Sept. 23, 2005
BERKELEY, CALIF. - The No. 25-ranked California women's volleyball team (8-2, 1-0) made school history, upsetting No. 13-ranked UCLA (7-3, 0-1), 3-0 (30-26, 30-24, 30-28) Friday evening at Haas Pavilion. It was the first time the Golden Bears had ever defeated the Bruins in women's volleyball, snapping a 0-47 streak behind the hitting of sophomores Angie Pressey and Ellen Orchard. Pressey finished the match with a team-high 19 kills, while Orchard added 12 kills and hit .333 for the match (12k, 4e, 24att).
Cal had other exceptional efforts. Junior setter Samantha Carter tallied 48 assists, junior libero Jillian Davis added a team-high 18 digs and senior defensive specialist Alexis Kollias notched three service aces. Senior Jenna Brown and freshman Morgan Beck chipped in nine kills apiece, and senior Alicia Powers had seven kills.
"We played very consistent tonight," said Cal coach Rich Feller. "Throughout the match UCLA kept on pushing us, but we were able to push back harder. We had worked the team hard this week and they responded and were able to take it with them on the court. We practiced hard and it paid off."
The Bears had a strong offensive attack in the first two games, outhitting UCLA, .306 (20k. 9e, 36att) to .267 (10k, 2e, 30att) in game one, and .349 (19k, 4e, 43att) to .271 (18k, 5e, 48att) in game two. Game three was the toughest for Cal. Block assists by Pressey and Orchard snapped a 26-26 tie. The Bears then went up 28-26 on a hitting error by UCLA's Nancy Barba. The Bruins got back within, 28-27, on a kill by Kaitlin Sather, but Cal responded with block assists by Orchard and Carter. Again, Sather got UCLA within one with a kill to make the score, 29-28, but the Bears were finally able to end the streak on Pressey's match-winning kill.
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Cal will next host No. 12-ranked USC, Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.
