Sept. 30, 2008

Complete Sept. 30 California Volleyball Release in PDF Format

at No. 9 Washington
Friday, Oct. 3 - 7 p.m.
Bank of America Arena | Seattle, Wash.

at Washington State
Saturday, Oct. 4 - 7 p.m.
Bohler Gym | Pullman, Wash.

BERKELEY - The No. 8-ranked California volleyball team puts its seven-match winning streak on the line when it plays its first Pac-10 road matches in the Pacific Northwest. The Golden Bears have not lost a set in their last 17 tries, dating back to Sept. 14 against Cal Poly, and hold a perfect record (12-0) when posting a higher hitting percentage or more team blocks (11-0) than their opponents. No. 9 Washington struggled in its conference opener on the road at Arizona and Arizona State, getting by with 3-2 wins in each while Washington State fell in 3-0 sweeps in both of its matches in the desert. The Huskies and the Cougars will go up against the Pac-10 leader in assists (13.64 aps) and kills (14.76 kps) as the Bears look to extend their conference success.

THE FACTS: No. 8 Cal (12-1, 2-0 Pac-10) plays its first conference road matches this weekend as it visits No. 9 Washington (11-1, 2-0 Pac-10) on Friday (Oct. 3) for a 7 p.m. match at Bank of America Arena in Seattle, Wash. and Washington State (7-6, 0-2 Pac-10) on Saturday (Oct. 4) for a 7 p.m. match at Bohler Gym in Pullman, Wash. The Golden Bears have won their last seven matches, including 17 consecutive set wins, dating back to Sept. 14. Gametracker statistics will be available for the Washington match via www.GoHuskies.com.

LAST WEEK: Cal opened the Pac-10 season with two strong 3-0 wins over a No. 11-ranked Oregon squad and Oregon State. The Golden Bears rarely trailed in both matches, stunning the Ducks with a big 25-20, 25-15, 25-15 victory and completing a 25-14, 25-18, 25-15 win over the Beavers. Senior outside hitter Am'ra Solomon tied for the team-lead with junior outside Hana Cutura, each getting 11 kills against Oregon. Solomon added five digs and five blocks while Cutura put in six digs. Cal held the Ducks to just .021 attacking (23k, 21e, 96att) and put up a season high 16.0 total team blocks. The Bears were relentless in their attack on the Beavers, posting a .473 attack percentage with 49 kills on 91 attacks (6e). Cutura led the way once more with 12 kills (1e, 20att, .550) while senior outside hittler/middle hitter Morgan Beck notched the 1,000th kill of her career, coming up with a .385 attack percentage on 13 attempts (7k, 2e). Cal fared well at the net once more, getting 9.5 total team blocks on the way to neutralizing the previous Pac-10 Player of the Week, Rachel Rourke, who got just seven kills on 32 attacks (6e, .031). With the win, Cal claimed its seventh straight victory and a 2-0 record in Pac-10 play.

NO. 9 WASHINGTON NOTES: The Huskies (11-1, 2-0 Pac-10) opened conference play on the road in the desert and needed a fifth set twice to come away 2-0 against Arizona and Arizona State. Washington's only loss on the season was a 3-2 decision on the islands against a No. 10-ranked Hawai'i team in which the fifth set score was 16-14 in favor of the Warriors. The Huskies are led by junior outside hitter Jill Collymore who has racked up 136 kills this season (3.32 kps) and holds a .340 hitting percentage (31e, 309att) for ninth place in the Pac-10. Collymore holds the top spot among Pac-10 players for service aces per set, averaging 0.63 saps with 26 total. Husky senior middle blocker Jessica Swarbrick leads the conference in hitting percentage with a .475 mark (82k, 16e, 139att) and was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 22-28. Swarbrick is fourth on the Washington all-time list for career blocks with 380 and is seventh in the conference with a 1.20 bps average. Sophomore setter Jenna Hagglund leads all Pac-10 players with 12.10 assists per set, the second highest average in the NCAA this season. The Bears are 21-28 against Washington all-time, getting their first win in seven tries last season at Haas Pavilion. The last time Cal won in Seattle was in 2003, a 3-2 victory on Oct. 24.

WASHINGTON STATE NOTES: The Cougars (7-6, 0-2 Pac-10) are coming off two 3-0 losses to Arizona and Arizona State, snapping a nine-set, three-match winning streak. Washington State won the Boise State Bronco Invitational to open the season before falling in all three matches at the Idaho Volleyball Classic. Cougar junior defensive specialist/libero Kelly Hyder became the seventh player to reach 1,000 career digs and is now the all-time career digs leader for the Cougars with 1,283. Much attributed to Hyder's 4.41 dps average, the Cougars hold the top-spot among Pac-10 teams in digs, averaging 15.49 dps. Senior outside hitter Brittany Johnson reached 1,000 career kills on Sept. 27 against Arizona State and became just the 10th Cougar in history to reach the milestone. With five more kills, Johnson will move into sole possession of ninth-place all-time at Washington State. Cougar head coach Andrew Palileo is in his first season at Washington State after a highly successful tenure at South Dakota State where he went 238-141 in 11 years. The Cougars are behind the count in the all-time series with the Bears, trailing 28-22, falling in last 10 meetings.

IN THE RANKS: Cal's No. 5 preseason ranking in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll marks the eighth time in school history that the Bears have been ranked to open a season; the sixth time since Rich Feller became head coach in 1999. The Bears were ranked No. 12 at the start of 2007, No. 17 to open 2006, No. 19 in 2005, No. 10 in 2004 and No. 24 in 2003. Cal's two other preseason rankings came in 1989 (No. 9) and 1983 (No. 12). Setting a program-best mark in 2007, the Bears finished the season in the No. 4 spot after reaching the NCAA national semifinal, where they fell 3-0 to eventual NCAA champion Penn State. Cal's No. 4 ranking during the week of Sept. 8-15, 2008, is the highest regular season ranking the team has received. Since 1982, the Bears have been ranked a total of 120 times.

BEARS IN TV LAND: Cal is scheduled to appear live in five televised matches this season. The Bears' first live broadcast will originate from Haas Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 as they face Arizona State on Comcast Sports Net West. Fox Sports Net will show the Big Spike at Stanford on Oct. 19 (12:30 p.m. PT) and Comcast will show the Big Spike at Cal on Nov. 14 (7 p.m.). Comcast's crew will haunt the Haas sidelines on Halloween night (Oct. 31) as the Bears take on Washington State. And finally, USC's visit to Haas Pavilion on Nov. 22 will be carried by Fox Sports Net (5 p.m. PT) immediately following the Cal vs. Stanford football game.

THE PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE: Cal will once again compete in what is arguably the toughest women's collegiate volleyball conference, the Pac-10. Seven teams ranked in the most recent CBS/AVCA top 25 poll reside in the Pac-10 with No. 4 USC topping the list, followed closely by No. 5 UCLA. 2007 NCAA runner-up Stanford checks in at No. 6 and Cal sits currently at No. 8. Right behind the Bears, Washington holds the No. 9 position and Oregon is listed at No. 11. Arizona made its first appearance in the top 25 this week, coming in at No. 25 while Oregon State sits in the mythical No. 29 position. With Cal Poly (No. 24), and Minnesota (No. 13) also cracking the lineup, and St. John's holding a position earlier this year, the Bears have the opportunity to face 15 top-25 ranked opponents before the season is over.

DIG FOR THE CURE: During the month of October, Pac-10 volleyball teams will join forces to help raise awareness about breast cancer during home matches. Among the promotional events planned, teams will wear pink accessories, pink game balls will be used for the match and pink mini volleyballs will be tossed into the stands. The Bears will Dig for the Cure on Oct. 10 when it hosts Arizona State at Haas Pavilion. On the road, Cal will also be part of other Breast Cancer Awareness Month matches when it visits Stanford (Oct. 19), USC (Oct. 25), and UCLA (Oct. 26).

CAL YOUTH DAY: The California volleyball team will host a special Youth Day when it plays Arizona on Oct. 11 at Haas Pavilion. Youth up to 12th grade will receive free admission to the match. The Bears will also hold a special autograph signing session with coaches and players post-match in the Haas Pavilion Club Room.

CAPTAIN CRUNCH: Cal will benefit from the leadership of three captains this season. Seniors Kat Reilly, Morgan Beck and Am'ra Solomon each holds the roll of co-team captain for 2008. Reilly brings her experience as the president of the Cal Student-Athlete Advisory Council to the court while Beck carries three years of on-court familiarity. Solomon's passion for the game and the team are apparent when she takes the court, often leading the team in cheers.

OUTSIDE INFLUENCE: The Bears returned several weapons at the outside hitter position from a squad that made an appearance in the NCAA semifinal, including All-American junior Hana Cutura. Cutura leads the team in total kills with 177 (49e, 341att, .375) and kills per set (4.32 kps). She also does her share of work on defense, picking up 95 digs thus far (2.32 dps). Senior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck has logged 89 kills (2.54 kps) and 27 total blocks (0.77 bps) after earning All-Pac-10 honorable mention in 2007. Senior Am'ra Solomon has put down 97 kills (2.85 kps) with a .321 attack percentage (25e, 224att). Solomon netted 80 kills (2.58 kps) a year ago in limited action. The Bears also add freshman Tarah Murrey (77k, 29e, 163att, .294) to the lineup this season.

FRESH FACES: The Bears welcome five newcomers to the team this year. Topping the list is phenom outside hitter Tarah Murrey. Murrey comes to Cal as one of 2007's most highly sought-after high school recruits in the country. Her impressive resume includes Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 honors and recognition as the 2008 Gatorade California Player of the Year. Also a Fab 50 selection, freshman middle hitter Shannon Hawari looks to step in and battle for immediate playing time. Joining Murrey and Hawari in the freshman class are setter/defensive specialist Ashley Roe, setter Kristin Obermeyer and defensive specialist/libero Katherine Gorman.

NATIONAL N' THEM: The Bears hold several distinctions among the countries top teams including the No. 4 position in assists with 13.64 aps. Hawai'i leads all teams with a 14.18 aps average. As a byproduct, the Bears rank third in the country in kills with 14.76 kps. Hawai'i also leads this category with 15.27 kps. Cal's .327 hitting percentage ranks second in the country in a tie with Stanford behind only Penn State at No. 1 (.399). Defensively, the Bears are averaging 2.70 bps, 19th among NCAA division I teams; one of four Pac-10 teams in the top 20 in that statistical category.

1,000K CLUB: Two Golden Bears have surpassed the 1,000 kill mark in their careers. Junior outside hitter Hana Cutura was the first to do so, hitting the 1,000 kill milestone on the head against Central Connecticut State Sept. 19 at the Crowne Plaza Volleyball Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Cutura is 10th in all-time career kills at Cal with 1,054 and will likely threaten the seventh-place position before the season is over. Senior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck got her 1,000th kill against Oregon State Sept. 28. Beck now has 1,002 career kills and holds the ninth-place spot all-time at Cal in total blocks with 323.

#1: SETTING THE SCENE: Sophomore setter Carli Lloyd is averaging 11.62 aps (488 assists), second in the Pac-10, but more importantly, she has the Bears on top of the conference with a 13.64 aps mark (fourth in the country). A 2007 Pac-10 All-Freshman selection, Lloyd posted 1,550 assists (12.81 dps) last year, and earned NCAA Wisconsin Regional all-tournament team status for her impressive postseason play. In addition to setting her teammates up, Lloyd also put down 93 kills and added 111 total blocks as a freshman. Lloyd broke the 2,000 assist mark against Oregon on Sept. 26, becoming just the sixth player in Cal history to break that plateau. Her 2,038 assists is already good for sixth among all-time career leaders at Cal. Lloyd's stellar play has netted her all-tournament honors in all four of Cal's preseason tourney's including two MVP awards (Cal Molten Classic and Golden Bear Invitational).

#1: CALIFORNIA GLADIATOR: Sophomore setter Carli Lloyd credits her athleticism to the training she received from uncle and coach Galen Tomlinson. Tomlinson, a former volleyball coach at Fallbrook Union High School, is better known in some circles as Turbo from the 1980's television series, "American Gladiators."

#1: LLOYD NAMED PAC-10 VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore setter Carli Lloyd was named the Pac-10 Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 23-Aug. 31 after earning honors as the Outstanding Setter and MVP of the Cal Molten Classic. Lloyd posted 66 assists in two matches (11.0 aps) and added eight kills without an error, 10 digs and five blocks. The award is the first for a Cal player since Angie Pressey received it for the week of Aug. 28, 2006. It is the first such honor for Lloyd and the 23rd for Cal. The Bonsall, Calif. native later received Outstanding Setter and MVP honors at the Golden Bear Invitational and earned a spot on the Diet Coke Classic all-tournament team.

#2: DIGGING DEEP: Junior defensive specialist/libero Kristen Kathan sits in a fifth-place tie among Pac-10 players in digs per set with 4.00 dps (168 in 42 sets). Last year, Kathan registered the ninth-best single-season mark for digs at Cal as a sophomore with 414 (3.70 dps). Kathan had a career-high 29 digs at USC, Oct. 26, and her digs per set average was good for ninth-best among Pac-10 players last season. This season, Kathan put up a season-high 23 balls against Cal Poly Sept. 14 and logged her 700th career dig against Oregon State Sept. 28.

#3: NATIONAL BECKONING: Senior outside hitter/middle hitter Morgan Beck spent the 2008 spring semester away from the Berkeley campus to be with the USA Women's Indoor Volleyball team in Colorado Springs, Colo. Along with since-departed Angie Pressey, Beck trained with the team under the direction of head coach "Jenny" Lang Ping. This summer, the USA Women's Indoor Volleyball team won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

#4: SISTER, SISTER: Freshman outside hitter Tarah Murrey comes from a family of athletes, one of which is older sister, Brittney. The elder Murrey is the starting setter for UC Riverside. Cal faced the Highlanders in what became a family affair at Haas Pavilion on Sept. 6 in the Golden Bear Invitational. Youth beat out experience as Cal's Murrey helped the Bears to a 3-0 win to close out the tournament crown.

#7: ROE, ROE, ROE YOUR BOAT: Freshman setter/defensive specialist Ashley Roe lists writing poetry and lyrics as one of her favorite off-court activities. She can often be heard singing ad-lib lyrics to familiar melodies. She has appeared in three matches for the Bears, logging a service ace on her first collegiate play against Minnesota (Sept. 12) and logged her first career assist on a kill from Hana Cutura against Central Connecticut State Sept. 19.

#8: ADVENTURES WITH AM'RA: Senior outside hitter Am'ra Solomon will be authoring a photo-journal during each of Cal's road trips this season. The pictorial essays are a behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 Golden Bears and will receive updates the Monday following each road trip. Solomon celebrated her second road-trip of the year with a spot on the Crowne Plaza All-Tournament team. Be sure to check the volleyball home page on CalBears.com for the latest shots off of Am'ra's camera.

#9: OBI WAN KENOBERMEYER: Freshman setter Kristin Obermeyer might not be able to play any Jedi mind-tricks on opponents but she has the resume to prove her academic aptitude as one of the valedictorians at Westmont High School in Campbell, Calif. She has appeared in three matches for Cal and had her first assist against DePaul Sept. 6; she later logged a career-high five assists against Central Connecticut State Sept. 19 at the Crowne Plaza Volleyball Classic in Fullerton, Calif.

#10: MIDDLE METTLE: In her final season with the Bears, senior middle hitter Kat Reilly will serve as one of three team captains. Reilly appeared in just 85 sets last year, protecting her knee after recovering from an injury sustained as a freshman. Last season, Reilly logged 147 kills and hit for .325 (44e, 317att), the sixth-best single season output by a Bear. She also ranked second on the team a year ago with a 1.36 bps average, putting up a total of 116 blocks. This season, Reilly has logged 22 kills (0.85 kps) in limited time (13e, 70att, .129) and 22 total blocks (0.85 bps).

#10: PRESIDENTIAL PRECEDENCE: Senior middle hitter Kat Reilly serves as president of the Cal Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). SAAC is a collaboration of student-athletes representing all intercollegiate teams competing for the University of California, Berkeley. The mission of SAAC is to bring the student-athlete community together; provide feedback to the athletic administration on proposed conference and NCAA legislation; foster student-athlete welfare; create relationships between student-athletes and the community by organizing community service efforts and raising funds for various causes; and to become a sounding board for the athletic administration by generating a student-athlete voice where concerns are addressed.

#14: TEXAS TWO-STEP: The Cal roster will once again feature two players from the great state of Texas. With the departure of Ellen Orchard (Houston, Texas), the Bears added another middle hitter in freshman Shannon Hawari to the lineup. Hawari arrives in Berkeley from Plano, Texas, a former player at Plano West High School. Hawari joins senior Kat Reilly, who comes from Plano East High School.

#17: STORMIN' GORMANS: Freshman defensive specialist/libero Katherine Gorman's older brother Richard is a junior designated hitter on the Cal baseball team. With 14 home volleyball matches and 30 home baseball games, Golden Bear sports will be a family affair for the Gorman household. Gorman has appeared in seven of Cal's matches this year, recording her first digs in a match at Cal State Fullerton Sept. 20.

#21: WILD AND WILEY: Junior middle hitter Mindi Wiley is attacking at a .311 clip (77k, 27e, 161att). She put up a career high 11 kills and 19 attacks against Notre Dame Sept. 13 and posted a career-high three solo blocks against UC Riverside Sept. 6. She also recorded a career-high eight total blocks twice this season, first against San Francisco Sept. 20 and again against Oregon Sept. 26. Wiley had Cal's eighth-best single season output for hitting percentage in 2007, registering a mark of .307 (85k, 30e, 179att). Wiley shared time in the middle with since-departed Ellen Orchard and senior Kat Reilly but still managed to average 1.52 kps and put up 74 total blocks (1.32 bps) as a sophomore.

#26: PASSING ON PIROUETTES: Hailing from Zagreb, Croatia, junior outside hitter Hana Cutura wasn't always the menacing volleyball force the Bears have come to know. The 6-4 outside hitter used to be a ballet dancer as a young girl but her natural gift for volleyball eventually shoved Nutcracker dreams aside. Last year, Cutura's play in the postseason earned her honors as the NCAA Wisconsin Regional MVP, an achievement her parents are quite proud of. Cutura's father, Zoran is a former Olympic basketball star for Yugoslavia while her mother, Gordana, is a former member of the Croatian National Volleyball team.

#44: FAMILY TRACK RECORD: Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Meagan Schmitt seems destined to have become a Cal athlete. Both her parents, Tom and Laura attended Cal and were cross country and track and field athletes for the Bears. Her uncle, John Starrett also starred as a rower for the Bears.

McSHANE THE TRAIN: This past June, assistant coach Matt McShane joined over 2,800 bike riders on a seven-day, 545-mile trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles as a part of the 2008 AIDS/LifeCycle Ride benefiting HIV/AIDS services. Founded in 2002, AIDS/LifeCycle is co-produced by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center and is designed to advance their shared interests to end the pandemic and human suffering caused by AIDS through raising funds and social awareness. In 2008, the ride raised over $11.6 million dollars.