Dec. 5, 2009

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The ninth-seeded California volleyball team (20-10, 11-7 Pac-10) earned a four-set victory (25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20) over host Ohio State (25-10, 12-8 Big Ten) on Saturday, Dec. 5, in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship at St. John Arena to advance to the Gainesville Regional semifinal. The Golden Bears will make their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA regional semifinals and registered a school-record fourth straight 20-win season in the victory over the Buckeyes.

Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura shouldered the bulk of the offensive load for the Bears as she held match-high honors with 19 kills (4e, 41att, .366) to go with five digs and three blocks; two solo. Cutura's 594 kills this season rank second at Cal for single-season totals. Senior middle hitter Mindi Wiley was the model of efficiency as she put down 15 kills (2e) on 21 attacks for a .619 attack rate to go with three blocks. Senior libero Kristen Kathan led all players with 20 digs; her sixth match this season with at least 20. Kathan's 444 digs this season moved her up the ladder into sixth-best in single-season digs at Cal.

Sophomore outside hitter Tarah Murrey added seven kills (3e, 19att, .211) and four blocks with freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson putting in six kills (3e, 15att, .200) and five blocks. Both were beneficiaries of junior setter Carli Lloyd's 46 assists. Lloyd took the offense into her own hands to take four kills (0e, 8att, .500) and did her share of defensive dirty work as she tied a season high with seven blocks while adding six digs. Lloyd's accurate setting allowed the Bears to attack at a .364 rate (57k, 14e, 118att) but it was Cal's front row that did a number on the Ohio State offense with 16.5 blocks to hold the Buckeyes to a .231 attack percentage (59k, 26e, 143att).

Ohio State junior outside hitter Katie Dull led the Buckeyes with 18 kills (7e, 44att, .250) with sophomore middle blocker Kelli Barhorst putting in 12 kills (4e, 27att, .296) and senior middle hitter Kristen Dozier adding 11 kills (4e, 22att, .318).

The Bears sent out invitations to a block party in the fourth set and the Buckeyes came calling. Cal logged its fifth block of the set as Cutura went up alone and rejected a Dozier attack to give the Bears a 14-7 lead. Ohio State didn't give up as it went on a 6-2 run to close the gap to three points as Dull took a kill through the Cal block. The Bears regrouped and began to pull away once more as Lloyd's solo block made the score 22-17. Cutura went high off Buckeye hands for Cal's 23rd point before her cut shot gave the Bears set point with five to work with. Two rallies later, Cutura's cross-court shot landed true on the corner of the Ohio State court to seal the 25-20 win for Cal in the final set. The Bears had 12 kills (4e, 27att, .296) while the Buckeyes had 15 kills (10e, 39att, .231) but it was the Cal block that came up big with 7.5 in the final set to send the Bears over the top.

After giving up the first point of the match, the Bears seized control of the first set by getting four kills through the first six rallies. Cal raised its game and went in front by eight points, 11-3, as freshman middle blocker Kat Brown connected on a quick set from Lloyd for a kill. The Bears led by 11 points, 13-4, on three straight serves by sophomore setter Kristin Obermeyer as Wiley sent a quick set from Lloyd to the ground for a kill. The Buckeyes made a short run mid-set but the Bears responded to take set point at 24-13 as Cutura earned a kill out of the back row. Wiley terminated play on the ensuing rally as she blasted an overplayed dig to the ground for the 25-13 Cal win. The Bears had 18 kills (2e) on 27 attacks to register a scorching .593 attack percentage and outpaced the Ohio State attack rate of .235 (11k, 3e, 34att).

Cal stumbled out of the gates in the second set and found itself down, 6-1, in a hurry as Dull took an overpass and turned it into a Buckeye kill. Ohio State's third service ace of the set gave the Buckeyes a 12-6 lead that it would build into a nine-point advantage at 19-10 as Barhorst earned a kill on a slide play. The Bears made a bid to get back into the set and trailed by five, 21-16, as Wiley got a kill off an overplayed OSU pass. The Buckeyes made one more spurt and claimed set point as Dull rolled a shot to the ground for a kill and a 24-18 lead. Cal's next attack registered an error to close the scoring, 25-18, for Ohio State. The Bears put up 11 kills (5e, 29att) and logged a .207 attack percentage but the Buckeyes earned points on 16 kills (5e, 31att, .355).

The Bears fell behind by three points early in the third set, 8-5, but fought back pull into an eight-all tie before ripping off three straight points themselves. This time, the Buckeyes fought back to earn the fifth tie of the set at 11-all. The teams traded barbs to the tune of eight more ties with the Bears pulling out the 13th tie of the set at 19-all as Wiley took a quick set from Lloyd for a kill. Cal went ahead on the next play as Lloyd and Brown went up together to return an attempt by Dull. The Bears went ahead by three points, 23-20, as Brown took a quick set for a kill but the Buckeyes hung around and fought off one set point to pull into a 24-23 deficit but Murrey got a high ball from Lloyd on the next play and bounced it off the floor to give the Bears a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bears attacked at a .371 rate in the third (16k, 3e, 35att) to outpace an OSU attack that had 17 kills (8e, .231) on 39 attempts.

Cal will take on Baylor (24-9, 11-9 Big 12) in the Gainesville Regional semifinal on Friday, Dec. 11, on the campus of the University of Florida. The Cal Bears and the Baylor Bears have met three times with the Berkeley ursine as the owners of a 3-0 record. The last time the two teams met, Cal swept Baylor at home on Aug. 26, 2006. Top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Penn State (34-0) and 16-seeded host Florida (25-5) will be in the other semifinal match. The winners will meet in a 4 p.m. ET match on Saturday, Dec. 12, to determine the Gainesville Regional champion. Please check CalBears.com for more information.