Sept. 18, 2009

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BERKELEY - California volleyball senior outside hitter Hana Cutura logged her third double-double of the season with 25 kills and 14 digs as she led the 13th-ranked Golden Bears (6-3) to their fourth-consecutive victory. Cal defeated Saint Mary's College in four sets (25-14, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18) tonight (Sept. 18) in the 2009 Pac-10/WCC Challenge at Haas Pavilion. The Gaels' fall to 7-2 with both losses coming in four sets at the hands of the Bears.

Cutura was one of three Bears to record a new season high in digs. Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey had 17 digs to go with five kills and senior libero Kristen Kathan tied a season high with 18 digs. Kathan recorded her 1,131th career dig tonight to move into an ninth-place tie with Alicia Perry (1997-00) for all-time career digs at Cal. Senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley had a season high 14 kills (5e, .346) on a career-high 26 attacks. Freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson posted her highest attacking marks with seven kills (0e, 13att, .538) while adding three blocks. Junior setter Carli Lloyd tied her career high with seven kills (2e, 11att, .455) and led the way with 49 assists to go with eight digs and three blocks. Saint Mary's freshman outside hitter Lauren Corp led the Gaels with 10 kills (5e, 46att, .109) while senior libero Alita Fisher led all players with 19 digs.

The Bears attacked at a .310 percentage (61k, 17e, 142att) in the match and had 10.0 team blocks while holding the Gaels to a .173 rate (47k, 21e, 150att). Cal's 72 digs and 58 assists were each season high marks for the team.

Holding onto a three-point lead in the fourth set, a Saint Mary's attacking error put the Bears up, 22-18. Lloyd's solo block and kill gave the Bears six set-points to work with. Cal only needed one as junior defensive specialist Meagan Schmitt served up the Bears' fifth ace of the match to end the set, 25-18. The Gaels took the first lead of the fourth but the Bears clawed back to go in front by three on a Cutura kill; 13-10. Saint Mary's led by a point once more before Lloyd and freshman middle hitter Kat Brown teamed up for a block to tie the score at 14-all. Johnson's kill gave the Bears a 15-14 lead that they would never relinquish. Cal posted a .231 attack percentage in the fourth set (15k, 6e, 39att) while the Gaels had 10 kills (6e) on 43 attacks to log a .093 attack rate.

The Bears opened up the match with three kills and a solo block from Cutura to take a 4-0 lead and never trailed in the first set. Holding a 14-10 lead, Wiley connected on a slide to get a point; sandwiched by three kills from Cutura. Next, Wiley and Lloyd teamed up for a block to make the score 19-10. The Bears went up by as many as 11 points with a 21-10 lead before the Gaels were able to get back into things. Cutura's sixth kill of the opening set gave the Bears set point at 24-13. Brown turned a quick set from Lloyd into a point for a 25-14 Cal win. Brown finished the match with three kills (0e, 5att, .600) and three blocks. The Bears had 18 kills (4e, 34att, .412) in the first set and held the Gaels to just nine (4e, 34att) and a .147 attack rate.

Cal continued to roll in the second set as it jumped out to a 21-12 lead thanks to a solo block and a kill by Johnson. Johnson and Wiley met up at the net to turn away a Saint Mary's attack to give the Bears a 24-15 lead. After a couple of stalls because of errors, Cal closed out the set, 25-17, on a Wiley kill shot. The Bears posted a .222 attack rate in the second set with 13 kills (5e, 36att) and held the Gaels to their worst single-set output of the night with 10 kills (8e, 38att) and a .053 attack rate.

After the break, the Bears struggled to pull away from a re-energized Saint Mary's squad to fall behind by four points, 10-6, as Corp registered a kill off the Cal block. The Bears rallied to climb within a point, down 13-12, as Lloyd notched a kill on an overplayed service reception but the Gaels pulled away again to lead by as many as five points at 20-15. Cal responded with a short run to force a Saint Mary's timeout when Cutura blasted a kill through the Gael block to get the Bears within two points at 21-19. Cutura logged two more points but four kills by Saint Mary's was too much for Cal to overcome as the Gaels forced a fourth set with a 25-21 win. Saint Mary's came on strong in the third with a .429 attack rate (18k, 3e, 35att) that nullified the Bears' strong showing with 15 kills (2e, 33att) and a .394 attack percentage.

The Bears host San Francisco (5-6) in a 7 p.m. match tomorrow (Sept. 19) at Haas Pavilion. The Dons fell in four sets tonight at Stanford. Please check CalBears.com for updates and information.