Dec. 8, 2007
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 6 California volleyball team (26-7, 12-6 Pac-10) defeated the defending NCAA Champion No. 2 Nebraska (30-2, 19-1 Big 12) in a three-game sweep today (30-28, 31-29, 30-26) at the Wisconsin Field House in Madison, Wis. in the Wisconsin Regional of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament. Cal will advance to the national semifinal for the first time in school history after besting a school record for total wins in a season since the inception of the Pac-10 Conference with 26. The Bears will face No. 1 Penn State, the winner of the Penn State regional for the right to play in the national championship match in Sacramento, Calif. For the third match in a row, the Bears were led by their outside hitters. Sophomore Hana Cutura had a team and match-high 23 kills (6e, 44att, .386) with senior Angie Pressey in tow with 20 kills (4e, 36att, .444) and combined for 80 of Cal's 127 attacks. With a team-leading 17 digs, Pressey put her 13th double-double in the books while senior middle hitter Ellen Orchard led the way with seven total blocks. As a team, the Bears outmatched the Huskers in all statistical categories. Nebraska was led by senior hitter Sarah Pavan's 16 kills but were unable to mount a comeback, hitting .184 in the third game (15k, 8e, 38att). After trailing by two early in game three, the Bears fought back to force a seven-point tie when a Husker attack went wide of the court. Freshman setter Carli Lloyd shot a spin serve across the net to earn the service ace and a two-point Cal lead. Just as in the previous games, the Huskers had a plan and took a one-point lead at 14-13 before Cal ran off on a five-point run. Just as Nebraska made a move, Lloyd won an important joust at the net to keep the Bear run alive. Then a Cutura kill from the back row brought the Bears back up by four at 22-18. Just as Cal settled into its lead, a timeout gave the Huskers enough momentum to rip off a 3-0 run of their own. The Nebraska run was for naught though as Cal's lead would never be threatened again. Another Husker shot wide of the court put Cal at match-point. On the next serve, sophomore libero Kristen Kathan dug a Nebraska attack and made the pass to Lloyd who put the ball up high for Pressey on the left side. Pressey took a shot to the back of the court that went off a Husker defender to end the game and the match as the Bears stormed the court in excitement. Cal hit .342 in the third game and finished hitting .323 for the match with 59 kills (18e, 127att).
The Bears notched 21 kills in game two with only five errors (46att) and hit for .348. The game was as hotly contested as any this season as the Bears and Huskers forced each other into 22 ties. A Pressey attack went off the fingertips of Nebraska blockers to give Cal the tie at 20 but it was a block assist by Orchard and Lloyd that pushed the Bears to their first lead since being up 16-15. With things knotted for the 21st time at 25, a Cutura kill to the back of the court followed by a Cutura ace gave the Bears a two-point advantage. The Bears ran with that and turned it into a game-point at 29-27 but the Huskers fired back with two straight points to tie things up at 29 apiece. The Bears took a page out of the Cornhusker book and took two straight points of their own; first a Pressey kill shot across the court and then a block assist from Orchard and Cutura to close things out and give Cal the commanding 2-0 lead heading into the break. Cal hit .279 to open up the match with 21 kills (9e, 43att) and capitalized on four Husker service errors to stay ahead of Nebraska The teams traded leads several times and endured 13 ties before the first game was decided. The Bears led in the first until the Huskers caught them at six but an Orchard ace to the baseline gave Cal a two-point cushion. Two consecutive kills by redshirt sophomore middle hitter Kat Reilly on Husker overpasses gave the Bears a three-point lead at 20-17 but Nebraska pushed back to earn at 22-point tie. With the score tied again at 27, the Bears made their final push of the game. Lloyd and Reilly met at the net for a block assist that gave Cal game-point at 29-27. After Nebraska took the next rally, a Cutura kill put an end to the opening stanza and gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the match. Cutura had eight of her kills in the first game to lead the Bears while Pressey put down seven kills of her own as the two outside hitter combined for 30 of the Bears 43 attacks. The Bears will return to Berkeley for two days before departing for Sacramento, Calif. and the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament Semifinal.
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