Nov. 8, 1999

BERKELEY Calif. - The 1999 Cal volleyball team, currently 10-13 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-10, is looking to continue its positive trend as one of the most improved volleyball programs in the conference. The Bears, who under first year coach Rich Feller have won more matches since the 1995 squad went 13-15 and 5-13, travel to Arizona this weekend to face Arizona State (11-10, 7-7) Nov. 11 in Tempe and No. 19 Arizona (15-8, 9-5) Nov. 12 in Tucson.

Besides Arizona State and Arizona, Cal's remaining matches include home contests versus Washington State and Washington Nov. 19-20, and another home match against Nevada Nov. 23. The Bears are trying to win more than five Pac-10 matches since winning six league contests in 1992.

Some highlights for Cal so far during the '99 season includes sweeping the Oregon school in all four matches for the first time since 1993.

The Bears sophomore setter/outside hitter Candace McNamee was named Pac-10 Player of the Week Oct. 4 after breaking a school record with a .917 hitting percentage against Oregon Oct. 1, followed by a triple-double (14 kills, 14 digs, 36 assists) Oct. 2 against Oregon State. McNamee was later featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd for her exploits against the Ducks and the Beavers. Cal also upset San Jose State, 3-0, Oct. 19 in San Jose. The Bears upended a Spartan team that was 18-1 at the time and had won 14-straight match.

With only five matches left, the college careers of senior outside hitter Brook Coulter and senior middle blocker Kellie Alva are coming to a close. Both players have been a huge factor in Cal's success. Coulter has been a model of consistency as she is the team leader in kills (259), digs (288) and service aces (34). Alva has also been solid in her final year with 153 kills, 136 digs and is second on the team with 71 total blocks. Both Coulter and Alva were named to the PowerBar Invitational All-Tournament team back on Sept. 4 in Colorado. Coulter, Alva and McNamee are also members of the Bears all-time career Top 10 list. Coulter is the school record-holder in career aces (153), sixth in kill attempts (2816), seventh in digs (1037) and 10th in kills (885). Alva is fifth in career total blocks (317) and McNamee is third in career assists (1805).

HEAD COACH RICH FELLER: Rich Feller (10-13 at Cal, career 309-180, .632) 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.

CAL VS. THE OPPONENTS: Cal has a 9-22 all-time record against Arizona State, falling to the Sun Devils, 3-1 (15-11, 15-6, 13-15, 15-9), Oct. 15 in the first-ever athletic event in renovated Haas Pavilion. ASU, coached by Patti Snyder-Park (assistant at Cal from 1984-88), is 11-10 and 7-7, having last lost to WSU, 3-0, Nov. 5 in Pullman and defeating Washington, 3-0, Nov. 6 in Seattle. The Sun Devils are led by junior outside hitter Amanda Burbridge with 335 kills. Cal has a 6-23 all-time record against Arizona, losing to the Wildcats, 3-0 (15-10, 15-3, 15-10), Oct. 16 at Haas Pavilion. Arizona is 15-8 and 9-5, having defeated Washington, 3-2, Nov. 5 in Seattle and WSU, 3-0, Nov. 6 in Pullman. The Wildcats are led by junior middle blocker Marisa DaLee with 309 kills. The last time Cal defeated one of the Arizona schools was Nov. 8, 1997 when the Bears defeated Arizona State, 3-2, in Tempe. Cal last defeated Arizona Oct. 27, 1995 in Tucson.

1999 Player Notes

CAL CAREER LEADERS

Kills

Attempts

Assists

Service Aces

Digs

Total Blocks

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 (.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 (.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 (317)...second on team in total blocks (71)...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 153 career aces)...is now also sixth in kill attempts (2816), seventh in digs (1037) and 10th in kills (885)...currently leads team in kills (259), digs (288) and service aces (34)...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) and is in the Nov. 1 issue of Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd 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...recorded a career-high 63 assists and three service aces Sept. 3 at Colorado...currently has 1805 career assists, which is already third on the Cal career assist list...her 1101 assists last season was the 10th-best Cal single-season mark.

LEAH YOUNG: Had strong college debut Sept. 1 against Hawaii, with 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...second on team in kills (248) and digs (166)...led Cal with 14 digs Nov. 5 versus USC...led the team in kills (331) and digs (298) last season.

COURTNEY GUERRA: Leads the team in total blocks (78) and is third in service aces (19)...had 16 kills with only two errors in 33 attempts Oct. 28-29 at UO and OSU...recorded a career-high seven block assists Oct. 19 at SJS...had career-high nine kills and two errors in 17 attempts (.412 hitting percentage) Sept. 25 versus Utah...had career-high three block solos Oct. 2 versus OSU...had three service aces Sept. 3 at Colorado.

CAITY NOONAN: The freshman setter had a career-high 25 assists Oct. 2 versus OSU...Sept. 17-18 at UW and WSU recorded a season-high six kills with no errors in 15 attempts (.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...second on team with 24 service aces.

LAUREL KOKASKA: JC transfer came off the bench to record a season-high 12 kills Sept. 17 at Washington...followed with nine kills and a season-high 15 digs Sept. 18 at WSU...had two service aces Sept. 25 versus Utah...started Oct. 29 at OSU and had eight kills and 12 digs.

1999 University of California Volleyball Season Highs
(as of 11/6)

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. three teams
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, at Oregon, 10/28
Block Solos 1 at USC, 10/9, at Oregon State, 10/29
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 14 vs. USC, 11/5
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, at OSU, 10/29
Digs 15 at Washington State, 9/18
Block Solos 1 vs. USC, 11/5
Block Assists 1 vs. three teams
Total Blocks 1 vs. four teams