No. 12 Bears Ground No. 16 Ducks in Four-Set Senior-Day Win

California volleyball senior outside hitter Hana Cutura led the Bears to their fifth straight victory with 28 kills

Nov. 15, 2009

BERKELEY - California volleyball senior outside hitter Hana Cutura celebrated Senior Day by leading the No. 12-ranked California volleyball team (17-8, 10-5 Pac-10) with a match-high 28 kills (5e, 52att, .442) to a four-set (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16) win over No. 16 Oregon (16-8, 6-8 Pac-10) on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Haas Pavilion. Cutura recorded her team-leading ninth double-double in the process as she posted 10 digs. Senior libero Kristen Kathan led all players with 18 digs and senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley added seven kills (5e, 19att, .105) and three blocks as the Golden Bears won their fifth straight match in their regular-season home finale.

Cutura's 28 kills put her season total at 493, which is good for Cal's sixth-best single-season output. Cutura also logged Cal's fifth-best single season kills mark with 499 in 2008 and the seventh best total in 2007 with 485. Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey had 16 kills (4e, 36att, .333) and added eight digs and five blocks while freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson chipped in nine kills (2e, 19att, .368) and three blocks. Junior setter Carli Lloyd put up 54 assists to go with 10 digs for her seventh double-double as the Bears attacked at a .341 rate in the match (63k, 17e, 135att).

Oregon junior outside hitter Heather Meyers led the Ducks with 13 kills on 34 swings (6e, .206) and tied for the team-lead with 11 digs. Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe had nine kills (7e, 39att, .051) and also had 11 digs. Senior middle blocker Neticia Enesi added 11 kills (6e, 24att, .208) for Oregon to go with three blocks. The Ducks had 46 kills as a team (24e, 131att) to log a .168 attack rate.

After facing the seventh tie of the set at nine-all, the Bears quickly built a seven-point advantage at 18-11 as Cutura earned four kills and a service ace through a 5-1 Cal run. The Bears solidified their block and rejected several Newcombe attacks to push out to a 22-13 advantage as Murrey earned a kill down the line. Murrey put another shot off the Duck block to make the score 23-14 before Oregon came back with a couple of points but the Ducks couldn't get out of their own way as an errant attack by Meyers set Cal up with match point before a service error surrendered the match to the Bears. Cal attacked at a .462 rate in the final stanza with 14 kills (2e, 26att) and held the Ducks to their lowest output of the match with a .074 rate on 27 swings (9k, 7e).

Cal opened the match strong as it staved off the Oregon attack to lead, 14-10, on a tip kill by Cutura. The Bears continued to build that lead to six points at 18-12 as Lloyd and Johnson connected on a slide play. The Ducks cut the Cal advantage to two points at 18-16 as Enesi served up an ace but the Bears responded to go up, 23-20, as Cutura took a set from freshman middle hitter Kat Brown for a kill. The Bears finished things out as a broken rally turned into a point and a 25-21 win for Cal. The Bears attacked at a .333 rate in the first set with 17 kills on 36 attacks (5e) and held the Oregon attack to a .139 rate with 12 kills (7e, 36att).

The Ducks earned a couple of two-point leads to open the second set but the Bears fought back to knot the score at 12-all as Johnson put a kill down the line on a slide play. Johnson earned two more points to give Cal a 14-13 lead as she took a high set from Wiley. Wiley stepped out for a kill of her own on a back set from Lloyd to give the Bears the last lead they would need at 15-14. Murrey got a kill on the next rally before Cutura rose up out of the back row to give the Bears a three-point lead at 17-14. Cal built that lead to five points at 21-16 as it got two straight blocks before Murrey sent a shot down the line to close the second set, 25-21, to give Cal a two set lead heading into the break. The Bears logged a .333 attack percentage in the set with 15 kills (4e, 33att) and out-paced Oregon's attack rate of .156 with 11 kills (6e, 32att).

The Ducks took command of the third set coming out of the break and after two ties, broke away to lead by five points at 11-6 on a kill by Meyers. The Bears maintained striking distance and pulled within three points at 14-11 as Murrey earned a kill off Oregon hands. The Ducks pushed back and went ahead by five points again at 17-12 but Cal stood fast and pulled into a 23-all tie as Wiley registered three consecutive kills of her own. The Ducks answered as Newcombe gave Oregon set point with the next kill before Cutura sent a shot long to give Oregon life with a win in the third set. The Bears had 17 kills (6e, 40att) and a .275 attack percentage in the third set while the Ducks had 14 kills (4e, 36att) with a .278 attack rate.

The Bears will finish the season on the road beginning with two matches in the desert next weekend. Cal will face Arizona State (13-13, 3-11 Pac-10) on Friday, Nov. 20, in Tempe, Ariz., and No. 18 Arizona (18-7, 7-7 Pac-10) on Sunday, Nov. 22, in Tucson, Ariz. Please check CalBears.com for more information.