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Find out more about Rob: Based out of Northern California, Rob is a sports fanatic who has experienced the college football pageantry of the SEC, the passion of Raider Nation and the raucous atmosphere of the 'We Believe' Golden State Warriors. Contact him at bearsexaminer@gmail.com. |
Although Cal Football had a tough loss over the weekend to Maryland, the rest of the athletic program's sports have done a good job of keeping the Bears in the national spotlight. Every few days here at the Cal Bears Examiner, we liked to check in on the sports that many of you may not hear about often.
Volleyball - The Lady Bears, ranked 4th, took a trip to Minneapolis for the Diet Coke Classic, hosted by the Minnesota Gophers. They faced the 11th ranked Gophers and was upset in three straight sets (25-21, 25-20, 25-23). The loss was the first for the Bears dropping them to 5-1 on the season. Junior outside hitter, Hana Cutura, scored a double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, but it wasn't enough to help Cal to the victory.
There must have been a slight hangover from the loss, because in their second match they'd have to come from behind to win. In that match, they beat unranked Notre Dame 3-2, (25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 16-14). Cutura added 25 kills to lead all players and tie with Sophomore super setter Carli Lloyd for most digs at 13. The stars of the match were Tarah Murrey and Shannon Hawari who came through in the fourth and fifth sets to power Cal past the Golden Domers. Murrey had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs, while Hawari had 4 kills and 7 blocks. Murrey had 6 kills in the crucial fourth set while Hawari kept coming up with vital blocks, and finished off the fifth set with one to give the Bears the match. Lloyd, Murrey, and Cutura all recorded double-doubles on the match.
In game three of the tourney, Cal had an easier time with 16th ranked Cal Poly, beating them in four sets 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-16, 25-21). Once again, Cutura was the 'kill-zone' for the Bears as she had 15 kills on the match leading all players and also added 6 digs. Morgan Beck nearly recorded a double-double with 9 kills and 10 digs on the day while Kristen Kathan led all players with 23 digs. Cutura and Lloyd received All-Tournament Team honors for the weekend. The Bears next play in the 2008 Crowne Plaza Volleyball Classic in Fullerton, Calif. at CSUF's Titan Gym. There they'll face Central Connecticut State, San Francisco, and host Cal State Fullerton, starting with Central Connecticut State at 4:30pm Friday September 19th.
Cross Country - The Cal men took 4th and the women took 5th at the Sacramento State Jamboree Cross Country meet held at Granite Regional Park in Sacramento, California on Saturday.
For the men, Senior Eric Lee led the Bears with a 6th place finish at a time of 20:15 for the four mile run. Teammate Sean Carey, also a Senior, took 10th place with a run of 20:32.
The women were led by Senior Rebecca Palm, who took 8th place in the 5k run with a time of 17:59. Freshman teammate Taylor Dutch came in 15th with a time of 18:23.
The USTFCCCA's Preseason Division I Men's and Women's Regional Cross Country rankings have the Cal men ranked 4th and the women 12th going into the season. The men were the third highest Pac-10 team in the polls while the women were the 7th highest Pac-10 school. The Bears will next compete at the Stanford Invitational Saturday, September 27th. It should be noted that Cal has started the season off strong missing some of last year's top runners. They should be making their season debut at Stanford.
Men's Soccer - 3rd ranked Cal (3-0-2) faced off with the Santa Clara Broncos last Friday and neither team could score...until the final minute of regulation. The Broncos drew first blood at the 89:16 mark to take the lead 1-0, but then a penalty kick with only 4 seconds left in regulation, Senior Tyler Barry sent the match into overtime with a score. Neither team would score after that leaving the final score at 1-1.
The Bears will next play at the Stanford Nike Classic on Friday, the 19th when they meet up with Drake at The Farm starting at 5pm PST. They'll next be at home on Sunday the 21st when they will play high powered Creighton at Edwards Stadium starting at 12pm PST.
Women's Soccer - The Cal Bears continue to have success (4-1) after their early season loss, by first defeating Cal State Northridge and then following that up with a victory over the Boise State Broncos during the Saint Mary's Fall Soccer Classic this past weekend to go 2-0. In both games, the defense was nearly perfect as the Bears shut-out both teams.
Against Northridge last Friday, the Bears needed overtime to best the Matadors even though they outshot them 18-6 and had 9 shots on goal to their 2. It wasn't until the 96:27 point that Katie Oakes sent a loose ball shot from the box in to give Cal the victory 1-0 on the day.
Facing Boise State, the Bears didn't need nearly as much time to get their first score. At the 12th minute mark, Sophomore forward Lisa Kevorkian sent one in from eight yards after going one on one with the keeper. The goal was thanks in large part to a nice assist from Freshman Katrin Omarsdottir. Freshman Camellia Senemar finished off the scoring after taking a pass from Sophomore Alex Morgan and knocking in the six yard shot in front of the goal. The final score was 2-0, Bears.
Kevorkian, Senemar, Oakes, and Katherine Daiss were all named to the All-Tournament team, being the most of any team. The Bears go on the road to Texas, where they'll play Texas A&M on Friday, followed by Texas on Sunday.
Men's Tennis - Junior Kalim Stewart became the first Cal player to receive the Norma Miner award for the Outstanding Player of the Napa Valley Classic. Ranked 64 in the preseason ITA rankings, he won all three of his singles matches and defeated 12th ranked Nate Schnugg of Georgia in the process.
Over the three day event, the Bears did remarkably well in singles and less than stellar in doubles. The Bears went 20-6 in singles matches for the tournament while going 5-6 in doubles.
When it came to doubles, there was one certainty: if Sophomore Bozhidar Katsarov or Freshman Thai Tu were on the team, it was a pretty safe bet that Cal would get the win. Both players teamed up on two days and defeated their opponents, while on the third day they each took different partners and they both still came away victorious for Cal. The Bears next travel to Fresno, California to compete in the Fresno State Bulldog Classic from Friday October 3rd to the 5th.
Field Hockey - 19th ranked Albany (4-2) put a scare into the Bears (5-1) last Saturday before they were able to come back and defeat the Great Danes 3-2 on the strength of a 3-2 shoot out victory.
It took goals by Andrea Lo and Katie Knoche to get the Bears into overtime with a final regulation score of 2-2. Knoche's goal came with only 7 seconds remaining in regulation. After two overtimes, the Bears were able to get the victory in the shoot out, with the final score coming from Carolina Bistue, and win the game.
Thanks to Lo's contributions in upsetting 19th ranked Albany and her overall great play, she was honored with the Muscle Milk California Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of September 15.
Another award winner for the Cal Bears was Senior goal keeper Kelly Knoche. Knoche was named the NorPac Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the second time already this season. The Bears (5-1, 3-0 NorPac) next face Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan September 25th, followed by Michigan State (27th) and Northwestern (28th).
Men's Water Polo - The Champion Bears will face the nation's finest this weekend when they travel to Stockton to compete in the NorCal Open at Chris Kjeldsen Pool at Pacific.. Of the 16 teams in the tournament, the top 12 in the country will be participating.
The NorCal Open features 16 teams who are all ranked in last week's Collegiate Top 20 poll. Cal will need to defeat four opponents to win the tournament and avenge a loss in the finals to USC last year.
Their first match will take place Saturday September 20th at 8am PST, when they'll meet up with 20th ranked Cal Baptist. They will need to beat them in order to play the winner of the Long Beach State-UC San Diego match at 2:40pm PST. If they win that, they'll play the winner of bracket D the following morning at 10:40am PST and then if they reach the tournament final, they'll square off at 5:20pm PST Sunday evening.
Frank Reynolds, Trent Calder, Spencer Warden, and goalie Jacob McIntosh have all been named team captains for this season. All but McIntosh, who is a Sophomore, were named as All-Americans at Senior Nationals over the summer.
Lacrosse - Golden Bears head coach Theresa Sherry announced the signing of assistant coach Brianne Tierney to the lacrosse team last Friday. Tierney, a former player for Colgate and more recently assistant coach at Monmouth was brought in to help work on Cal's offense and focus on individual play.
"Brianne brings a great work ethic and lacrosse mind to our staff that will help propel this program to the next level" - Coach Sherry
"It's great to be out here. I'm excited about what Theresa and Julia are doing with the program. Lacrosse is growing so much out here, and Theresa is doing a great job of promoting it. Playing in Memorial Stadium was a memorable experience for me as a player. It is an intimidating venue to come into as a Cal opponent but is definitely a source of pride for me as a Cal coach." - Asst. Coach Tierney
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