Aug. 25, 2012

Final Stats

SAN DIEGO - The No. 17 Cal volleyball team finished Saturday with a split of its pair of season-opening matches at the Aztec Invitational, falling to host San Diego State on Saturday night, 25-22, 20-25, 25-17, 15-25, 15-11.

Earlier in the day, the Bears defeated Delaware in a sweep.

Adrienne Gehan led the Bears (1-1) against the Aztecs with 21 kills and nine digs. Freshman opposite hitter Lara Vukasovic had 11 kills and five blocks. Christina Higgins also had 11 kills for Bears.

The Bears fell behind early in the first set but came back to shave the deficit to 23-22 before falling. The second set was back-and-forth, but after trailing 20-19, Cal scored the final six points to even the match.

San Diego State (2-0) led comfortably throughout the third set but the same could be said about the Bears in the fourth. Cal was down 12-9 in the deciding set but scored back-to-back points to force an Aztecs timeout. SDSU responded with three points in a row to close things out.

"I have to be happy with a lot of things," Cal coach Rich Feller said. "We were playing the second match of the day, on the road with three freshman in the starting lineup. I feel we battled pretty well."

The Bears will next be in action Friday, Aug. 31 at the Wahine Volleyball Classic at the University of Hawaii. Cal begins the three-day tournament by meeting Baylor at 8 p.m. PT.

"We always learn from every match, win or lose," Feller said. "We just learn a few different lessons when we lose."

Gehan, who had 18 kills in the win over the Blue Hens, was named to the all-tournament team.