No. 19 Saint Louis Upsets No. 10 Golden Bears in 3-0 Sweep

The California volleyball team sustained its second loss at the Wahine Classic to a tough Billiken squad

Sept. 5, 2009

HONOLULU - The No. 10-ranked California volleyball team (2-3) surrendered a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-22) to No. 19 Saint Louis (3-2) today (Sept. 5) in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Golden Bears were paced by senior outside hitter Hana Cutura's 17 kills (4e, 38att, .342). Cal posted a .208 attack percentage in the match (40k, 18e, 106att) but was outdone by a Billiken squad that attacked at a .296 rate to get 46 kills (12e, 115att).

Junior setter Carli Lloyd led the Bears with 34 assists as she added four kills (0e, 7att, .571) and seven digs. Senior libero Kristen Kathan had a team-high 12 digs with junior defensive specialist Meagan Schmitt in tow with 10 digs. Senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley added five kills (3e, 10att, .200) as did freshman opposite Correy Johnson (5k, 2e, 12att, .250). Saint Louis senior outside hitter Bridget Fonke led the Billikens with 14 kills (1e, 28att, .464); junior outside hitter Megan Boken added 12 kills (4e, 29att, .276) with senior setter Whitney Roth racking up 36 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.

Facing a three-all tie in the third set, three Billiken blockers went up to stop a Cutura attack for the 4-3 lead. Saint Louis stretched its lead to five points before a kill by sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey put a stop to the three-point run. Down 9-5, the Bears ripped off their own run of four points to pull within a point at 9-8. Cal found itself down just one score again at 12-11 when Wiley bounced a kill shot down the line but Saint Louis kept the pressure on the Bears by going in front by four points several times. Down 21-17, Cal embarked on a 5-2 burst to pull within one point again at 23-22 as sophomore middle hitter Shannon Hawari blasted a kill off a quick set from Lloyd. It wasn't enough as the Billikens got consecutive kills from to end the match with a 25-22 win in the third set. The Bears logged 18 kills in the third set with just one error (37att) to put up a .459 attack percentage but were still a step behind the .487 rate posted by Saint Louis (21k, 2e, 39att).

With Cal holding a 6-5 first-set lead, Cutura went high off Billiken hands for a kill before she pulled back to drop a service ace on Saint Louis to give the Bears their largest lead of the set at 8-5. The Billikens stayed within striking distance just long enough to catch the Bears at 12-all as a Wiley attack went just wide of the line. Saint Louis sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Deno put in two consecutive service aces next to give the Billikens a two point lead. Cal was only able to take the lead once more on a Saint Louis error before the Billikens seized the lead for good to finish off the set, 25-20. The Bears attacked at a .030 rate, getting just eight kills against seven errors (33att) while Saint Louis posted 15 kills on 41 attacks (7e, .195).

After seeing the Bears go in front for the sixth time, the Billikens knotted the second set for the 13th time at 17-all. A costly net violation by Cal gave Saint Louis the advantage one last time at 18-17. The Bears weren't able to catch the Billikens again as Saint Louis went on an 8-3 run to end the set, 25-20. Cal logged 14 second-set kills (10e, 36att) to post a .111 attack percentage. The Billikens had 10 kills but only committed three errors on their 35 attacks to put up a .200 attack rate.

The Bears complete their three-match tournament schedule with a bout against host No. 4 Hawai'i on Sunday (Sept. 6) in a 5 p.m. HT (8 p.m. PT) match. Live stats and streaming video for the match is available via links at CalBears.com.