No. 15 Ducks Fly the Coop in Sweep of No. 14 Golden Bears

The California volleyball team surrendered its fourth conference loss as the Ducks posted a .402 attack rate

Oct. 16, 2009

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 14-ranked California volleyball team (9-7, 2-4 Pac-10) fell in three sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) to No. 15 Oregon (13-3, 3-3 Pac-10) today (Oct. 16) at McArthur Court. The Golden Bears posted a .283 attack percentage (37k, 11e, 92att) but allowed the Ducks to claim the upper hand with a .402 attack rate (47k, 10e, 92att). Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura paced Cal with 13 kills (1e, 33att, .364).

Senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley scored eight kills without an error (11att, .727) alongside sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey, who also had eight kills (6e, 24att, .083). Senior libero Kristen Kathan had a match high with 11 digs and junior setter Carli Lloyd dished out 29 assists to go with eight digs of her own. Oregon senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe led the Ducks with 13 kills (1e, 22att, .545) and had a double-double with 10 digs and two service aces while senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi had 11 kills (1e, 15att, .667). Junior outside hitter Heather Meyers added nine kills (5e, 21att, .190) and four digs for the Ducks.

The teams shared five ties top open the first set before the Ducks pulled out to a three-point advantage on three straight kill from Enesi. The Bears fought to stay close and came to within two at 21-19 as Cutura crushed a high ball from Lloyd for a cross-court kill. Oregon replied to get a kill before a Cutura attack went wide to drag the Ducks out to a four-point lead at 23-19. Oregon claimed set point on a service ace by senior libero Amanda Westrick before a kill by Newcombe sealed a 25-20 win for the Ducks. The Bears stayed away from offensive errors in the first set as they registered a .458 attack percentage (13k, 2e, 24att) and no service errors but allowed Oregon to post a .516 rate (19k, 3e, 31att) and four service aces in the first set.

The Ducks took the first lead of the second set but Cal went up, 5-4, as freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson sent a shot down the line on a slide play. The teams met at seven-all as Wiley was called for a net violation before the Ducks reeled off eight straight points to lead, 15-8. The next nine points went Oregon's way through a 6-3 run to put the Ducks up by 10 points, 21-11. A service error by Lloyd gave Oregon set point at 24-14 but the Bears refused to go down without a fight as Cutura served five straight points for Cal before a cut-shot by Meyers ended the set, 25-19, for Oregon. The Ducks continued to attack efficiently in the second set as they logged a .344 percentage (14k, 3e, 32att) while the Bears came up with 11 kills (4e, 35att) and a .200 attack percentage.

The Bears fell behind early in the third set and allowed Oregon to earn a three-point advantage at 9-6. Two straight kills by Wiley helped stem the tide and brought Cal within two points before freshman middle hitter Tia Gaffen and Cutura teamed up for a block to knot the score at 10-all. The Bears took a brief lead at 12-11 when an Oregon attack went wide but the Ducks regained control and went ahead by as many as six points at 23-17 on a kill by Newcombe. Cal got its legs and claimed the next three points on a kill by Wiley, a solo block by Cutura and a service ace by freshman defensive specialist Robin Rostratter to force an Oregon timeout but the Ducks persisted and got its last two points on kills to close out the match. The Ducks stayed hot and posted a .345 attack percentage in the final set (14k, 4e, 29att) while the Bears came out with a .242 attack rate with 13 kills (5e, 33att).

The Bears face Oregon State (11-7, 2-4 Pac-10) in a 7 p.m. PT match tomorrow (Oct. 17) at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore. Visit www.osubeavers for live stats and free streaming video as the Bears take on the Beavers.