Nov. 18, 2011

Final Stats

BERKELEY - Playing in only its second five-set match of the year, the No. 3 California volleyball could not overpower Oregon State, dropping the conference match 3-2 to the visiting Beavers on Friday night. Down 2-1, the Golden Bears handily won set four but could not muster a five-set victory, falling to the Beavers 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 14-25, 17-15.

"I'm really disappointed," Cal head coach Rich Feller said. "We had chances to score points as well as second and third opportunities that we did not capitalize on. Our blocking wasn't very good, and our defense was subpar."

After defeating OSU 3-1 in the first meeting of the year, the Bears split the 2011 series with Oregon State and fall to 25-5 and 15-5 in the Conference. The win stops a four-match losing streak for OSU, improving the Beavers to 15-14 overall and 7-12 in the Pac-12.

Overall, the Bears out hit the Beavers, .261-.246, a stat line that was ameliorated by a .483 outing in set four. OSU put up 15 blocks to Cal's eight though the Bears put up 83 digs to the Beavers' 75. Regardless of the final box score, consistency and 26 errors impeded the Cal attack.

"We failed to put strings of points together, except in set four," Feller said.

The final score notwithstanding, multiple players had a record-setting night, a complete list of which is available below. Tarah Murrey led Cal with 23 kills (8e, 67att, .224) while Lillian Schonewise hit a match-high .667 with 13 kills (1e, 18att). Correy Johnson was second on the team in kills with 15.

"We did see a few silver linings," Feller said. "Tarah had a solid match. She eliminated some errors and made some good plays, towards the end in particular. Lillian came in and lit some things in. Correy also had a solid match."

Though the Bears recovered from a 7-3 OSU run which established an early Beaver lead in set one to tie things at 18, 20, 21 and 22, Oregon State put up three straight scores to end the first set in a 25-22 victory. Lillian Schonewise was the second set's high point, hitting .833 with five kills in six swings with one block, leading the Bears to a 25-23 win.

OSU barely out hit Cal in set three, .294-.256, but seven kills from Tarah Murrey were not enough and the Bears went down 2-1. Leading 14-12 in set four, Schonewise led the Bears on a 10-2 scoring spree, accounting for five of Cal's final six points, to win set four, 25-14. Despite having the lowest combined point total, set five saw the most ties with 12 before the Beavers came away with the 17-15 win.

Set One - Oregon State 25, Cal 22:

A pair of blocks gave OSU a 5-3 lead with a couple of Beaver kills pushing the lead to 7-4. Returning the favor, a pair of kills by Tarah Murrey cut the Beavers' advantage to 7-6. Attacking out of the middle, Kat Brown knotted the match at nine - the fourth tie of the set - before four straight OSU points gave the Beavers a 13-9 lead. One 7-3 run by Oregon State later, the Beavers upped their lead to 16-12. Back-to-back kills by Correy Johnson, followed by a Johnson and Kat Brown block, culminated a Cal comeback, tying the set at 18. Fans saw three more ties before three unanswered OSU points gave the Beavers the set victory.

Set Two - Cal 25, Oregon State 23:

Kat Brown kills cut OSU's lead to two points at 5-3 and then 6-4. Lillian Schonewise notched her second kill of the set with a dump to tie things at 7-7. A 5-0 run by the Bears handed Cal a 12-8 lead, but a 6-2 spurt by the Beavers knotted things at 14. With a pair of crafty kills, Schonewise knotted the score at 19 and then 20, the seventh and eighth ties of the set, respectively. A Correy Johnson kill and two OSU errors helped seal the 25-23 set-two win for the Bears.

Set Three - Oregon State 25, Cal 21:

Cal's sole points of the first eight came off a Schonewise kill and a Beaver error, allowing Oregon State to jump to a 7-2 lead. A kill by Murrey closed the Beavers' breathing room to two at 12-10. Shannon Hawari and Correy Johnson notched kills to bring the Bears within two, 14-12, but a Cal service error and an OSU ace upped OSU's advantage to four. Successive Murrey kills cut Oregon State's lead to just one at 19-18, the closest it had been since the first point of the set. Another kill courtesy of Murrey and then one from Hawari gave the Bears their first lead of the set at 20-19. The Beavers put up four unanswered points before an error gave the Bears a slight reprieve at 23-21. Back-to-back OSU points doomed the Bears and ended the third stanza at 25-21.

Set Four - Cal 25, Oregon State 14:

After eight ties with neither team being able to pull ahead by more than one, kills from Murrey, Kat Brown and two from Correy Johnson gave Cal a 12-8 lead. Adrienne Gehan laced her ninth and 10th kills of the night to boost Cal's lead to 16-12. A 10-2 run by Cal closed the set with an 11-point differential. Lillian Schonewise had her hand in five of Cal's final six points of the set. For the second time in the match, Schonewise led the Bears by hitting .833 in the set.

Set Five - Oregon State 17, Cal 15:

After the Beavers jumped to a 5-3 lead, kills from Shannon Hawari and Correy Johnson, along with an Elly Barrett ace, returned the lead to Cal at 6-5. Neither team could build more than a one-point differential until a pair of blocks put OSU up 11-10. Kills from Schonewise and Murrey kept the Bears within one at 11-10 and 12-11. Murrey tooled it off the block to knot the set at 13. Facing match point at 15-14, Johnson nailed a kill to knot things at 15. A Cal service error and a kill by Ashley Eneliko gave the Beavers the 17-15 set-five win.

What's Next:

The Bears host. No. 15 Oregon in the final regular-season home match at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Ducks upset No. 5 Stanford on the Farm on Friday evening - 23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 15-9. Rich Feller will give a free pre-match Chalk Talk in the Club Room at Haas Pavilion, beginning at 6:20 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring canned foods to donate to the Big Drive.

Post-Match Notes:

• Tarah Murrey set a career high with 23 digs, besting her previous high of 22 against Arizona State on Nov. 24, 2010
• Lillian Schonewise's 13 kills topped her previous high of 12 at Arizona on Oct. 22
• Correy Johnson tied her career high in kills with 15, the previous time coming against Colorado on Nov. 6
• The Bears had a season-high 74 kills, blowing by the 71 they had at Utah on Nov. 3
• Elly Barrett set a career-high in assists with 62, topping her previous high of 58 against Utah on Nov. 3
• Murrey and Barrett each recorded double-doubles giving them 14 and nine, respectively, on the season. Murrey is tied for second in the Pac-12 in double-doubles this season, trailing only Stanford's Rachel Williams with 15
• Robin Rostratter had 27 digs, her second straight 20-dig effort and 10th of the season
• Rostratter now has 503 digs on the year, surpassing last season's 495, and currently sits third in single-season digs in Cal history - behind only Jillian Davis' 548 and 538 from 2006 and 2005, respectively
• The Bears are now 42-18 in the all-time series with the Beavers and 16-2 in the last 18 meetings