Nov. 20, 2009

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TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 11-ranked California volleyball team (18-8, 11-5 Pac-10) defeated Arizona State (13-14, 3-12 Pac-10) in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27) Friday, Nov. 20, at Wells Fargo Arena to earn its sixth consecutive victory. Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura led the Golden Bears to the win as she posted her 10th double-double of the season with 19 kills (7e, 50att, .240) and 19 digs; tying her career high.

Senior libero Kristen Kathan had 15 digs and moved ahead of Tiffany Rochelle (1986-89) into third place all-time at Cal in career digs with 1,410. Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey added 15 kills (6e, 38att, .237) and five digs and senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley had 11 kills (6e, 28att, .179) and four blocks. Junior setter Carli Lloyd put up 49 assists to go with five kills (2e, 9att, .333) and five digs. Freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson put down seven kills (3e, 13att, .308) to go with four blocks and freshman middle hitter Kat Brown had a career-high six kills (2e, 12att, .333) and added four blocks as well. The Bears attacked at a .245 rate in the match as they logged 63 kills (26e) on 151 attacks.

Arizona State junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves tied for team-high honors with 15 kills (8e, 47att, .149) and added 10 digs. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Kastl also had 15 kills (6e, 34att, .265). Junior libero Sarah Johnson led all players with 21 digs and had one of the Sun Devils' six service aces. ASU posted a .164 attack percentage with 54 kills (29e, 152att).

After Cutura's kill tied the final set at 27-all, Murrey put a shot through the Devil block out of the back row to give the Bears the final lead of the match. On the next play, freshman defensive specialist Robin Rostratter dug up a ball and Lloyd set a high ball to Cutura that she knocked down for her 19th kill of the night and a 29-27 Cal win in the final set. The Bears put up 21 kills (9e, 48att) and attacked at a .250 rate in the final stanza while the Devils had 14 kills (7e, 45att) and logged a .156 attack percentage.

Cal earned the first four points of the fourth set on kills but the Devils earned the next three to stay close. Reaves earned a kill to pull the set into its first tie at nine-all but the Bears went ahead, 13-10, amidst a 6-2 run that put Cal up, 16-12. Arizona State responded with a 4-1 run of its own to pull within a point at 17-16, but the Bears pulled off a three-point run of their own to earn a 20-16 lead as Johnson and Brown blocked an attack by ASU sophomore outside hitter Sofie Schlagintweit in the middle. Once again, the Devils responded with a run of their own and ripped off the next six points to go up, 22-20. The Bears fought back once more to draw within a point at 23-22 as Brown earned a kill off a quick set from Lloyd before Cal knotted the set for the seventh time as Cutura blasted a shot off the ASU block.

The teams faced their 11th tie of the opening set at 17-all but the Bears took a Sun Devil attack error and opened up a three-point lead at 20-17 as Lloyd dumped a pass from Cutura for a kill. Arizona State made another push to come within a point at 22-21 as one of Cutura's attacks hit the net. Cutura put her next shot off the Devil block to put the Bears up, 23-21 before an ASU error gave Cal two set points to work with. Cutura's cross-court shot earned her sixth kill of the set and sealed the 25-22 win for the Bears. Cal posted a .286 attack rate with 14 kills (4e, 35att) in the first set and held the Devil attack to a .128 rate on 39 attacks (15k, 10e).

Cal opened up a four-point advantage in the second set at 7-3 as Murrey put a shot down the line but the Sun Devils stayed their ground and pulled into an 11-all tie as Kastl earned a kill off an overplayed Bear dig. The Arizona State block came alive in the second set as the Devils out-did the Bears 4.0-2.0 to hold Cal's attack to a .108 rate (14k, 10e, 37att). The Bears pulled the set into its third tie at 15-all as Johnson connected with Lloyd on a slide play for a kill but the Devils pulled away to lead by three at 22-19 as Kastl put a kill through the Cal block. The Bears came within a point at 22-21 but Arizona State pressed once more and earned set point as an errant Cal attack made the score 24-21 for the Devils. Cal put up one more point as Cutura took a kill through the ASU block but her next shot hit the antenna as the Sun Devils pulled the match into a one-set-all tie. Arizona State attacked at a .222 rate (13k, 5e, 36att) in the second set.

The Bears ran up a 7-3 lead as Johnson took a set from Wiley and put the ball down for a kill from the right side. The Devils made their run to get within a point at 14-13 as Schlagintweit earned a service ace. The Bears pushed back and pulled out to a four-point lead again at 20-16 to force an Arizona State timeout. Cal never trailed after the Sun Devils took the first point of the set and earned set point at 24-20 as Murrey went high of ASU hands for a kill. Cutura went back to serve the next point and rocketed an ace off of Reaves to end the set, 25-20, for Cal. The Bears attacked at a .355 rate in the set and had 14 kills on 31 attacks (3e) while the Devils posted 12 kills (7e, 32att) for a .156 attack percentage.

The Bears head down the interstate to face No. 19 Arizona (18-8, 7-8 Pac-10) in a 1 p.m. MST match at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday, Nov. 22.