Dec. 12, 2009

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The ninth-seeded California volleyball team (21-11, 11-7 Pac-10) fell in three sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-22) on Saturday, Dec. 12, to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Penn State (36-0, 20-0 Big Ten) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Gainesville Regional Championship. Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura and junior setter Carli Lloyd were honored with selections to the Gainesville Regional All-Tournament team. The Nittany Lions earned their NCAA-record 100th-consecutive victory and will move into the national semifinal match to meet the winner of the Stanford Regional between No. 13-seed Michigan and No. 12-seed Hawai'i.

Cutura became just the fifth player in Pac-10 history to cross the 2,000-kill plateau as she led the Golden Bears with 16 kills (7e, 40att, .225) on the night. A two-time All-American, Cutura will finish her career as Cal's all-time leader in kills. Lloyd put up 32 assists and led the Bears with nine digs. Freshman opposite hitter Correy Johnson had seven kills (2e, 16att, .312) and sophomore Tarah Murrey added eight kills (6e, 26att, .077) to go with seven digs. The Bears attacked at a .192 rate in the match and earned 44.0 points on 39 kills (19e, 104att).

Penn State senior outside hitter Megan Hodge was named the regional's most outstanding player as she led the Lions with 14 kills (2e, 28att, .429). Junior right-side Blair Brown had 13 kills (4e, 24att) for a .375 attack rate and added two service aces. Junior libero Alyssa D'Errico frustrated the Cal passing game as she registered five service aces to go with eight digs and senior setter Alisha Glass dished out 35 assists to go along with a team-high 12 digs. Glass' accuracy helped the Lions notch a .337 attack percentage in the match with 40 kills (11e, 86att). Penn State out-blocked the Bears, 10.0-3.0, in the match.

The teams tussled to their fifth tie of the third set at six-all before the Bears gained control and pulled out to a four-point lead at 12-8. Cal continued to hold the lead until a service ace by D'Errico knotted the set at 13-all. The Bears went up once more as Murrey put a shot off the Penn State block but the Lions clamped down and earned a 17-16 lead as Blair Brown took a kill down the line but the Bears responded with three straight points to tie the set for the 10th time at 20-all. First, Cutura took a kill off the block before serving an ace. Then, freshman middle hitter Kat Brown's kill off a quick set by Lloyd pulled the teams into the 20-all tie. Penn State took the next lead but the Bears stayed close and tried to hang around, down two, at 24-22, but a kill by Blair Brown ended Cal's hopes in a 25-22 third-set loss. The Bears attacked at a .256 rate in the final set with 16 kills (6e) on 39 attacks but were out-done by an efficient Penn State attack that notched 14 kills (4e) on 31 attacks for a .323 attack rate.

The Bears earned a 4-2 lead in the first set when Cutura terminated a long rally with a cross-court kill but the Lions got a kill on the next play to put the serve in D'Errico's hands. D'Errico served three straight aces to put Penn State on top, 6-4. The aggressive serving forced Cal into two overpasses that turned into kills for the Lions to complete a seven-point run for Penn State. Cal drew to within two points at 9-7 and again at 19-17 as Cutura earned a kill out of the back row but PSU stiffened up and allowed just one more point by the Bears to close out the set, 25-18. The Bears attacked at a .200 rate and recorded 12 kills in the first set (5e, 35att) while the Lions came up with 13 kills (5e) on 32 attacks for a .250 attack percentage.

Cal opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set but the Lions stormed back to knot the score at six-all. Even as the Bears fought back to hold the lead, Penn State pressed and eventually wrestled away the lead with a cross-court kill by Hodge. The Lions earned a 15-10 lead as freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton met Lloyd at the net to reject a dump attack but the Bears rose to the occasion and responded to come within two points at 15-13 as Lloyd went up with freshman middle hitter Tia Gaffen to block Dorton back. The Bears earned just two more points in the set--each on PSU service errors--before the Lions closed the set, 25-17, on a kill. The Bears had 11 kills on 30 attacks (8e) for a .100 attack rate in the second and couldn't stop a Penn State attack that posted a .478 rate (13k, 2e) on just 23 attacks.

The Bears will await the final AVCA coaches poll of the season to be released after the conclusion of the NCAA championships. Cal has finished ranked in the top 20 in each of the last six seasons and received the No. 6 ranking in the final poll last year.

2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship
Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team
Blair Brown, Jr., Penn State
Elise Cusack, Sr., Florida
Hana Cutura, Sr., California
Alisha Glass, Sr., Penn State
Megan Hodge, Sr., Penn State (Most Outstanding Player)
Carli Lloyd, Jr., California
Arielle Wilson, Jr., Penn State