Sept. 3, 2011

Final Stats

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Fueling on all cylinders in a complete team outing, the No. 1 California volleyball team secured a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-17, 25-18) over East Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Emerging as the only team to go undefeated at the Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup, the Golden Bears were led by the tournament's most valuable player in Adrienne Gehan, who had 14 kills (4e, 26 att, .346).

In three matches of play, Gehan had a team-high 39 kills and hit .385. Also joining her on the all-tournament team were Tarah Murrey, who had 23 kills and 27 digs, and Correy Johnson, who hit .429 with 23 kills cross the weekend.

Cal is 6-0 with its second weekend of play now complete while the Pirates are now 1-3.

Set one started evenly with four tie scores and two lead changes before the Bears pulled ahead for good, thanks to a six-dig and 15-set performance from Elly Barrett. An evenly balanced attack proved fruitful for Cal with Correy Johnson making five kills (0e, 5att, 1.000) while the Bears got four kills apiece from Adrienne Gehan (1e, 7att, .429) and Christina Higgins (2e, 11att, .182).

While the Bears struggled slightly in set two, hitting just .219, it was still four times as much as ECU's .050. Robin Rostratter made 11 digs in set two alone with Barrett setting 12. Kat Brown contributed 4.5 points with two blocks and a pair of kills.

Gehan got six of her 14 kills in set three for a team-high seven points. Barrett made 12 sets and four digs. Set three saw the Bears hit their best of the match at .229. The Bears led for the duration of set three.

Set One - Cal 25, ECU 18:

After a 7-2 run - led at the end by a kill from Christina Higgins and a solo block by Shannon Hawari - ECU called timeout to discuss its game plan. A pair of powerful hits the Bears could not get proper digs on brought ECU to within seven at 18-11. With a swift swing, Correy Johnson put Cal up, 19-11. Pirate Kelly Derby dumped the ball, making things slightly more interesting at 20-15. Out of a Cal timeout, the Bears dished out three straight points, inching closer to set point at 23-15. Hawari tipped the ball over for set point, bringing the final tally to 25-18.

Set Two - Cal 25, ECU 17:

Christina Higgins and Shannon Hawari coupled to make a killer stop after a long, well-played rally on both side, bringing the score to 10-4 in favor of the Bears. On a Hawari hit on the right side, the Pirates were no match, upping Cal's lead to 11-6. Not only one but two Pirates could not handle a serve from the one and only Elly Barrett, distancing Cal, 18-11. The right side was the strong side for Correy Johnson, who made her seventh kill of the day to put the Bears up by six. Kat Brown put it down in the middle of the net, making it 22-15. Johnson's mirror image in Christina Higgins laced a shot from the left side and then a bad set by Zarah Cecich cost ECU the set point.

Set Three - Cal 25, ECU 18:

The Pirates let a long serve from Adrienne Gehan go only to pay with a point, upping Cal's advantage to 11-3. A bad set from Shelby Beasley and a kill from Christina Higgins - with Gehan assisting - distanced the Bears 15-7. Shannon Hawari and Elly Barrett prove unstoppable on the far side with a well-timed block (20-11). The ECU defense could not handle a smack from Gehan with the bounce off the dig bounding out on Cal's side of the net, making it 21-14. The two squads traded points towards the end of the set on two Cal service errors but two ECU attacking errors - one of which ended up being the set point - but Cal's damage had already been done.

Next Week on the Court:

After the Labor Day Weekend journey to Virginia, Cal returns to Berkeley to host the Hilton Garden Inn Classic on Sept. 9 and 10. Sacramento State, Nevada, Texas-Arlington and Georgetown will all journey to Haas Pavilion for the eight-match, two-day tourney. For the complete schedule, please click here. Season tickets and individual match tickets are currently available for purchase.