Oct. 25, 2009
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BERKELEY - The No. 15-ranked California volleyball team (12-7, 5-4 Pac-10) won its third consecutive match in a three-set sweep (25-18, 25-17, 25-13) of Arizona State (11-10, 1-8 Pac-10) Sunday, Oct. 25, at Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears were led by senior outside hitter Hana Cutura's match-high 21 kills (3e, 32att, .562). Cutura moved past fellow All-American outside hitter Angie Pressey (2004-07) into third place all-time at Cal with 1,736 career kills.
Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey put up 11 kills (1e, 24att, .417) and posted her fifth double-double of the season with 10 digs. Senior libero Kristen Kathan led all players with 18 digs and senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley posted seven kills (2e, 16att, .312) to go along with five blocks. Junior setter Carli Lloyd dished out 38 assists and nabbed three kills (0e, 7att, .429). The Sun Devils were paced by junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves, who had 14 kills (7e, 39att, .179) to go with a team-high 13 digs.
Cal enjoyed its best offensive match of the year with a season-high .426 attack percentage. The Bears put down 49 kills on 101 attacks with just six errors. The Sun Devils were held to a .109 attack percentage with 30 kills on 101 attacks (19e) as the Bears out-blocked Arizona State, 9.0-2.0, and out-dug the Devils, 44-38.
After three straight hitting errors put the Bears behind, 11-10, Cutura got a kill out of the back row to pull the third set into its sixth tie at 11-all. Freshman defensive specialist Robin Rostratter came in to serve and forced an overplayed pass, which Lloyd slammed to the ground for Cal's final lead of the match. The Bears ended up ripping off a 15-2 run to close the match with a 25-13 win in the third set. Rostratter served four straight points before Murrey went back to serve six straight points. The Bears led, 22-13, before Lloyd dumped a pass from Murrey. Freshman middle hitter Tia Gaffen took a quick set from Lloyd and recorded a kill to give the Bears set match point before Cutura flew in from the left side and blasted her 21st kill of the night off Reaves to seal Cal's 3-0 sweep of the Sun Devils. The Bears put up 15 kills in the final set and attacked at a .314 rate (4e, 35att) but also held the Arizona State attack at bay with a -.056 attack percentage (6k, 8e, 36att).
The Bears never trailed in the first set and pulled out to an 11-4 lead as Rostratter served five straight points. Cal had 19 kills without an error (33att) and logged an astronomical .576 attack percentage to go with a 72 percent sideout rate. The Sun Devils were able to maintain a steady attack of their own with 12 kills (3e, 28att, .321) but the Bears maintained their lead throughout the set and never led by fewer than three points. Arizona State pulled within three at 19-16 as Reaves earned a kill, but Cal got consecutive kills from Cutura and Murrey to go ahead by five once again. Cutura put in two straight kills of her own to earn a 24-17 set-point advantage for the Bears before an attack error by Reaves ended the set, 25-18, for Cal.
Cal got out to a slow start in the second set before a 16-4 run made the score 25-17 and gave the Bears a 2-0 match lead. Three straight Arizona State kills put the Sun Devils out in front by five points at 12-7, but Lloyd dumped a pass from Cutura to earn a kill and spark the Bear run. Wiley stepped out to get a kill on a slide play to pull Cal within three points at 13-10, which brought Kathan to the corner to serve. Cutura and Gaffen teamed up to stuff Reaves and Kathan logged a service ace to pull the Bears within a point at 13-12. Gaffen got together with Lloyd for another block to knot the set at 13-all before Cal took off to seize a five-point advantage at 19-14. The Devils got a couple of points but a solo block by Wiley gave the Bears set point. Then Murrey stepped up and got the final kill of the set. The Bears posted 15 kills (2e, 33att, .394) and held Arizona State to a .108 attack percentage (12k, 8e, 37att) in the second set by earning points on five blocks.
The Bears remain home for two matches next weekend as they host UCLA (16-6, 6-3 Pac-10) on Friday, Oct. 30 in a 7 p.m. match and USC (15-6, 4-5 Pac-10) for a Halloween bout on Saturday, Oct. 31. Please check CalBears.com for more information.
