Sept. 28, 2008

Box Score

BERKELEY - The No. 8-ranked California volleyball team (12-1, 2-0 Pac-10) dropped its fifth consecutive 3-0 sweep of an opponent today at Haas Pavilion by taking a 25-14, 25-18, 25-15 win against Oregon State (11-4, 0-2 Pac-10). Winners of their last seven matches, the Golden Bears maintained a .473 attack percentage against the Beavers, getting 49 kills on just 91 attacks (6e) and were particularly efficient in sideout situations, taking the serve back 85 percent of the time in the first set, 84 percent in the second and 66 percent in the third.

Senior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck registered her 1,000th career kill off a set from freshman middle hitter Shannon Hawari to give the Bears a 14-10 lead in set No. 3. Beck finished the match with seven kills (2e, 13att, .385) for 1,002 total career kills. Junior outside hitter Hana Cutura led the way once more for the Bears, with 12 kills (1e, 20att, .550) and added seven digs. Cutura's final kill of the day gave her 1,054 in her career and moved her into 10th-place all-time at Cal, going ahead of Morgan Cecil's 1,053 (1989-91).

For the second match in a row, the Bears rarely trailed, coming up with a stellar hitting performance while putting together another solid defensive resume with 9.5 total team blocks and 39 digs. Junior defensive specialist/libero Kristen Kathan had 16 digs of her own, bringing her career total to the 700 mark. Kathan also led Cal with three service aces on the day. Led by sophomore outside hitter Jill Sawatzky's eight kills, the Beavers only managed to log 27 kills (16e, 95att, .116) against the Bear block.

Freshman outside hitter Tarah Murrey sent an attack to the back left-hand corner of the Beaver court for her seventh kill of the night (0e, 12att, .583) to put the match away. After two consecutive attack errors by Oregon State junior opposite hitter Bree Knitter broke a six-all tie in the third set, the Bears ripped off a quick run sparked by a kill from sophomore setter Carli Lloyd and never trailed again. Lloyd finished with four kills (1e, 5att, .600) and seven digs; she also led all players with 38 assists.

In the second set, the Bears committed just two errors on 30 attacks to get 18 kills (.533) and fought off a strong Beaver attack to hold for a two-set lead heading into the break. Oregon State hung around within two points of Cal for much of the middle of the second but a short run capped by a kill from senior outside hitter Am'ra Solomon (7k, 2e, 16att, .312) gave the Bears set point. Lloyd took a set from Cutura and put it down for a kill to effectively end the second set with a 25-18 Cal win.

The Bears opened up the match firing on all cylinders to jump out to a 10-3 lead thanks in part to four kills from junior middle hitter Mindi Wiley who ended up with seven on the day (0e, 13att, .538). The Bears found themselves up by nine at 19-10 by capitalizing on several Oregon State errors. After a bit of a stall, Cal got back on track and completed the 25-14 first-set win when Murrey put down her third kill on an assist from Lloyd. The Bears hit .417 in the first set (18k, 3e, 36att) and held the Beavers to eight kills and four errors on 33 attacks (.121). Hawari got four of her five kills in the first set and ended up without an attack error on 11 attacks (.455). She also logged a career-high four assists in the match.

Cal heads to the Pacific-Northwest for two road matches against Pac-10 foes No. 9 Washington (Oct. 3, 7 p.m.) and Washington State (Oct. 4, 7 p.m.). The Bears won both matches against the Cougars last season and split their meetings with the Huskies, falling 3-1 on the road, but winning 3-2 at home. For more information and updated statistics, please visit CalBears.com.