|
Monday, September 10, 2007
Hello Cal Volleyball Fans, What a fun weekend of volleyball in Bear land. We had a great time with the Golden Bear Invitational and going 3-0 with three-game victories sure felt good. Our tournament started with a Friday night match-up against the Utah State Aggies. I believe they were a quality team that has some unpredictability about them. They do a few things that we are not used to and which were a cause for some concern. As it turned out, we put forth a great team effort and were able to finish out the match in style. We played our bench throughout the match and everyone contributed. We still missed a few more serves than I like, but we were so aggressive that we made up for the misses with aces and serves that put Utah State on their heels, literally. Hana Cutura began her "hard" serving in this match (we were going to see a lot more during the tournament) and scored with 4 aces and many near aces with her serve. On Saturday, we had the two games a day format going and we faced Eastern Kentucky at noon. I felt confident going into this match and knew I could play different lineups from the start. This allowed for some valuable playing time for the team members that have worked hard every day in practice without as much playing time. Team numbers were high across the board, but Ellen Orchard had a break through match with 16 kills (tying her career high) in 20 attacks. Morgan Beck, Angie Pressey and Hana all hit for a high percentage and Am'ra Solomon knocked down seven kills of her own. Caitlyn Murphy scored on four service aces. The finale, against 12th-ranked Minnesota looked like it was going to live up to all the hype. A televised match always brings some special notice and we were excited to play a ranked team on our home turf. And were we ready! We started out very hot and pushed them in every aspect of the game. Our serving and blocking was the most noticeable feature early on. The passing and the offense came alive soon and the defense got better as the match wore on. Minnesota was never really in this match. People might say that they didn't play well but I think we played exceptional and never let them get into any rhythm or comfort level. We hit .400 in the first game and .259 for the match and we out-blocked Minnesota 12 to six. Carli Lloyd spread the offense so well that Minnesota almost never put up a double block. In 108 attacks, three hitters had 21-24 attempts, the other two had 17 and 12 and Carli hit 10 times for five kills. Morgan and Angie were the kill leaders with 11 each. Angie scored on four aces and Morgan got a few more points with her six block assists and one solo. Hana, while only acing them twice, continually put them on the defensive with her incredible fast and powerful jump serves. In all, it was a great night for us. We concluded the evening with a Meet and Greet night in the club room. About 130 fans joined the Bears for treats and autographs. Look for re-broadcasts of the game on Comcast Sports Net. Also, all of our home games are streamed live on the internet, so catch us on the web if you can't be there in person. This week, we head across the Bay to Santa Clara. Friday night we play the host at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, we face Notre Dame at 4:30 p.m. If you are in the Bay area, come on out and see us play.
Until next time,
|
