No. 9 Cal Volleyball Goes The Distance In 3-2 Thriller Over Arizona

Sophomore outside hitter Hana Cutura drops 25 kills on Wildcats

TUCSON, Ariz. – The No. 9 California volleyball team (16-4, 6-3
Pac-10) defeated the Arizona Wildcats (12-9, 2-7) in five-games (20-30,
23-30, 30-28, 30-22, 15-12) for their sixth consecutive conference and
overall victory. The win marks the second time the Bears have come from
two-games down to win a match, with the first time against Santa Clara.

Senior outside hitter Angie Pressey delivered many critical kills throughout
the match and put up 19 kills overall (8e, 49att) for a .224 hitting
percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Hana Cutura had 25 kills with only 12
errors on 57 attempts for a .228 hitting percentage on the night. Sophomore
libero Kristen Kathan had another strong defensive match, notching 19 digs
for the Bears and senior middle hitter Ellen Orchard put up six total
blocks, one solo.

The Bears led for most of the fifth game until Arizona tied it up at nine
and turned the match into a see-saw competition. After a diving dig by Carli
Lloyd, a pass from Orchard to Pressey gave the Bears a 14-12 lead. With Cat
Dailey serving, Pressey put the final kill of the match through a block
attempt to give the Bears the come-from-behind victory over the Wildcats.

After jumping out to a quick five-point lead in the fourth game, the Bears
found themselves in a battle and trading leads with the Wildcats as the game
wore on. With the score tied at 20, Cal would mount one final push for game
four, taking a small two-point lead at first, and building up to a six-point
advantage off a 5-0 run on Hana Cutura serves that included two straight
Angie Pressey kills on overpasses. An Orchard kill set the Bears up at 29-22
and then a set from Lloyd to Pressey for a tip kill sent the match into a
fifth and deciding game.

The Bears never trailed in game three but received a scare towards the end
of it as Arizona embarked on several small runs. Mid way through the game, a
5-0 Cal run on Angie Pressey serves built an eight-point lead at 22-14 but
the Bears would squander most of it on several broken plays. The Bears
finally got things going at the net in the third with 17 kills (7e, 42att,
.238) and picked up their blocking to hold the Wildcats to .103 (13k, 9e,
39att), taking the match to a fourth game.

Cal led the second game by two and three points until the Wildcats were able
to catch up at 15. Although the Bears improved their hitting from game one
to game two, the .152 mark (14k, 9e, 33att) was not nearly enough to outpace
Arizona’s .343 game two hitting (17k, 5e, 35att). Arizona was nearly
unblockable as Cal was only able to muster two total team blocks in the
second stanza running their total to three as they found themselves down in
an 0-2 deficit for only the third time this season.

The Bears had a difficult time in the first game, giving up a 9-1 run to
Arizona that put them at a 12-4 disadvantage to the home team. Hitting just
.088 in an opening round that included eight hitting errors, the
Bears’ 34 attacks yielded only 11 kills. Taking advantage of Cal
miscues, the Wildcats put up an impressive .467 hitting percentage (17k, 3e,
30att) and added a couple of service aces as they ran away with game one.

The Bears will be on the road again next week as they travel down south to
take on the USC Trojans at the Galen Center on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and
the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

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