Anteaters Stun No. 6 Golden Bears in Five-Set Thriller

The California volleyball team falls in its season opener at the Nevada Marriott Courtyard/Fairfield Invitational

Aug. 28, 2009

RENO, Nev. - The No. 6-ranked California volleyball team (0-1) fell in five sets (19-25, 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 15-12) to UC Irvine (1-0) today (Aug. 28) in the Nevada Marriott Courtyard/Fairfield Invitational at the Virginia Street Gym. The Golden Bears were led by senior outside hitter Hana Cutura's 19 kills (6e, 43att, .302) and sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey's 15 kills (8e, 37att). Cutura moved into fourth all-time at Cal in career kills with 1,395 and added 9 digs for a near double-double. Senior libero Kristen Kathan led all players with 16 digs and senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley contributed 10 kills while leading the Bears in attack percentage (.389, 3e, 18att).

The Anteaters forced the Bears to play their game in the fifth set, keeping Cal at bay for most of the final period. The teams traded blows to the tune of eight ties until UC Irvine put a kill off the Cal touch to go up 10-9. The Anteaters went ahead by four points at 13-9 to force the Bears into a timeout. Coming out of the break, Cal charged back with a big point from Cutura but was stymied when a dug ball went off the ceiling for a point to give UC Irvine a 14-10 lead. Two more points went Cal's way before the Anteaters finished things off, 15-12, with the final kill of the match. The Bears put up an impressive .444 attack rate in the fifth set (9k, 1e, 18att) but were outdone by the .455 rate that UC Irvine attacked at (12k, 2e, 22att).

UC Irvine was led by junior transfer outside hitter Juliane Piggott, who posted a match-high 20 kills (6e, 46att) and logged a .304 attack percentage to go along with 11 digs for a double-double. Fellow junior outside Kari Pestolesi chipped in with 17 kills (7e, 41att, .429) and put up 10 digs as well to record her own double-double. For the Bears, junior setter Carli Lloyd led the way with 47 assists and 11 digs while freshman middle hitter Correy Johnson came out in her first match with six kills on 12 attacks (2e, .333). Sophomore middle hitter Shannon Hawari put in six kills as well (3e, 14att, .214) and added five assists and four blocks to her stat line.

The Bears never trailed in the first set after they jumped out to a 7-3 lead on Murrey's third kill of the match. But it was Lloyd who knocked down an overplayed ball to clinch the set for Cal, 25-19. The Bears attacked at a .481 clip in the opening stanza, as they nabbed 16 kills on 27 attacks (3e). Murrey led the way with her six kills. Cutura ranked second with five kills in the first set (1e, 9att, .444). The Anteaters made a short run to pull within two points at 20-18 with a tip kill but the Bears finished things off as they held UC Irvine to a .125 attack percentage (8k, 5e, 24att).

Cal hit a rough patch in the second set and managed to attack at just a .081 rate (10k, 7e, 37att) while allowing the Anteaters to put up a .205 attack percentage (14k, 6e, 39att). With the score tied for the sixth time at nine all, UC Irvine began to make its move and pulled away to lead by as many as six points on two occasions. The Bears responded to get within four points at 23-19, as Johnson scored a kill on a slide play. But UC Irvine stood fast and came up with the 25-20 win to knot the match at one set apiece.

UC Irvine rode its hot hand into the third set as it jumped out to a 7-1 lead. The Bears were able to claw their way back to within one point at 13-12 when Lloyd claimed a kill on second contact but the Anteaters pushed right back to get out to a 19-12 lead. Murrey stopped the bleeding with a big kill that started a 5-3 Cal run to put the Bears behind by just four points at 22-18. That was all the quarter UC Irvine would give as the Anteaters pulled away to take the third set, 25-19, claiming a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bears claimed 12 kills and attacked at a .192 rate (7e, 26att) in the third set but could not keep up with UC Irvine's .346 attack percentage (13k, 4e, 25att).

Cal made the first move in the fourth set, racing out to a 7-4 lead as Hawari turned a slide play into her fifth kill for a point. UC Irvine responded in kind to pull the set into a tie at eight all and then took the lead itself as the Anteaters capitalized on Cal errors. The Bears pushed back once more when Lloyd went up and recorded a solo block to pull her team within a point at 13-12. Lloyd's dump from Murrey tied the match at 13-all before the Bears began their run to a 25-19 fourth-set win. Cal jumped out in front by as many as eight points at 24-16 when Murrey went through the block for her 12th kill of the night. The Anteaters made another short run before Murrey put a shot off the UC Irvine block to finish things off. The Bears put up a .250 attack percentage in the fourth set (14k, 7e, 28att) and held the Anteaters to .172 (10k, 5e, 29att).

The Bears return to Virginia Street Gym tomorrow (Aug. 29) for a 4:30 p.m. PT match against Saint Mary's College (1-0).