No. 19 Wildcats Snap Cal Streak in 3-1 Win Over No. 11 Bears

Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura had 26 kills as the Bears had their six-match winning streak stopped

Nov. 22, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. - The No. 11-ranked California volleyball team (18-9, 11-6 Pac-10) had its six-match winning streak snapped by No. 19 Arizona (19-8, 8-8 Pac-10) in a four-set defeat (25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 25-21) on Sunday, Nov. 22 at the McKale Memorial Center. Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura led the Golden Bear effort with 26 kills (8e, 52att, .346) and added two service aces with four digs.

Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey had 12 kills (12e, 30att, 000) and logged her seventh double-double of the season with 10 digs. Junior setter Carli Lloyd led all players with 41 assists and tied a season high with 14 digs. Senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley had six kills (2e, 14att, .286) and senior libero Kristen Kathan added 11 digs to Cal's total. The Bears attacked at a .183 rate in the match with 49 kills (27att, 120att).

Arizona's junior outside hitters each had 14 kills apiece to lead the Wildcats in victory. Tiffany Owens had her 14 kills on 42 attacks (8e, .143) and Whitney Dosty had hers on 31 attacks (8e, .194). Senior libero Alanna Resch had a team-high 12 digs on Senior Day while Wildcat middle blockers Courtney Karst (9k, 3e, 23att, .261) and Stephanie Snow (9k, 2e, 14att, .500) each put in nine kills. The Cats attacked at a .221 rate and had 55 kills (25e, 136att) in the match.

Arizona opened the fourth set with a kill by Karst and in a blink had built an eight-point advantage at 10-2 as Resch served two straight service aces. The Bears continued to hang and cut the Wildcat lead to five at 17-12 as Cutura bounced a shot off the Wildcat court for a kill. Cal pressed and put up a block that forced Arizona into four attack errors and trimmed the Wildcat lead to two points at 18-16. The Bears trailed by two once again at 20-18 when freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson connected with Lloyd on a slide play for a kill. Wiley earned a kill on a back-set from Lloyd to make the score 22-20 for Arizona but the Bears scored just one more point as Cutura logged her 26th kill of the night. Snow responded with the final point of the match to make the score, 25-21, in the fourth set. The Bears earned 13 kills (7e, 29att) and attacked at a .207 rate while the Cats posted a .176 rate with 14 kills (8e, 34att).

The Bears scored the first five points of the match and had three kills and a service ace before Arizona got on the board. After Cal built a 9-5 lead, the Wildcats went on an 11-1 scoring run to hold a 16-10 lead. Arizona never trailed again even as the Bears pushed back. Cal came within five points at 22-17 as Murrey earned a kill off the Wildcat block but attack errors by the Bears sealed their fate for a 25-17 Arizona win in the opening set. The Bears were held to a .059 attack percentage and 10 kills (8e, 34att) while the Cats posted a .353 rate on 34 attacks (15k, 3e).

After three ties, Arizona earned space first as it pulled out to a three-point lead on a service ace by Dosty. The Bears claimed the next three points to knot the set at six-all as Johnson took a set from Wiley to put down a kill. The Bears went up by two at 12-10 as Cutura blasted a shot through a hole in the Arizona block. The Wildcats responded to tie the match several times before a setting error by Lloyd gave Arizona a two-point lead at 18-16. Cal continued to hang around and forced the set into its 14th tie at 20-all but Owens earned a back-row kill off a broken play to put the Cats up by two at 22-20. This time, the Bears couldn't recover as a service error and a ball-handling error completed Arizona's 25-22 win to give the Wildcats at 2-0 lead heading into the break. The Bears attacked at a .188 rate (14k, 8e, 32att) and got seven kills from Cutura but that wasn't enough to hold off an Arizona attack that posted a .219 attack percentage with 13 kills (6e, 32att).

With the set knotted at three, the Bears ripped off a 10-4 run to hold a 13-7 lead as Cutura earned a kill out of the back row. Cal stayed on top and pulled out to a 19-12 advantage as Johnson and freshman middle hitter Kat Brown teamed up to block two consecutive attacks by Owens. Arizona got within five points at 22-17 as Karst went down the line for a kill. Cutura's next kill made the score 23-17 before the Wildcats surrendered set-point as Owens sent a shot wide. Arizona did itself in as senior middle blocker Jacy Norton went up on a quick set and sent her attack wide as well to give the Bears a 25-18 win in the third set. The Bears attacked at a .320 rate and earned 12 kills (4e) on 25 attacks. Arizona had 13 kills on 36 attacks (8e) for a .139 attack percentage.

The Bears return to the Bay Area for their final regular-season match in the second Big Spike as they face No. 6 Stanford (20-7, 13-4 Pac-10) in a 7 p.m. PT day-after-Thanksgiving matchup on Friday, Nov. 27, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal will celebrate Senior Day with Fox Sports Net on hand to produce the match for a tape-delay broadcast. Please check local listings for times and availability.