The No. 5 Cal women’s volleyball team completed a 3-0 sweep of UCSB (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) on Sunday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley on the final day of the 2008 Cal Molten Classic. All-tournament MVP setter Carli Lloyd, who notched 34 assists on the day and added eight kills without an error, led the Golden Bears.
The loss leaves Gauchos coach Kathy Gregory still looking for her 800th career victory.
UCSB is 1-1 on the season after splitting the weekend’s two contests. The Gauchos were led by sophomore outside hitter Charlene DeHoog, who notched nine kills on 19 attempts with two errors, for a team-best .368 clip. Tournament Standout, junior Rebecca Saraceno, had eight kills in the loss with two aces, five digs and a block assist. Sophomore setter Dana Vargas tallied 21 assists while libero Leigh Stephenson, a senior from Nipomo High, had 10 digs.
For the Bears, junior outside hitter Hana Cutura led all players with 12 kills and hit .308 (4e, 26att) against the Gauchos to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Senior middle blocker Kat Reilly was the most prolific attacker for the Bears, coming up with eight kills on 10 attacks without registering an error.
As a team, Cal outhit UCSB .438 to .169. The Gauchos recorded their best performance in the third set, hitting .306 with a match-high 13 kills and match-low two errors on 36 attempts.
The Bears pulled away in the third set after facing a nine-all tie. Leading 23-19, Berkeley gave up three of the next four points, allowing UCSB back within three at match-point. Lloyd’s set to the left side of the court put Am’ra Solomon in position to close out the match, which she did with a kill to the center of the Gauchos’ court.
UCSB will play in its second of three consecutive Bay Area tournaments next weekend when the Gauchos head to the USF Asics/Powerade . The Gauchos play USF on Friday before faciing Texas Arlington and Utah State on Saturday.
Lisa Skvarla is UCSB‘s assistant media relations director.