Bear Tracks: Sep. 25th California Golden Bears women's roundup

The Bears start Pac-10 play on a roll

It's a busy day here at the Cal Bears Examiner!  This is the first time we'll be breaking up Bear Tracks into separate sections.  We've already posted the men's section, this is the women's section, and check back a little later for the mixed sports section, which consists of sports that both the men and women share teams or events.

Volleyball - Last weekend, the Bears dominated at the 2008 Crowne Plaza Volleyball Classic held at Titan Gym in Fullerton, California.  They won the tourney, sweeping the competition by winning 9 straight sets, bringing the Bears to 10-1 on the year.

On Friday, they opened the tournament with a 55-minute sweep of the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (3-8), 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-15).  Star Junior outside hitter, Hana Cutura, led all Bears with 13 kills and a career-high 4 service aces to bring her to 1000 career kills, Super Soph Carli Lloyd had 26 assists and 2 kills in limited time, and Junior Kristen Kathan led all players with 15 digs.  Senior hitter Morgan Beck efficiently got 10 kills without an error on 12 attacks.

Next on Cal's hitlist was the San Francisco Dons, but USF (8-4) didn't go down easy.  Even though they swept the Dons 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 26-24), every set came down to the wire.  All-American Cutura again led the way with 18 kills.  Junior middle hitter, Mindi Wiley, got a career-high 8 blocks (1 solo) and added 8 kills.  Senior outside hitter, Am'ra Solomon, had 8 kills and two blocks.  In each of the three sets, the Bears fell behind before coming back and doing what was required with the set on the line.  In the first set, they overcame a 22-19 disadvantage while in the second set it was 24-23, and the third set they were down 8-3 to start.  Each time, they kept their composure and came through in the clutch.

Host Cal State Fullerton (6-8) was the next to feel the heat in the championship match.  The Bears didn't have as much trouble disposing of the host team as they defeated them 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-22).  Cutura got MVP honors and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with teammates Lloyd and Solomon.  Cutura first led the Bears with 13 kills in disposing of the Titans.  For her achievments on the court, Cutura was also named as the Muscle Milk California Student-Athlete of the Week.

The Bears have now moved up to a #8 ranking and will open Pac-10 play as they host 11th ranked Oregon at Haas Pavilion on Friday September 26, at 7pm PST.  On Sunday, the Bears will take on the Oregon team, Oregon State, in an afternoon event scheduled for 1pm PST.  Last season, the Bears set an all-time mark in Pac-10 wins with 12, finishing in fourth place.  This season, they are hoping for a much better outcome and being ranked 8th wtih a 10-1 record shows signs that they may reach their national championship aspirations this season.

The Bears must come together in order to break out
of their losing streak

Soccer - The Bears had a rough weekend in the Lone Star state as they dropped from 16th to 22nd on the heels of two straight losses to top-10 teams.  On Friday, they were shutout by 8th ranked Texas A&M by a score of 1-0.  Sunday, they were defeated by 7th ranked Texas 2-1 dropping to 5-3 on the season.

Against A&M, the Bears earned more corners and outshot the Aggies 17-11, but they weren't able to turn any of their opportunities into scores.  Junior Goalie, Gina Pellegrini, had eight saves for the contest.

Texas A&M is a very good team, so to outshoot them, 17-11, as well as earn more corners, shows we are capable of competing in games with the best teams. Our young team needs to turn these opportunities into wins.
-Head Coach Neil McGuire

Against the Long Horns, the Bears let a lead slip away in the final half in an evenly contested match.  Both teams finished with 13 shots as Cal led Texas with more shots on goal 5-4.  Sophomore forward, Alex Morgan, was the only Bear to score a goal all weekend.

The Bears finish off their non-conference schedule starting today when they face BYU and then Sunday they'll host Santa Clara at Edwards Stadium.  Both games start at 4pm PST.

20th ranked Bears are looking
to move up in the polls

Field Hockey - The Golden Bears (5-1. 3-0 NorPac) took a break after doing enough to get themselves ranked 19th, after beating the previously ranked 19th team Albany.  With the week off and a four game winning streak under their belts, they slipped in the polls to #20.

They'll have a chance to move up the polls starting today as they face the current 19th ranked Michigan at Michigan (3-5) starting at 2pm PST.  The game is the start of the Michigan/Bear Invitational held at Michigan's Phyllis Ocker Field.

After today's game, they'll leave the Invitational and go to East Lansing, MI to face the 10th ranked Michigan State Spartans (7-1) with an opportunity to make strides at a top 10 ranking.  That game will be held at 10:30am PST.

They'll come back to Michigan and play their final game of the Invitational, this time facing Northwestern at 10am PST.  Again, the game will be at the Wolverine's Phyllis Ocker Field.

Cossou looks to make a statement at the Cal Nike
Invitational this weekend

Tennis - This weekend, the Golden Bears will open the fall individual tournament season starting Friday September 26 through the 28th by hosting the Cal Nike Invitational at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts.  The first two days will be 12 hour events starting around 8am PST.  Sunday, the final day, will end roughly around 4pm PST after semifinal and final rounds being played.

Cal will be led by 7th ranked Sophomore phenom Marina Cossou who holds her ranking from a list of 125 listed Div I players.  Two other Bears start the season holding rankings, Seniors Claire Ilcinkas (#22) and Bojana Bobusic (#65).

Up to 19 ranked players could be competing in the tournament this weekend.  Doubles teams could have 8 teams nationally ranked, including Cossou and Ilcinkas who are ranked 24th entering the season.

For more information about the tournament, click here.

Can the Bears make it two in a row in Wisconsin?

Golf - Cal will be in Wisconsin this weekend to compete against the likes of Wisconsin, Penn State, and Minnesota at the 2008 Badger Invitational starting Saturday September 27th.

The 54 hole tournament (36 on Saturday) is being held at the University Ridge Golf Course in Verona, Wisconsin.  The par 72, newly remodeled 6,216 yard course will be the site where the Bears hope to win their second straight tournament of the year.  In their last action, they won the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic by six strokes.

We are really excited to go out of our region and see where we stand.  The time difference will be a challenge and that will be great training for NCAA's which are in Maryland in May. We are looking forward to building on our solid performance at Colorado State earlier this month.
-Coach Nancy McDaniel on competing in the Badger Invitational

Diane Ninemire will be trying to point the Bears to a
National Championship

Softball - The Golden Bears will begin their fall preseason schedule Sunday September 28, at Levine-Fricke Field at 1pm PST.  The game will be the first of 8 exhibition games plus the UOP tournament held in Stockton, California.

Cal will be attempting to make it into post season play for the 24th straight year.  They've made it past the regional tournament every year since 2005 and expect to do it again this season.

Last season, Cal won 40+ for the ninth time in the past ten years and return 29 game winner, Junior Marissa Drewrey who threw for 312 strikeouts last year.  On offense, top hitter Valerie Arioto will be back for her Sophomore year.  Arioto led all Bears with a .324 avg, 55 runs, and 17 doubles.