the first game and then by two in the second, needing 31 points to do the trick. Cal came out of the 10-minute break without much urgency and gave up a game to the Ducks that would have earned the Bears a sweep on the road. With the score tied at 17 in the fourth game, the Bears denied the Ducks the opportunity for a fifth and closed out the match on Cutura's kill.

The Cal vs. Oregon match will be broadcast via tape delay by Fox Sports Net on Sunday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 11 both times at noon. Next, the Bears will take on the Oregon State Beavers at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore. on Friday at 7 p.m.

Quotes

California volleyball head coach Rich Feller

On the team earning its first Pac-10 win:
"It was just nice to come up with our first win in conference especially after playing our fourth ranked team in a row. I think we did a good job tonight and played three very solid games to get the win. The best thing about that win was that we saw our girls respond to challenges repeatedly and with a great deal of intensity."

On standout players during the match:
"We switched our lineup around a little bit tonight and that showed in the box score. Both Angie Pressey and Hana Cutura were able to get in a lot of swings at the ball and I thought it worked out very well. Carli Lloyd also played a great game and Kristen Kathan came in at the end of the game and gave us some extra juice to finish off the win. We didn't block as well as we're used to but I think that was because Oregon has a very fast offense that we haven't seen much this year. Overall, the team played well as a whole."

On getting his 150th win at California:
"Honestly, I did not know that I had reached that mark. I think it's a great tribute to how far this program has come in the nine years I've been here and a true mark of how hard all the players that have come through Cal have worked. It's just nice to have been given the opportunity to be here and see the team rise to the upper echelon in the country amongst volleyball teams."