Sept. 3, 1997
Cal (2-1) Travels to Illinois State Tournament
THIS WEEK: Fri-Sat, Sept. 2-3 at Pepsi/Illinois State Classic, Redbird Arena, Normal, Illinois
Fri. Sept. 5 Cal vs. Murray State 5:00 p.m. Central time
Sat. Sept. 6 Cal vs. Tulsa 9:30 a.m. Central time
Sat. Sept. 6 Cal vs. Illinois State 4:30 p.m. Central time
SPIKERS AT ILLINOIS STATE TOURNEY: The Cal women's volleyball team (2-1) makes its second tournament appearance of the season, traveling to the Pepsi/Illinois State Tournament Sept. 5-6. The round-robin format provides the Bears with one match against each tourney opponent - Murray State (3-0), Tulsa (1-3), and Illinois State (1-2).
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Tourney host Illinois State is 1-2 on the season, and will face Illinois on Sept. 3, prior to opening tournament place. The Redbirds traveled to the Wahine Challenge in Hawaii last week, where they defeated USF in five games, lost to Kansas State in four games, and lost to Hawaii in five games. Last season, Illinois State went 29-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tulsa is 1-3 on the season, after opening the season with four matches at the North Texas Classic. The Golden Hurricane posted a four-game win over Lamar, and lost to Bradley, Baylor and North Texas. Last season, Tulsa finished with an 8-24 record. Murray State opened the season at the Air Force Tournament with a 3-0 record, posting wins over Alabama, Northwestern State and Air Force .The Racers posted a 25-10 record in 1996 and finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference.
CAL vs. THE OPPONENTS: Illinois State leads the series with Cal, 2-1, including a five-game win at the Golden Bear Classic last year. These will be the first meetings ever between Cal and Tulsa, and Cal and Murray State.
LAST WEEK: Cal opened the season with a second place finish at Colorado State's University Park Holiday Inn Classic. The Bears posted three-game victories over Northern Iowa and Central Michigan, and lost to No. 24-ranked Colorado State. Senior hitter Jessica Dinaberg was named to the All-Tournament team, with 28 kills, 18 digs and a .362 hitting percentage in eight tournament games.
DINABERG EYES MARK: Senior hitter Jessica Dinaberg (West Hills/El Camino HS) needs just 18 kills to become only the third player in Cal history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. The other two Bears in the 1,000-1,000 club are Lisa Arce (1987-90) and Tiffany Rochelle (1986-89). Dinaberg, who currently has 982 kills and 1,042 digs, will become just the 29th player in Pac-10 history to accomplish that feat.
SELBY STARTS STRONG: The Golden Bears got good production from sophomore middle blocker Amanda Selby (Sherman Oaks/Harvard-Westlake HS), who is in her first season at Cal after transferring from UCLA. Selby played in all nine games at the Colorado State tournament, racking up a total of 22 kills and 11 blocks. Against Central Michigan, Selby put down seven kills with no errors in 14 attempts (.500) and had seven blocks. She leads the Bears in blocking average (1.22 bpg) and is second in kill average (2.44 kpg) and hitting percentage (.288).
PERRY PROVIDES PUNCH: Redshirt freshman hitter Alicia Perry (Lakewood/Lakewood HS) made her debut at last weekend's Colorado State tournament, after sitting out last season to recover from a broken leg. After making brief appearances in the first two matches of the tourney, Perry started the Central Michigan match and made her presence felt with three kills, three service aces, two blocks and a team-high eight digs.
KRISTE CLIMBS: Sophomore setter Jennifer Kriste (Los Angeles/Harvard-Westlake HS) recorded 92 assists in eight games (11.50 apg) at the Colorado State tournament, and moved into eighth place on the career assist charts at Cal (651 assists). This year, she ranks fourth on the team in dig average (2.00 dpg) and blocking average (0.50 bpg).
DINABERG ALL-TOURNEY: Senior hitter Jessica Dinaberg, a four-year starter, was the only Cal player to earn All-Tournament honors at Colorado State last weekend. Dinaberg led the Bears with 12 kills in the win over Northern Iowa and 11 kills in a win over Central Michigan. She averaged 3.50 kills and 2.25 digs per game, and hit a team-high .362 for the weekend's nine games.
HEAD COACH SUE WOODSTRA: Sue Woodstra is in her third year at the helm of the Golden Bears, with a record of 23-26 at Cal. A two-time Olympic team member and one of nine Olympians to currently head a women's collegiate volleyball team, Woodstra has posted a 133-75 record in six seasons as a collegiate head coach, including four years at Pittsburgh. Woodstra's assistant coaches this season are Oscar Crespo, Stephanie Shrieve and Ed Cohen.
