Cal Volleyball vs. Oregon Open Thread

UPDATE: Bears defeat the Oregon Ducks in 5 thrilling sets. Watch the match point below:

Cal women's volleyball battled for 5 sets against Oregon and took home the win. Play of the game: http://t.co/MlSI7jKuto

— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) October 26, 2013

ROLL ON YOU BEARS!

******************************************************************************

6 p.m. PT - No. 20 Oregon (12-7, 5-4 Pac-12) at Cal (11-6, 4-4)
Haas Pavilion - Berkeley, Calif.
Coverage: Pac-12 Networks, Live Stats, Twitter: @CalVolleyball
Cal All-Time Series vs. the Ducks: 51-17
Last meeting: W, 3-2 (11-2-2012)

After splitting the matches for the first 4 weeks of conference play, the Bears will look to wrap up the first half of conference play (no longer a true round robin, so the Bears have not played Arizona State yet) with a home sweep over the Oregon schools.

By volleyball RPI, the Bears at 29 are just behind the Ducks at 28. In the AVCA Coaches poll, the Bears are just outside the top 25 still. It again appears that a sweep should push the Bears back in the rankings.

First up today are the ranked Oregon Ducks. The Ducks were beaten in straight sets on Wednesday night at Furd.

Cal Volleyball News:

• Senior Adrienne Gehan will likely reach the 1000 kill mark this weekend. With 978 kills coming into tonight, she just needs 22 kills to get there. Gehan average 4.39 kills per set this season. There have only been 14 players that have more than 1000 kills in Cal Volleyball history.
• While the recent graduation rate news were bad for football and men's basketball, volleyball remain a bright spot in that regard.

For the second straight year, Cal's volleyball team reports a 100 percent graduation rate! Great work in the classroom, ladies!

— Cal Volleyball (@CalVolleyball) October 24, 2013

About the Oregon Ducks:

• Outside hitter Liz Brenner ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 21st in the country with 4.33 kills per set.
• Middle blocker Ariana Williams is fourth in the conference with a .393 hitting percentage
• Setter Lauren Plum ranks third in the Pac-12 and 12th in the country with 11.54 assists per set.

Probable Cal Starters
No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown
12 Joan Caloiaro S 5-11 Sr. Saratoga, Calif.
5 Adrienne Gehan OH 6-3 Sr. Dallas, Texas
18 Michelle Neumayr OH 6-1 So. San Mateo, Calif.
23 Christina Higgins OPP 6-2 Jr. Inglewood, Calif.
1 Lillian Schonewise MB 6-3 So. Papillion, Neb.
4 Lara Vukasovic MB 6-5 So. Zagreb, Croatia
9 Maddy Kerr L 5-7 Fr. San Diego, Calif.

pac-12 Volleyball STANDINGS

Teams	Conf	Overall
USC	7-1	17-2
WASHINGTON	7-1	15-1
STANFORD	7-2	14-4
ARIZONA	5-3	15-5
OREGON	5-4	12-7
UTAH	5-4	16-5
CALIFORNIA	4-4	11-6
COLORADO	4-4	12-6
WASHINGTON STATE	2-6	15-6
UCLA	2-6	11-7
ARIZONA STATE	2-7	13-8
OREGON STATE	0-8	9-10

Up Next: Bears will host the winless in conference Oregon State Beavers on Sunday at 3 PM. For those going to the match, it will be Halloween in Haas Pavilion, so wear your costume.

GO BEARS!