No. 13 Trojans Edge No. 9 Golden Bears in Five Sets

California volleyball senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley posted career highs with 21 kills and 37 attacks against USC

Oct. 2, 2009

LOS ANGELES - The No. 9-ranked California volleyball team (8-4, 1-1 Pac-10) fell in a thrilling five-set finish (22-25, 29-27, 19-25, 25-16, 22-20) to No. 13 USC (13-2, 2-1 Pac-10) tonight (Oct. 2) at the Galen Center. The Golden Bears had their six-match winning streak snapped by the Trojans despite a banner night for senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley and freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson. Wiley recorded career-high marks in kills and attacks with 21 and 37 respectively (4e, .459) and added seven blocks while Johnson put up a career-high 15 kills (4e, 29att, .379) and nine blocks.

Cal notched a season-high 22.0 blocks and out-blocked USC, 22.0-13.0. The Bears also attacked at a higher rate than the Trojans as they recorded a .213 percentage (70k, 30e, 188att) and held USC to .177 (72k, 37e, 198att). Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura had 19 kills (11e, 53att, .151) and logged her fourth double-double of the season as she added 11 digs and six blocks. Cutura moved ahead of Alicia Perry (1997-00) into fourth place at Cal with 3,763 career attacks. Senior libero Kristen Kathan led the Bears with 18 digs and moved ahead of Tosha Commandant (1990-93) and Angie Pressey (2004-07) into sixth place at Cal with 1,181 career digs.

Junior setter Carli Lloyd put up 59 assists and added three kills, eight digs and six blocks on the night and sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey added nine kills (7e, 42att, .048) with 14 digs and six blocks. Freshman middle hitter Kat Brown had three kills (1e, 11att, .182) and added eight blocks while junior defensive specialist Meagan Schmitt tied a season high with 10 digs. USC senior outside hitter Jessica Gysin led the Women of Troy with 21 kills (8e, 51att, .255) but the Trojans had contributions from all three of their outside hitters as junior Kimmee Roleder posted 18 kills (7e, 42att, .262) and sophomore Alex Jupiter put up 19 kills (12e, 61att, .115).

Coming out of a Cal timeout, USC freshman defensive specialist Erin Yoder put her serve into the net to knot the score at 14-all in the fifth set. The teams faced tied scores seven times after that with Cal taking the lead on the first three. The Bears pulled into a 20-all tie as Cutura went cross-court for her 19th kill but Lloyd was called for a foot-fault on her serve to give the Trojans a 21-20 lead. After another furious rally, Cutura's attack went into the net to end the final set, 22-20.

The Bears raced out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth set as Johnson put her 14th kill through a pair of USC hands but the Trojans came back to get within a point at 5-4 as Williams earned a kill on a put-back play. Cal took a 7-4 lead as Murrey and Brown teamed up to block Roleder. But again, USC came back and got within a point at 8-7 with two straight kills. The Bears claimed a three-point lead at 11-8 when a serve by USC sophomore setter Kendall Bateman went wide but the Trojans got the next two points to force a Cal timeout. Jupiter tied the set for the first time at 11-all with a service ace and USC took its first fifth-set lead as one of Wiley's attacks went wide. Cutura did all she could to keep the Bears in the game as she tied the score at 12 with a kill and once more at 13 with a rocket of a cut shot but USC took its first match-point as Gysin tooled a kill off the Cal block to force the Bears into a timeout.

Cal surrendered the first four points of the match and fell behind by as many as seven points in the first set. USC held a 16-9 lead after Alex Jupiter put a kill through the Bear block but Cal began its run on the next play as Wiley and Lloyd connected on a slide play. The Bears began to chip away at the Trojan lead and reeled off four straight points to draw a one-point deficit at 17-16. Johnson, Brown and Cutura teamed up to get a big block to tie the set at 18-all. Johnson and Brown got up and blocked another USC attack to give Cal its first lead at 20-19. The Trojans forced two more tie scores but Cal took the final lead at 23-22 when Wiley put a shot through the block. Wiley got in on two block assists--one with Murrey and one with Lloyd--to end the set, 25-22. Wiley led the Bears with seven kills (0e, 10att, .700) as Cal posted a .190 attack percentage (16k, 8e, 42att) and held the USC attack to .083 (10k, 7e, 36att).

Both teams stayed step for step with each other in the second set until USC pulled away briefly. The Trojans went up by five points at 12-7 but the Bears fought back to gain a tie at 17-all when Bateman was called for a setting error. The Trojans reclaimed the lead, however until the Bears forced the sixth tie of the set at 21-all when Johnson and Cutura blocked Roleder at the net. Cal took the lead and earned a 24-23 set-point serve after Cutura blasted a kill through the USC block. But the Trojans had an answer and knotted the score at 25-all off a Jupiter kill. Wiley got her 12th kill of the night to give Cal set point once more at 27-26 but again, USC replied as Jupiter forced a 27-all tie. Jupiter took matters into her own hands with USC up 28-27 and earned the final point of the set. The Bears put up a .128 attack percentage in the second set (14k, 8e, 47att) and barely stayed in front of a USC attack that posted a .127 attack percentage with 19 kills (12e, 55att).

The third set opened up as a tug-of-war much like the second set but USC seized the first opportunity to pull away once again and raced out to a five-point advantage at 10-5. Lloyd dumped her pass to get a kill on the next play and sent the Bears off on a five-point run to tie the match at 10-all as Cutura blasted a kill off high hands. USC reeled off eight of the next 10 points to claim an 18-12 lead but three straight kills by Johnson put the Trojans on their heels to force a timeout. Cutura put down a service ace to pull the Bears within two points at 18-16 but the Trojans ended the four-point Cal run and built a seven-point lead by ripping off five straight points of their own. The Bears got two straight kills to bring them within five points at 24-19 but Jupiter put the set away for the Trojans with her 11th kill of the night. The Bears had 16 kills (8e, 36att) and attacked at a .222 rate but were outdone by USC's .560 attack percentage as the Trojans logged 15 kills with just one error on 25 attacks.

The Bears never trailed in the fourth set on the way to a 25-16 win. Cal evened the match at two sets apiece as Cutura put her 15th kill of the night off the USC block. The Bears attacked at a .355 rate, getting 14 kills on 31 attacks (3e) and held the USC attack to .000 as the Trojans logged 11 kills with 11 errors (35att). Cal went out in front by as many as 10 points as Murrey pushed a kill through the USC block for a 24-14 lead. The Trojans came back with two more points but it wasn't enough as the Bears sent the match to a fifth and decisive set.

Cal is back on the court tomorrow evening (Oct. 3) in a 7 p.m. match against No. 16 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. Please visit CalBears.com for live statistics, audio and video links.