Nov. 11, 2011

Final Stats

PULLMAN, Wash. - On 11-11-11 in front of 1,111 fans on No. 11 Kat Brown's birthday, the No. 5 California volleyball team kept its winning streak against Washington State intact with a 3-0 victory (26-24, 25-20, 25-22) over the Cougars on Friday evening at Bohler Gym.

The Golden Bears have not lost to WSU since 2002, owning an 18-0 record in the last eight seasons and a 36-22 all-time record. Cal moves to 24-4 overall and 14-4 in the Pac-12 while the Cougs drop to 12-15 and 4-13 in the Conference.

Washington State opened the match with a 7-3 lead that the Cougars would soon relinquish towards the end of set one. Cal looked poised for a 25-21 set-one victory, but four unanswered points by WSU made the Bears work for the ultimate 26-24 win. Holding a 17-16 advantage in set two, the Bears tallied six unanswered points en route to the 25-20 victory. Set three saw nine ties and the lead change hands five times before the Bears pulled out the 25-22 victory.

Tarah Murrey paced the Bears with 16 kills (e3, 37att, .371) for 18.5 points. Shannon Hawari led all players with five blocks. Hawari hit .462 with eight kills and five blocks en route to 10.5 points. Also amassing 10.5 points was Correy Johnson, who had three aces, seven kills and one block. Elly Barrett dished out 37 assists and Robin Rostratter accumulated 15 digs.

Meagan Ganzer paced all players with 19 kills and 21 points. Cal out hit the Cougs, .340-.211, and out blocked them, 8-4.

Set One - Cal 26, WSU 24:

Fully immersed into the front-row attack, Adrienne Gehan accounted for half of Cal's four points though her Bears trailed 7-4 after the Cougs opened the night with four unanswered points. Elly Barrett dumped the ball and then put down a spike for Cal to pull ahead for the first time in the set at 9-8. After things had been tied at nine, 10 and 11, Correy Johnson made quick work of an Elly Barrett back set to knot the score at 12. An authoritative swing by Tarah Murrey not only tied the set at 15, but also jump-started the Cal offense, which proceeded to go on a 7-2 run to surge ahead 21-17. Facing a Cal set point at 24-21, the Cougars scored three straight points, capped off with a kill by Meagan Ganzer to knot it at 24. Coming out of a timeout, Adrienne Gehan notched her third kill of the night and then Ganzer hit the ball long for set point.

Kat Brown and Correy Johnson put up back-to-back kills for a 3-1 lead. Johnson served up an ace to bring the score to six all. With a swing off a Robin Rostratter bump set, Tarah Murrey created the match's 12th tie, this one at 10-10. WSU pushed ahead 13-10, but a block by Kat Brown and Correy Johnson followed by two Johnson kills absolutely ignited the Cal bench and returned the lead to the Bears at 14-13. Johnson's serving arm proved to be effective to the sixth degree for with the Winter Park, Fla., native back to serve, the Bears rattled off sixth straight points, two of which were aces. Though the Cougars followed that up with four points, it was too little too late and Cal earned the 25-20 victory.

Set Three - Cal 25, WSU 22:

Sporting her number seven, Shannon Hawari scored Cal's seventh point of the third set with a kill to lead 7-6. An ace by Marlee Davis and a block from Hawari and Tarah Murrey upped the Bear's advantage to 9-6. After the Cougars had crawled their way to a one-point lead, Cal put together a 5-1 run to regain the lead at 17-14. Washington State tied the set at 17 and 18, but a block from Elly Barrett and Kat Brown distanced the Bears by two at 20-18. Tarah Murrey kills sandwiched a three-point spurt by the Cougars, holding Cal's lead at two, 23-21. With a line shot

What's Next:

The Bears head to the Emerald City for a 7 p.m. match-up at No. 11 Washington on Saturday.