No. 8 California Bears Volleyball Team Drowns No. 11 Ducks for 13th Straight
California volleyball junior outside hitter Tarah Murrey powers the Bears to victory with 16 kills
BERKELEY – The No. 8-ranked California volleyball team (13-0, 3-0 Pac-10) tied the second-longest winning streak in school history with a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-14, 25-16) of No. 11 Oregon (14-1, 2-1 Pac-10) at Haas Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 1. The Golden Bears have won nine straight sets and are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the country along with top-ranked Stanford. Junior outside hitter Tarah Murrey had match-high honors with 16 kills (3e, 37att, .351) to go with five digs and five blocks as Cal snapped Oregon’s 14-0 start.
Senior setter Carli Lloyd led all players with 36 assists and had a season-high seven blocks. Lloyd’s accuracy helped the Bears to a .300 hitting percentage on 110 attacks (43k, 10e). Sophomore middle hitter Shannon Hawari was the benefactor of Lloyd’s sets as she produced nine kills on 18 attacks without an error (.500). Hawari tied a career best with seven blocks of her own. Sophomore middle hitter Kat Brown led all players as she tied her career high with eight blocks on the night and sophomore libero Robin Rostratter led all players with 14 digs. Freshman defensive specialist Erin Freeman started the match and added 10 digs of her own.
Oregon senior outside hitter Heather Meyers had 11 kills (4e, 32att, .219) to lead the Ducks, but the Bears held reigning AVCA National Player of the Week outside hitter Alaina Bergsma to just five kills (5e, 16att, .000) in the match. Oregon sophomore outside hitter Katherine Fischer led the Ducks with 13 digs, but struggled offensively as she posted a negative .030 attack rate (6k, 7e, 33att). As a team, Oregon managed just .051 on 117 swings (32k, 26e) thanks to Cal’s season-high 16 blocks.
The Bears had little trouble holding onto the lead in the first set as they raced out to a 10-point advantage at 12-2 on a kill by freshman outside hitter Adrienne Gehan. Oregon made a short run to get back in the set with consecutive blocks, but another Cal spurt put the Bears in front by their largest lead at 23-11 on a line shot by Murrey. Sophomore opposite hitter Correy Johnson stepped out to send a shot to the ground on a slide play before Gehan sealed the deal with a kill for a 25-16 win. Led by Murrey’s eight points (six kills, two blocks), Cal attacked at a .222 rate on 45 attacks (15k, 5e). The Ducks posted 10 kills (8e, 43att) for a .047 hitting percentage in the opening set.
Cal never trailed in the second set and led by six at 8-2 as Hawari and Johnson teamed up to block an attack by Fischer. Oregon made its push to get within four points at 13-9 Bergsma earned a block. The Bears didn’t let up and went up, 18-10, as Hawari terminated the play on a set from Lloyd. Cal held the lead tightly until a couple of Duck errors surrendered the set, 25-14. The Bears had 14 kills (3e) on 28 attempts for a .393 hitting percentage and held Oregon to another subpar offensive performance with 10 kills (8e, .059) on 34 attacks.
Oregon fell behind by four points to open the third set, but made a run to get back in the game at 8-6 on a kill by Meyers. The Bears responded to build their lead back up to five points at 15-10 when Fischer was stuffed at the net by Johnson and Hawari. Cal rolled out to an eight-point lead at 20-12 as Gehan took a bump set from Rostratter for the kill. Lloyd earned a kill on a bump set from senior defensive specialist Meagan Schmitt to give the Bears set point at 24-15. The Ducks got one more point before a kill by Johnson ended the match. Cal remained efficient in the final set with 14 kills (2e) on 37 attacks for a .324 hitting percentage. The Ducks were held to a .050 rate (12k, 10e) as the Bears posted six blocks in the set.
The Bears are back in action in a 7 p.m. PT match against Oregon State (8-9, 1-2 Pac-10) at Haas Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Beavers fell in three sets to No. 1 Stanford at Maples Pavilion earlier tonight. The match against Oregon State is Youth Day and will feature free admission to all youth 12th grade and younger with a valid student ID.
