Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

BERKELEY - The No. 8-ranked California volleyball team (11-1, 1-0 Pac-10) opened up Pac-10 play hosting No. 11 Oregon (11-2, 0-1 Pac-10) at Haas Pavilion tonight and came away with a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-15, 25-15) of the Ducks. The Golden Bears rarely trailed through the entire match and were aided by solid performances from senior outside hitter Am'ra Solomon and junior outside hitter Hana Cutura, who each had 11 kills. Solomon also notched career highs in digs with five and blocks with six (one solo).

Cal recorded a season-high 16.0 team blocks thanks in part to an eight-block performance by junior middle hitter Mindi Wiley. Wiley also added eight kills on just 11 attacks (2e, .545). Fellow middle freshman Shannon Hawari put up four kills (10att, 0e, .400) and had six blocks of her own. Leading all players with 33 assists, sophomore setter Carli Lloyd logged career assist No. 2,000 when she put a set high to the left-hand side of the court. Cutura took the pass and earned a kill to give the Bears match point.

The Bears started slowly in the third set, allowing the Ducks to force ties on six occasions, the last of which came at 11-11 on freshman outside hitter Tarah Murrey's kill (7k, 6e, 22att, .045) from Lloyd. The Bears pulled away quickly as junior defensive specialist/libero Kristen Kathan served up three service aces over the course of four serves. The Bears jumped right out to a 17-11 lead and looked to cruise the rest of the way. The Ducks would score two points but another short run by Cal put the Bears up 22-13. Lloyd and Hawari teamed up to put a block on sophomore outside hitter Heather Meyers to put an end to the match. Cal's blocking and net play held the Ducks to a minus-.028 hitting percentage (6k, 7e, 36att) in the third and final set.

Cal posted an impressive .385 attack percentage in the second set, getting 13 kills (3e, 26att). After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, the Bears capitalized on a couple of Oregon errors to maintain their advantage; leading to a Duck timeout at 12-6. Oregon fought back with a couple of points to get the score to 13-9 but the Bears poured on the offense, getting out by 10 points at 21-11. Cutura put down the final kill of the second set to give the Bears a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.

The Bears posted 16 kills (7e, 37att, .243) in the first set and held the Ducks to just .065 attack percentage (8k, 6e, 31att). Solomon and Cutura kept pace with each other, nabbing five kills each. Cal out-blocked the Ducks 6.0-3.0 in the first and got off to a 1-0 lead on a 25-20 first-set win.

After a day off, the Bears will take on Oregon State on Sunday (Sept. 28) at 1 p.m. The Beavers are 11-3, 0-1 Pac-10 after falling to No. 6 Stanford tonight in a 3-0 sweep. Please check CalBears.com for updates and GameTracker links.