University of Washington
California
Volleyball Falls In Emotional Four-Game Match To UC Berkeley
October 06, 2000 | Volleyball
Oct. 6, 2000
BERKELEY, Calif. - In a match showcasing the blocking prowess of Washington and the offensive hitting power of UC Berkeley, Cal's power came out ahead in the end as the Huskies fell, 14-16, 15-9, 15-13, 15-5, Friday at the RSF Fieldhouse. With the loss, the UW fell to 4-9 overall and 0-6 in the Pac-10, while Cal improved to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10.
In game one, the Huskies' blocking at the net became the story as the UW had five blocks for points. The UW had gotten out to an early six point lead at 8-2, but Cal finally caught up at 11-11 and then went on a three-point run to get its first game point of the night at 14-11. Washington, however, would not go away, fending off two game points and scoring three straight, including one on a key block solo from Lisa Underhill (Vista, Calif.), to tie the game at 14-14. The Huskies did not squander their opportunities, grabbing their first game on kills by junior Malena Thompson (Santa Fe, N.M.) and sophomore Gretchen Maurer (San Clemente, Calif.), 16-14.
The second game proved just as close, despite the fact that Cal had jumped out to the early 8-4 lead. The Huskies climbed back in the game to tie the score at 8-8 and 9-9, but sparked once again by some timely kills, the Golden Bears tied the match at a game apiece after winning game two, 15-9.
Indicative of the first two games, the two schools traded a number of sideouts before the Huskies finally got on the board with a block from Underhill and junior Allison Richardson (Hemet, Calif.). The Bears then gave up six straight points, including five on unforced errors, as the UW raced out early to a 7-0 lead. The unforced error bug proved contagious as the Huskies gave up six straight to let Cal to within one at 8-7 and 9-8. The Bears finally tied the game at 11-11 before two Husky hitting errors and a miscommunication forced the UW to once again have their backs to the wall at 14-11. As in game one, the Huskies, out of substitutions, fended off an unbelievable 13 game points, before a Cal ace ended the drama with a game three win for the Bears at 15-13.
After the emotionally draining game three, the two teams were knotted at 3-3, before an Abernathy kill and three UW errors moved the Bears out to a 7-3 edge heading into a Washington timeout. A pair of points following tough jump serves from Richardson, enabled the Huskies to climb within four once again at 4-8, but California built on its momentum to win game four, 15-5, and the match.
The Huskies will stay in Northern California Saturday for another Pac-10 Conference match with 1999 NCAA runner-up Stanford at Maples Pavilion at 7 p.m.
