Nov. 23, 1999

BERKELEY, Calif. - The Cal volleyball team, 12-15 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-10, is wrapping up the 1999 season with a home contest against Nevada Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. With the sweep of the Washington schools last weekend in back-to-back five-game matches, the Bears established themselves as the most improved volleyball program in the conference.

Cal's 12 overall wins are the most since 1995 (13-15), and the Bears seven conference victories are the most since 1991. Cal's 7-11 record assures the Bears a sixth-place conference finish, their highest league placing since finishing fifth in the conference with a 9-9 record in 1991. It was the first time the Bears had swept the Washington schools since Oct. 25-26, 1991.

Junior outside hitter Alicia Perry, who was named Pac-10 Player of the Week, had back-to-back triple-doubles against Washington State and Washington, the first time in Cal history a player has had back-to-back triple-doubles. The Bears were using a 6-2 offense. Against Washington State, she had 21 kills, 31 assists and 19 digs. Against Washington, Perry had 23 kills, 32 assists and 11 digs. She also had a .320 hitting percentage against the Cougars and a .314 hitting percentage against the Huskies. It was the second time this season Cal has had a Player of the Week selection (sophomore setter/outside hitter Candace McNamee was named Pac-10 Player of the Week Oct. 4) and only the 12th time in school history.

The match against Nevada represents the final collegiate match for senior outside hitter Brook Coulter and senior middle blocker Kellie Alva. Coulter has been a model of consistency for the Bears as she is the Pac-10 leader in dig average (3.67) and is third in service ace average (.42). She is the team leader in kills (355), digs (360) and service aces (41). Coulter is also a member of Cal's all-time career Top 10 list as she is the school record-holder in career service aces (160), fifth in kill attempts (3044), seventh in digs (1109) and seventh in kills (961). Alva has been solid in her final year with 198 kills, 173 digs and leads the team with 101 total blocks. Both Coulter and Alva were named to the PowerBar Invitational All-Tournament team back on Sept. 4 in Colorado.

Alva, McNamee and Perry are members of the Bears all-time career Top 10 list as well. Alva is fifth in career total blocks (347), McNamee is third in career assists (1916) and Perry is 10th in career kills (885). Among active Pac-10 players, Coulter is second in career digs (behind Stanford's Kerri Walsh) and fifth in career kills. Perry is sixth among active conference players in both career kills and digs (732), and Alva is fourth in career total blocks.

HEAD COACH RICH FELLER: Rich Feller (12-15 at Cal, career 311-182, .631) 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 OPPONENT: Cal has a 6-2 all-time record against Nevada, defeating the Wolf Pack, 3-0, in the last meeting Sept. 1, 1989 in Berkeley. Nevada is 17-10 overall and 10-6 in the Big West Conference, having last lost to Long Beach State, 3-1, Nov. 11 in Reno and Utah State, 3-0, Nov. 13 in Logan, UT. The Wolf Pack are led by sophomore middle blocker Kellie LaBossiere with 386 kills and 285 digs. Nevada's head coach, Devin Scruggs, was an assistant at Cal from 1994-96.

1999 Player Notes

CAL CAREER LEADERS

Kills

Attempts

Assists

Service Aces

Digs

Total Blocks

KELLIE ALVA: Versus WSU and UW Nov. 19-20 tallied 26 kills and 18 total blocks...had 11 kills and eight total blocks Nov. 12 at Arizona...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...named to 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 fifth on the school's all-time career total block list (347)...leads team in total blocks (101)...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 160 career aces)...is now also fifth in kill attempts (3044), seventh in digs (1109) and seventh in kills (961)...currently leads team in kills (335), digs (360) and service aces (41)...had a career-high 26 kills Nov. 11 at ASU...was named to the PowerBar Invitational all-tournament team Sept. 4 in Colorado...in the two tournament matches recorded 34 kills and 35 digs...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: 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 career-high three service aces versus BYU Sept. 24...recorded a career-high 63 assists and three service aces Sept. 3 at Colorado...currently has 1916 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: Tallied nine kills with two errors in 17 attempts (.412) in last match Nov. 12 at Arizona...had strong college debut Sept. 1 against Hawaii, with seven kills with no errors in 13 attempts (.538)...recorded a season-high 12 kills with only two errors in 24 attempts (.417) Sept. 17 at Washington...had a career-high five block assists Sept. 28 versus Santa Clara.

ALICIA PERRY: Was Pac-10 Player of the Week (Nov. 22) with back-to-back triple-doubles (21 kills, 31 assists, 19 digs vs. WSU, 23 kills, 32 assists, 11 digs vs. UW)...had 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...tied for team lead in kills (335) and is second in digs (219)...led the team in kills (331) and digs (298) last season.

COURTNEY GUERRA: Second on team in total blocks (91)...had 12 kills with no errors in 24 attempts (.500) Nov. 20 versus UW...had seven kills with no errors in 15 attempts (.467) and a career-high 14 digs Nov. 12 at UA...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 three block solos Oct. 2 versus OSU...had three service aces Sept. 3 at Colorado.

CAITY NOONAN: Freshman setter had a career-high 36 assists Nov. 20 versus UW...recorded 34 assists Nov. 19 versus WSU and had 12 digs vs. both WSU and UW...recorded a season-high six kills with no errors in 15 attempts (.400 hitting percentage) Sept. 18 at WSU...also had two service aces and seven digs versus the Huskies Sept. 17...had a team-high four service aces Sept. 12 against Wisc. GB...second on team with 24 service aces.

LAUREL KOKASKA: JC transfer had career-high 15 kills Nov. 19 versus WSU and 17 digs Nov. 20 versus UW...came off the bench to record 12 kills Sept. 17 at Washington...followed with nine kills and 15 digs Sept. 18 at WSU...recorded a career-high 18 digs Nov. 12 at Arizona State.

1999 University of California
Volleyball Season Highs (as of 11/21)

INDIVIDUAL

KELLIE ALVA

CANDACE MCNAMEE

BROOK COULTER

LEAH YOUNG

COURTNEY GUERRA

CAITY NOONAN

ALICIA PERRY

LAUREL KOKASKA