ASU Succumbs to Cal Bears

By Marsha Wolf: SPM Men's Sports Editor: Arizona
Posted Saturday, November 8, 2008

TEMPE, AZ – Sarah Reaves’ match leading 26 kills was not enough for the Arizona State women’s volleyball team to overcome the 6th-ranked California Golden Bears Saturday night, and finally provide ASU with a statement win for the season.

ASU has had a number of close calls at huge victories in the Pac-10. Friday night’s loss to 5th-ranked Stanford was another of those close calls. ASU lost to Stanford 25-23, 26-24 and 25-20, leaving the Sun Devils with a 12-12 overall record and 3-8 Pac-10 mark heading into Saturday’s match.

Fresh off a second straight defeat, the latest at the hands of the University of Arizona Wildcats Friday night, the Bears were looking to garner their 20th victory on the season as they took an overall record of 19-4 and a Pac-10 mark of 9-3 into the Devil’s court at Wells Fargo Arena.

What Reaves was for the Devils, Hana Cutura was for the Bears. The 6’4” Croatian outside hitter scored 8 kills and 2 aces during game one of the match. Most significantly, Cutura scored an ace at game point for the Bears, giving them a 26-24 win.

ASU was up 13-11 when Cutura scored her first ace of the match, bringing Cal to a 13-12 margin. On the ensuing play, ASU hit the ball out of bounds, score tied, and not for the last time in the game. The stats for the first game underscore just how close the match was and the significance of the two service aces by Cutura. Kills were even at 15 apiece, Cal had 3 aces to ASU’s 1.

Game two was back and forth with neither team gaining momentum. Marina Mercer and Margie Giordano lead the way for the Devils, Mercer with 17 assists and Giordano with 6 kills.

With the score 27-26, ASU’s Sara Todorovich rejected a shot by Cal’s Cutura sending ASU to match point, which Giordano put away. ASU wins the game 28-26.

With the score 5-5 in the third game, ASU went into a dry spell, scoring only 5 points while Cal garnered 14. ASU was never able to put a run together and went on to lose 17-25. Cutura led the way for Cal with 3 kills an ace and 2 blocks, while being aided by teammate Carli Lloyd with 15 assists.

Am’ra Soloman, a senior outside hitter, was Cal’s outstanding player in the fourth game, with 7 kills and a block. Teammate Carli Lloyd contributed 12 assists and 4 kills towards Cal’s winning margin of 25-21.

Arizona State’s record now falls to 12-13 and 3-9 in the Pac-10. Their next match is on the road at UCLA at 7 p.m. next Friday.

Cal now 20-4 and 10-3 in the Pac-10, will host its arch rival Stanford at home Friday night at 7 p.m.