Dec. 7, 2007
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 6 California volleyball team defeated No. 18 Iowa State in a three-game sweep (30-27, 30-27, 30-24) in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament Regional semifinal today at the Wisconsin Field House in Madison, Wis. The Bears advance past the round of 16 for the fist time in school history and with their 25th win this season, match the most wins a Cal team has ever had since the inception of the Pac-10. The Bears recorded 12 total team blocks to move them into seventh all-time in the Pac-10 for total team blocks in a season.
The Bears were led by a pair of strong outside hitters in senior Angie Pressey and sophomore Hana Cutura, each nabbing 16 kills for the match. The two combined for 32 kills and just nine errors on 71 attacks (.324). Freshman setter Carli Lloyd moved into second all-time, now with 1,469 assists in her young career after putting up 45 tonight. Sophomore libero Kristen Kathan led the Bears with 15 digs for the match and moves into a ninth-place tie with Cal-great Jillian Davis for digs in a season with 398. Senior middle hitter Ellen Orchard led the Bears with five total blocks including two solo and had nine kills (1e, 17att, .471).
After starting out down a point, the Bears took control and never trailed the rest of the way through game three to take the game and the match. With the score tied at nine, the Bears ripped off an eight-to-three run culminating in a block solo by Orchard. Cal put together its most efficient game of the match, erring only twice on 30 attacks with 15 kills to hit for .433. Overall, the Bears finished the match with a .303 hitting percentage and are now 23-2 when posting a higher hitting percentage than their opponent. A kill by Pressey gave the Bears a 29-21 lead and match point. The Cyclones went on a short run to come within five but an Iowa State serve into the net ended the match, giving Cal the win.
|
|
 |
The Bears never trailed in game two, and jumped out to a ten-point lead a couple of times using an eight-to-nothing run to reach 15-5. Cal collected 18 kills on its way to a .190 hitting percentage (10e, 42att) and added three service aces, two from Orchard. Three Bears had four kills in game two, led by seniors Orchard and Pressey, and sophomore Cutura. Redshirt sophomore middle hitter Kat Reilly added three kills to help push the Bears to a two-games-to-none lead entering the break.
The two teams fought hard for game one as they traded short runs through eight ties. With the score knotted at 16, the Bears took a Cyclone error and turned it into a two-point lead when Reilly and Pressey went up for a block together. The two combined for a block again to give the Bears a 21-17 lead that forced Iowa State into a timeout. The teams rallied against each other several times until a Pressey kill gave Cal four game-points to work with. They only needed two as junior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck put a kill shot down from the right hand side to give the Bears a one-game lead to open up the match. The Bears opened up hitting .326 with 20 kills (5e, 46att) and held the Cyclones to only 13 kills, forcing 8 errors (44att, .114).
The Bears move into the Regional Final for the first time in school history and will face the winner of tonight's No. 24 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Nebraska match. Start time for the match is 8 p.m. CST (6 p.m. PST) and it will be shown live on ESPNU pending delays by other broadcasts. Please check your local listings.
