No.15 Cal Survives in Closest Match in Colorado History

Sunday, October 20

Berkeley, Calif.

1:00 PM

Colorado

8-10,0-8Pac-12

California

17-1,8-0Pac-12

Colorado

California

Photo by: Tim Benko, Benko Photographics

No.15 Cal Survives in Closest Match in Colorado History

October 20, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID

BERKELEY – Colorado women's volleyball gave it everything they had and took No.15 Cal to the wire in a five-set (25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 25-27, 16-14) 3-2 grudge match, eventually falling in the closest five-set match in school history.

The Buffaloes (8-10, 0-8 Pac-12) came back after falling behind 0-2 to force Cal (17-1, 7-1 Pac-12) to a fifth set, where the teams were tied up at 14 before the Golden Bears finished it with a pair of points. The match will go down as the closest five-set match in Colorado history with just 11 total points separating the two teams, beating the previous closest mark of 13 in a win against Air Force in 2012.

Both teams put on hitting displays, but Justine Spann had the most extraordinary night of all the hitters with a career-high 27 kills while hitting .317. She committed eight errors in the match, five coming in the first set where she also had seven kills. She put the team on her back in the final two sets, combining for 13 kills while hitting .571 in the fourth and fifth set combined.

Freshman Elissa Alcantara also had a career-high with her first 20-point performance. She put down 19 kills with a .288 hitting percentage and added three blocks.

Both performances came off a career-high from setter Jenna Ewert who had 62 assists, 15 digs and five kills. Ewert dished out 10 kills to Parker who was crucial in the third set with four kills and a .400 hitting percentage. She also got the middles going with Danielle Price hitting eight kills for a .438 hitting percentage while Meegan Hart had nine kills.

On the defensive side of the ball, it was a combined effort across the board in the backrow, led by senior Rachel Whipple's 25 digs. She led the team and was key to sending the match to a fifth set after she had nine digs in the fourth. Whipple was joined by Katie Lougeay who had a career-high 13 digs and Savannah Perry who had 11 digs. Price led the team with five block assists.

The difference in the match came down to hitting errors in the final set. Both teams put down 11 kills in the set but Cal only committed a single error to Colorado's four. Both teams were hitting like crazy the entire match, finishing with a .357 and .302 hitting percentage led by Cal. The Golden Bears hit greater than .400 in three of the sets, including the third set loss. After hitting just .146 in the first set, CU put down a .350 set in the second then hit .405 in the third and .302 in the fourth. Colorado had a lower team hitting percentage in every set.

After the close loss the Buffaloes return home and look to continue on the upward trend against Washington and Washington State. Colorado takes on Washington State Thursday at 7 p.m., then returns against Washington Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams traded points to a 2-2 match when Head Coach Jesse Mahoney put up an early challenge on a tip successfully to get CU a 3-1 lead. The Golden Bears responded with a four-point run to take the lead. Colorado struggled to hit early with six attack errors as Cal led 14-10. At the media timeout Cal had a four-point lead, but Spann was on fire with six kills on 12 swings. The Buffs put together a three-point run to close the gap to one before the Golden Bears could side out. CU finally notched it up at 16 all and took the lead with a big Price and Alcantara block. Another kill by Alcantara, her third thus far, forced Cal into a timeout trailing 18-16. Cal put down a three-point run to tie it at 19 all, then the teams began to battle back-and-forth. A kill and block for Cal swapped the lead to 22-21, forcing CU into a timeout. A Parker kill and set error swapped the lead CU's way at 23-22, but a service error tied it back up with both teams looking for the first set-point. A Colorado attack error set up Cal with the first chance to finish the set, forcing a timeout from the Buffs. The Golden Bears capitalized on the next play, taking the set 25-23. Spann ended the set with seven kills but also with five attack errors while Ewert had 10 assists and six digs.

Colorado took an early lead in the second at 3-2. The teams kept trading blocks as CU slowly powered again with an 8-5 lead following Alcantara's sixth kill of the match. The Buffs continued to battle and extend as Ewert picked up her fourth kill to send the team to the media timeout up 15-11. After Colorado took a 19-16 lead with each team going back-and-forth, Cal put down a pair to close the gap to one and forcing CU into a timeout. The second set looked like a shootout with 30 kills and only three attack errors between the two teams as each was hitting greater than .450 led by Colorado's .481. Cal finally notched it up at 20 all, taking the lead and momentum one play later to force a Colorado timeout at 21-20. Alcantara continued to dominate the set with seven kills to give her 10 with only a single error and hitting .450. After tying the match up at 21, Cal put down a pair of back-to-back blocks to march to set-point at 24-21. A Spann tip was called in to give Colorado life, challenged by Cal unsuccessfully. After a long rally that lasted more than a minute, Cal finished it off to take the 2-0 lead. They had 20 kills and only a single error in the set, hitting .452 while CU had 18 kills and four errors for a .350 hitting percentage.

The Buffs pushed out to a 4-3 lead in the third set. Ewert picked up her fifth kill on seven tries. The Buffs were hitting well with seven team kills on 11 swings without an error. As they led 10-7, CU was hitting .667 as a team. They capped their run at .692 as a team while neither team had committed an error at 12-10. The Buffs rolled to the media timeout with 12 kills and a team hitting percentage of .600 as Spann put down four kills and Alcantara continued to snipe with a .423 hitting percentage. Neither team had committed an error with 21 combined kills on 39 swings. Out of the break Cal ran a middle swing deep, called a kill from a tip that Colorado challenged successfully to give the first attack error of the set for either team. CU called timeout as Cal began to claw back on a 3-0 run with the score at 18-16. The run continued for one more play before Alcantara put down her 14th kill at 19-17. Sterling Parker put down a pair of kills to give CU a 21-19 advantage late in the set. A Spann and Price block gave Cal their second attacking error and the Buffs a three-point cushion. After a ball handling error to close the gap, Parker put down another kill to push CU to 23-21. A Whipple ace set up CU with set-point, but CU committed their first attacking error to give Cal a chance. Another kill later and CU called timeout leading 24-23. Out of the break Cal tied it up on a 3-0 run, but a Hart kill put the Buffs back in the driver's seat. An attack error by Cal sealed the set win. The Buffs finished with 18 kills and only a single attacking error for a .405 team hitting percentage. Four Buffs eclipsed the double-digit dig mark led by Whipple's 14 and followed by Ewert with 12 and Perry and Lougeay with 10 each. Alcantara and Spann each tallied 14 total kills while Parker came on late to get to eight.

Out of the break Cal looked to take a 3-1 lead but coach Mahoney won another challenge to tie it up at 2-2. Spann put down an ace to give the Buffs a 6-4 lead. Colorado pushed to a 10-7 lead that forced the Golden Bears into a timeout. The Buffs started to ramp up their offense, pushing to a 13-9 lead while hitting .316 without an error in the set. Colorado continued to extend its lead at 16-12. Colorado extended to 18-12 before Cal could respond. The Buffs closed in on set-point with a 23-18 lead. Consecutive Cal points forced CU into a timeout at 23-20. Spann eclipsed the 20-kill mark and the middles got going with Hart pushing to eight kills and Price with seven. Whipple also picked up her 20th dig. Colorado earned set-point at 24-20, but Cal turned away three set-points to force the Buffs into a timeout at 24-23. Cal tied it up after an improbable save from the back line, then pushed the run to five-straight to take the lead. Colorado put down a kill from Price to stop the bleeding and tie it at 25 all. Alcantara followed suit with a kill to flip set-point back to the Buff and a block from Parker and Price ended it and sent it to five.

A service error started things off to give CU the early lead. Coach Mahoney challenged a play unsuccessfully, but a Spann kill tied it up a play later at two all. Colorado took the 8-7 lead at the side switch. Out of the break Alcantara put down her 18th kill to give CU a two-point cushion. After the call was confirmed Cal closed the gap with a kill. A Spann kill would force another challenge with the ball landing on the line and in as the Buffs went to 11-9. An attack error gave CU a three-point lead, then Spann put down another for a four-point lead. The Cal coach challenged another play as the whistle may have been blown early on a Cal dig. The call was reversed to send the score to 12-10. Spann put down a kill after Cal closed it within one. Cal came back to within one at 13-12. Cal put down a kill to tie it up at 13 all, forcing Colorado into a timeout. The next play looked to have a touch, but Alcantara was called on an error with CU out of challenges so the team called timeout down 14-13. The team went back to Alcantara and she tied it up with her 19th kill. Cal responded to match-point again, then Cal finished it off on the next play.

QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On the match and the team's turnaround
First of all I'm proud of our effort and I thought we played well enough to put ourselves in a position to win a match on the road against a very good team. I thought both teams played extremely well. In the first set we had 11 unforced errors and then after that we cleaned up our play. Jenna did a really nice job moving the ball around and Justine had 27 kills which was huge but I thought Elissa Alcantara played her best match from an attacking standpoint. We did a lot to put ourselves in a position in the fifth but just couldn't quite close it out. That's a very good team on the other side of the net.

On Whipple and the backrow
Rachel had a great match. Defensively she is doing some really high-level things. That was Katie's second match back from injury, good to see her out there playing and getting more comfortable. She did a really nice job. Defensively we did enough to give ourselves a chance we just couldn't quite pull through.

On next weekend
I thought it was a great effort today and we played some really good volleyball. We have done that several times this year and come out on the right side but we have to continue to work hard at getting better and playing at that level and we will break through one of these times.

Senior Justine Spann
On her career-match
It is pretty cool, I didn't know I hit for that percentage and that many kills. Placement was key and obviously a five-set match helps. I am still disappointed we couldn't get the win but I'm super proud of myself in that aspect of hitting.

On the close match
It shows how much potential we have if we play our game correctly and understand the scouting report. If we continue to progress the way that we did in this game we have a bright future ahead of us and with the second-half of the Pac-12 coming up I think the season is looking upwards.

Freshman Elissa Alcantara
On her performance
Honestly it was our energy as a team because we knew we wanted to win. Obviously we want to win every game, but we all came together and we were getting great passes so I wanted to execute on them.

On what the match will do for the team
I think we know our potential now because we played some really good volleyball. Knowing what we can reach and getting better as the time goes on is huge.