Oct. 25, 1999

HEAD COACH RICH FELLER: Rich Feller (8-11 at Cal, career 307-178, .633) is in his first season as the head coach of Cal's women's volleyball program. Feller took over the Bears coaching reins when he was hired in December 1998. He comes to Cal after a stint as an assistant coach on the USA National Team and 14 successful years as head coach at Colorado State (1983-96) where he led the Rams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 Top 25 national rankings. Feller earned his 300th career victory when the Bears defeated Denver, 3-1, Sept. 4.

THIS WEEK:

Thu. Oct. 28 at Oregon, McArthur Court, Eugene, OR          7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 29 at Oregon State, Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR  7:30 p.m.
  

BEAR NOTES: The Cal volleyball team (8-11, 3-7 Pac-10) has a chance to show its an improved program this weekend when the Bears travel to Oregon (6-14, 0-11 in the Pac-10), Thursday Oct. 28 and then visit Oregon State (8-11, 2-9 Pac-10) Friday, Oct. 29 in a match televised live on Fox Sports Net at 7:30 p.m. Cal has had success against the Oregon schools in recent history. Last year, Cal swept Oregon and Oregon State in Eugene and Corvallis. This season, the Bears defeated the Ducks, 3-0 (15-3, 15-12, 15-11), on Oct. 1 and then had a dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 victory (5-15, 11-15, 16-14, 15-9, 15-10) over the Beavers Oct. 2 in the Recreational Sports Facility. In the victories over the Oregon schools this year, Cal received an impressive performance from sophomore setter/outside hitter Candace McNamee. McNamee was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after breaking a school record with a .917 hitting percentage against the Ducks, followed by a triple-double (14 kills, 14 digs, 36 assists) against the Beavers. Last week, the Bears reached a milestone when they upset San Jose State, 3-0, Oct. 19 in San Jose. Cal upended a Spartan team that was 18-1 at the time and had won 14-straight matches. It was also the Bears eighth win of the 1999 season, surpassing Cal's 7-22 record of 1998. The Bears have nine more matches left this season, and will try to win more than eight matches overall and three Pac-10 matches for the first time since Cal went 13-15 and 5-13 in conference in 1995. The Bears currently have three players, senior outside hitter Brook Coulter, senior middle blocker Kellie Alva and McNamee, who are on Cal's all-time career Top 10 list. Coulter is first in career aces (152, is leading Pac-10 in service aces this season with 33), eighth in kill attempts (2700), eighth in digs (984) and 10th in kills (853). Alva is fifth in career total blocks (306) and McNamee is third in career assists (1691). Junior outside hitter Alicia Perry has racked up some impressive numbers this season as she is the team leader in kills (236) and is second in digs (142). Freshman outside hitter/middle blocker Courtney Guerra leads the Bears in total blocks with 66. Cal has been a strong serving team this season, leading the Pac-10 with an average of 1.84 service aces per game (123 total service aces).

CAL VS. THE OPPONENTS: Cal has a 29-12 all-time record against Oregon, last defeating the Ducks, 3-0, Oct. 1 in Berkeley. Oregon is currently 6-14 and 0-11 in the Pac-10, having lost 14 straight matches and last falling to Washington State, 3-0, Oct. 22 in Pullman and Washington, 3-0, Oct. 23 in Seattle. The Ducks are led by sophomore outside hitter Monique Tobaggi with a team-leading 189 kills and 25 service aces. Cal has a 24-11 all-time record against Oregon State, defeating the Beavers, 3-2, Oct. 2 at Cal. Oregon State is currently 8-11 overall and 2-9 in the Pac-10, having last falling to Washington, 3-1, Oct. 22 in Seattle and Washington State, 3-0, Oct. 23 in Pullman. The Beavers are led by senior outside hitter Sarah Bjeldanes with 293 kills, 159 digs and 18 service aces.

CAL CAREER LEADERS

Kills

Attempts

Assists

Service Aces

Digs

Total Blocks

1999 Player Notes

KELLIE ALVA: Had 11 kills with three errors in 19 attempts for a .421 hitting percentage Oct. 19 at SJS...had seven kills, two errors in 10 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage Oct. 1 versus Oregon...had a career-high 38 kill attempts Sept. 18 at WSU...was named to the PowerBar Invitational all-tournament team Sept. 4 in Colorado... tied a career-high with 17 kills with only three errors in 25 attempts for a .560 hitting percentage Sept. 4 at Denver...had a career-high nine block assists and 16 digs Sept. 3 at Colorado...is currently fifth on the school's all-time career total block list (306)...second on team in total blocks (60)...Pac-10 All-Freshman in 1996.

BROOK COULTER: Had seven service aces versus Utah Sept. 25, becoming the Cal all-time service ace leader (now has 152 career aces)...is now also eighth in kill attempts (2700), eighth in digs (984) and 10th in kills (853)...currently leads team in digs (235) and service aces (33), and is second in kills (227)...was named to the PowerBar Invitational all-tournament team Sept. 4 in Colorado...in the two tournament matches recorded 34 kills and 35 digs...had a career-high 21 kills Sept. 3 at Colorado...was fourth in the nation and led the Pac-10 in service aces (56, third-best all-time Cal single-season mark) and in ace average (0.74 apg) last season...also last year broke the school record for single-match service aces with nine aces Oct. 16 at Oregon.

CANDACE MCNAMEE: Was named Pac-10 Player of the Week (Oct. 4) after breaking a school record with a .917 hitting percentage (11 kills, no errors, 12 attempts) Oct. 1 versus Oregon and recording a triple-double (14 kills, 14 digs, 36 assists) Oct. 2 versus OSU...had a career-high three service aces versus BYU Sept. 24...tallied 52 assists at Washington and 57 assists at WSU Sept. 17-18...played well Sept. 3 at Colorado, recording a career-high 63 assists and had a career-high three service aces...currently has 1,691 career assists, which is already third on the Cal career assist list...her 1,101 assists last season was the 10th-best Cal single-season mark.

LEAH YOUNG: Had exceptional college debut Sept. 1 against Hawaii, recording seven kills with no errors in 13 attempts for a .538 hitting percentage...recorded a season-high 12 kills with only two errors in 24 attempts for a .417 hitting percentage Sept. 17 at Washington...had a career-high five block assists Sept. 28 versus Santa Clara.

ALICIA PERRY: Recorded a career-high 29 kills and 73 attempts Sept. 25 versus Utah...had 35 kills and 20 digs during the two matches of the PowerBar Invitational Sept. 3-4...had a career-high two block solos and five total blocks Sept. 3 at Colorado...had a career-high four block assists Sept. 25 versus Utah...leads the team with 236 kills and is second in digs with 142...led Cal with 11 digs Sept. 1 versus Hawaii...led the team in kills (331) and digs (298) last season.

COURTNEY GUERRA: As a freshman leads the team in total blocks (66) and is third in service aces (18)...had a career-high seven block assists Oct. 19 at San Jose State...had a career-high nine kills and two errors in 17 attempts for a .412 hitting percentage Sept. 25 versus Utah...had a career-high three block solos Oct. 2 versus OSU...recorded three service aces Sept. 3 at Colorado.

CAITY NOONAN: The freshman setter had a season-high 25 assists Oct. 2 versus OSU...was impressive Sept. 17-18 at Washington and WSU, recording a season-high six kills with no errors in 15 attempts for a .400 hitting percentage against WSU...also had two service aces and seven digs versus the Huskies...had a team-high 12 digs Sept. 8 against EWU and then had a team-high four service aces Sept. 12 against Wisc. GB...is second on the team with 23 service aces.

LAUREL KOKASKA: The junior college transfer played extremely well coming off the bench to record a season-high 12 kills Sept. 17 at Washington...came back and had nine kills and a season-high 15 digs Sept. 18 at Washington State...had two service aces Sept. 25 versus Utah.

1999 University of California Volleyball Season Highs (as of 10/25)
Career highs in italics

TEAM                                            INDIVIDUAL                  
Kills          74 at Col., 9/3, vs. OSU, 10/2   Kills          29 by Alicia Perry vs. Utah, 9/25
Attempts       220 vs. Oregon State, 10/2       Attempts       73 by Alicia Perry vs. Utah, 9/25
Hitting Pct.   .406 vs. Wisc. GB, 9/12          Hitting Pct.   .917 by Candace McNamee vs. Oregon, 10/1 (11k-0e-12att)
Assists        71 vs. Oregon State, 10/2        Assists        63 by Candace McNamee at Colorado, 9/3
Service Aces   16 vs. Utah, 9/25                Service Aces   7 by Brook Coulter vs. Utah, 9/25
Digs           82 vs. Oregon State, 10/2        Digs           21 by Brook Coulter vs. OSU, 10/2, vs. ASU, 10/15
Block Solos    5 vs. Oregon State, 10/2         Block Solos    3 by Courtney Guerra vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Block Assists  26 at Col., 9/3, vs. OSU, 10/2   Block Assists  9 by Kellie Alva at Colorado, 9/3
Team Blocks    15 at Col., 9/3, vs. OSU, 10/2   Total Blocks   9 by Kellie Alva at Colorado, 9/3

INDIVIDUAL

KELLIE ALVA

Kills          17 at Denver, 9/4
Attempts       38 at Washington State, 9/18
Service Aces    2 at Washington, 9/17
Digs           16 at Colorado, 9/3
Block Solos     2 at USC, 10/9
Block Assists   9 at Colorado, 9/3
Total Blocks    9 at Colorado, 9/3

CANDACE MCNAMEE

Kills          14 vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Attempts       40 vs. Arizona State, 10/15
Assists        63 at Colorado, 9/3
Service Aces    3 at Colorado, 9/3, vs. BYU, 9/25
Digs           14 vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Block Solos     1 vs. Hawaii, 9/1, vs. Utah, 9/25
Block Assists   5 at Col., 9/3, vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Total Blocks    5 at Col., 9/3, Oregon State, 10/2

BROOK COULTER

Kills          21 at Colorado, 9/3
Attempts       61 vs. Stanford, 9/21
Service Aces    7 vs. Utah, 9/25
Digs           21 vs. OSU, 10/2, vs. ASU, 10/15
Block Solos     2 at Washington, 9/17
Block Assists   3 vs. BYU, 9/24, at San Jose State, 10/19
Total Blocks    3 vs. BYU, 9/24

LEAH YOUNG

Kills          12 at Washington, 9/17
Attempts       31 at Colorado, 9/3, at WSU, 9/18
Service Aces    0
Digs            3 vs. Hawaii, 9/1
Block Solos     1 at USC, 10/9
Block Assists   5 vs. Santa Clara, 9/28, vs. ASU, 10/15
Total Blocks    5 vs. Santa Clara, 9/28, vs. ASU, 10/15

COURTNEY GUERRA

Kills           9 vs. Utah, 9/25
Attempts       23 vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Service Aces    3 at Colorado, 9/3
Digs           12 at Denver, 9/4
Block Solos     3 vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Block Assists   7 at San Jose State, 10/19
Total Blocks    7 vs. Utah, 9/25, at San Jose State, 10/19

CAITY NOONAN

Kills          6 at Washington State, 9/18
Attempts      15 at Washington State, 9/18
Assists       25 vs. Oregon State, 10/2
Service Aces   4 vs. Wisc. GB, 9/12
Digs          17 vs. Arizona State, 10/15
Block Solos    0
Block Assists  2 at Washington, 9/17, at WSU, 9/18
Total Blocks   2 at Washington, 9/17, at WSU, 9/18

ALICIA PERRY

Kills         29 vs. Utah, 9/25
Attempts      73 vs. Utah, 9/25
Service Aces   2 vs. three teams
Digs          13 at Colorado, 9/3
Block Solos    2 at Colorado, 9/3, vs. ASU, 10/15
Block Assists  4 vs. Utah, 9/25
Total Blocks   5 at Colorado, 9/3, vs. Utah, 9/25

LAUREL KOKASKA

Kills         12 at Washington, 9/17
Attempts      36 at Washington, 9/17
Service Aces   2 vs. Utah, 9/25   
Digs          15 at Washington State, 9/18
Block Solos    0
Block Assists  1 vs. Oregon, 10/1
Total Blocks   0