Cal Olympic Sports Weekly Recap for 9/30-10/6

With the lead lost at just 5 minute before the end of regulation and no golden goal, Cal Men's Soccer had to settle for just a draw against Washington in the battle of No.1 (Cal) and No.3 (UW). Cal Volleyball also had their close call on Sunday against the heavily favorite No.2 USC. Given the expectation and how they were on the road, Cal Volleyball gets mine Team of the Week honor for their 1-1 split down in LA this past weekend.

Cal Volleyball (9-4, 2-2 in Pac-12)

Cal 3, No.16 UCLA 0

Highlights from the UCLA match:

For the 1st time in school history, Bears were able to sweep the Bruins in volleyball (28-26, 31-29, 25-14). This was also just the 7th win all time (all after 2005) for the Bears against the Bruins. The ranked Bruins, national champs from two years ago, had lost their first 3 Pac-12 matches to USC, Colorado, and Furd before facing the Bears. Cal engaged in a tight battle with UCLA in the first two sets, managing to not be fazed when behind by two points late. After overcoming the Bruins in the first two sets (both in extra points), Bears destroyed the Bruins in the 3rd set. Christina Higgins led the team with 18 kills (tied a career high).

Cal 2, No.2 USC 3

Highlights from the USC match:

Against a tough USC squad that had been on a roll, they just swept Furd in their last match, the Bears challenged the Trojans from the start. Sadly, the Bears ultimately were edged by the score of 26-28, 25-22, 11-25, 25-18, 13-15. Bears had an inspired late run in set 1 to push things beyond the standard 25 point set, but fell a bit short when USC got a bit lucky with a tough serve off the net. Losing the first set in this match marked the first time all year that the Bears did not win set 1. Bears bounced back to knot things up before a lackluster 3rd set. Never say die and in front of a large crowd (with many vocal Cal fans as well), the Bears again tied things up to force a fifth set (1st time all year for USC). USC had the lead throughout set 5 and was on their way to an easy set win before the Bears fought back behind the tough serving of senior Adrienne Gehan to tie things up at 13. Unfortunately, USC regrouped to finally sideout and caught the Bears with a shaky pass that lead to a USC block for the win. Gehan set a career high with 22 kills in this marathon match.

Despite the setback on Sunday, Cal Volleyball showed plenty of fight this weekend down in LA. The way that the Bears were able to repeatedly come back from deficits showed great mental toughness. Unlike last year when the Bears were so injured that there were not enough bodies to formally run practice, this year's team appears to be improving over time. This should make for an interesting rest of conference play in Pac-12 Volleyball.

Up Next:

The Bears face a quick turnaround with a home match on Wednesday against the surprising Colorado squad that has also beaten UCLA and then No.1 Washington (both at home where the altitude may be a factor). Given the poweroutage and fireball that occurred on campus last week, the team may still be displaced from their usual training facility.

Wednesday, October 9: vs. Colorado at 7:30 PM (Pac-12 Networks)

Sunday, October 13: vs. Utah at 7 PM (Pac-12 Networks)

Cal Men's Soccer (7-0-2, 1-0-1)

No.1 Cal 3, Oregon State 1

In their conference opener, Stefano Bonomo, Omid Jalali, and Steve Birnbaum scored for the Bears as they ran the unbeaten streak to 8 matches.

No. 1 Cal 1, No.3 Washington 1 (2 OT)

In a matchup of two unbeaten teams that have both only allowed 5 goals to their opponents, the Bears jumped out to a an early 1 goal lead on a free kick by Connor Hallisey. Bears played brilliant ball in the first half, but the Huskies fought back in the second half to get some scoring opportunities. Just when it appear that the Bears might be able to hold on for the lead, UW got a corner with 5 minutes left and were able to convert that to a goal. After an additional 25 minutes of play, the match ended in a draw. Bears would get the chance to beat Washington again, when Cal travels to Seattle later this season.

Up Next:

Bears travel south to face conference rivals in San Diego State and UCLA.

Thursday, October 10: @ San Diego State 7 PM

Sunday, October 13: @UCLA 1 PM (Pac-12 Networks)

Cal Women's Soccer (9-0-3, 2-0-1 in Pac-12)

Cal 2, Arizona State 1

In a physical match, Bears got the game winner late on a penalty kick.

SCORING SUMMARY:

12:00 Cal -- Fitzpatrick, Kaitlyn (unassisted)

68:45 ASU -- Pavlovich,Kaitlyn(Lara,Lucy)

86:00 Cal -- Fitzpatrick, Kaitlyn

SAVES:

ASU 4 (Morris,Chandler 4), California 8 (Kruger, Emily 8)

Cal 2, Arizona 1

Bears stay unbeaten by downing Arizona on Sunday.

SCORING SUMMARY:

3:14 Cal -- Mercik, Rachel (unassisted)
51:33 Arizona -- Ponce, Jazmin (unassisted)
71:08 Cal -- Onumonu, Ifeoma (Daughetee, Genessee)

SAVES:

ARIZ 8 (Kaufman, Gabby 8), California 4 (Kruger, Emily 4)

Up Next:

The home stand continues for the Bears when they host USC and UCLA.

Friday, October 11: vs. USC 3 PM (Pac-12 Networks)

Sunday, October 13: vs. UCLA 11 AM (Pac-12 Networks)

Quick Round Up of the rest:

Don't quite have the time this week to write something a bit more substantial unfortunately.

Cal Swimming

Men beat Pacific 149-104. Women beat Wazzu 164-89.

Cal Men's Water Polo

No.4 Men's Water Polo lost a hard fought match to No.3 Pacific, 7-6. Match was on the Pac-12 Networks.

Cal Field Hockey

Bears lost to Duke 1-0 and UNC 4-0 on their trip East.

More things coming up this week:

Rugby starts their fall Rugby 7s play in the West Coast 7s tournament.

Men's Water Polo travel south for the SoCal Invitational.

GO BEARS!