Nov. 26, 2008
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) 
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The seventh-ranked California women's volleyball team set a school record with its 13th conference win after a three-set victory (25-15, 25-21, 25-20) on the road against Oregon State at Gill Coliseum on Tuesday evening. Cal's previous high of 12 conference wins was reached three other times in program history. The win also helped the Golden Bears improve to 23-5 (13-4 Pac-10) and 7-3 on the road. Cal wraps up the regular season at No. 8 Oregon on Friday at 7 p.m. in Eugene, Ore.
Cal, who has won 22 or more matches three straight seasons, has now won six straight matches over Oregon State since the 2006 season.
Junior outside hitter Hana Cutura, who had 1,300 career kills entering the match, paced the Bears with 14 kills (5e, 27att, .333). It was her third straight match in double-digit kills and the 22nd time she reached that mark in her last 23 matches. Cutura leads the Pac-10 at 4.45 kills per game. Oregon State junior outside hitter Rachel Rourke led the Beavers with 11 kills (7e, 37att, .108) and added nine digs to her effort.
Cal claimed the first set, 25-15, thanks to Cutura's seven kills in the frame. The Bears held a slim 9-8 lead, before reeling off seven straight points (Cutura served all seven points) to take a commanding 16-8 lead. The Beavers closed the gap to 18-13, before freshman outside hitter Tarah Murrey registered a kill to put Cal up by six (19-13). Cutura then posted back-to-back kills to help increase Cal's lead to 23-15, followed by an kill from senior outside hitter Am'ra Solomon and an Oregon State attack error to close the set. The Bears tallied a .333 attack percentage, while limiting the Beavers to a negative .097 clip (8k, 11e, 31att). Senior middle hitter Kat Reilly was in on three block assists in the frame. The Bears maintained a .333 attack rate while getting 13 kills in the first set (4e, 27att).
The Bears grinded out a 25-21 win the second stanza to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. Oregon State kept things close in the second frame and found itself down 16-15, before evening the score at 18 and at 19-all, and taking a brief lead at 20-19. But Cal remained calm and tied the set at 20 after a kill by freshman middle hitter Shannon Hawari. The Bears went up 22-20 on an Oregon State attack error, and tallied the last three points of the set, punctuated by another Solomon kill. Cal remained crisp offensively, registering a .368 attack percentage (18k, 4e, 38att), while maintaining a dominant blocking game as Hawari tallied four block assists. Cal's defense at the net held the Beavers to 12 kills (6e, 36att) and a .167 attack percentage.
Cal jumped on Oregon State early in the third set and built a 5-2 lead after back-to-back kills by junior middle hitter Mindi Wiley. The Bears started to pull away midway through the set after reaching a 13-9 advantage on a Murrey kill down the line. After an Oregon State timeout, junior libero Kristen Kathan registered back-to-back service aces to put the Bears up 15-9. Oregon State made a late run to trim the lead to 21-19, but the Bears eventually won the game on a big block by Solomon and Wiley, 25-20.
Oregon State fell to 14-16 and 3-14 in conference play.
