It only took five games.
The Cal women’s volleyball team is back in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll at No. 23 this week after five games without a defeat. This is the first time the Bears (5-0) have been ranked since being voted No. 25 in last season’s Aug. 27 poll.
Since their victory over then-No. 19 Creighton in three straight sets to take home first place at the Bluejay Invitational last weekend, the Bears still have not lost a set. Cal looks to continue the winning streak with the start of the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational. The Bears open the tournament Thursday against Cal Poly (4-2) at 7 p.m. in Haas Pavilion.
The Mustangs are also coming off of a winning streak, having beaten the competition at the Sacramento State Tournament last weekend to take first place.
“For Cal Poly to be successful, they need to pass, because they want to run a fast offense,” said head coach Rich Feller. “If they can pass, they can run that, and that causes problems for our blocking defense.”
The key to minimizing the Mustangs’ offensive runs has been the No. 1 focus for the Bears throughout the preseason: passing. Good passing opens up the offense and allows the Bears to utilize all of their hitters.
“I think that’s going to be the game plan for the whole season: the serve and pass game,” said hitter Adrienne Gehan, a senior. “This season has kind of been defined as good passing.”
Along with passing, the Bears will have to focus on their serving game in order to throw the Mustangs off of their game plan.
“Serving is going to be equally important (as passing), particularly in this match,” Feller said. “We’re going to need to be serving very, very tough and try to get them out of system as often as possible with our service game, which helps our blocking and defense.”
Cal’s passing and serving games seem to be top notch; the Bears have taken down every team they have faced so far. Gehan has played a pivotal role in the Bears’ offensive success, ranking third in the Pac-12 and 23rd nationally with 4.33 kills per set. She’s also ranked 10th in the country among outside hitters, with a .385 hitting percentage.
Gehan is not the only Bear benefiting from the new pass-and-serve emphasis. Sophomore middle blocker Lara Vukasovic is ranked fifth in the Pac-12 and 30th nationally with a .437 hitting percentage. The Bears have a total of five players ranked on the Pac-12 leaderboard.
“Last weekend was really great,” Gehan said. “I think I was kind of worried because we hadn’t played the best of teams, so it was like, yeah, we’re great, but how are we going to match up against a better team? It was nice to see a good team and kind of kill them.”
As the season continues, Cal’s schedule will become more challenging. After Cal Poly, the Bears will continue with the triple-header this weekend, taking on Santa Clara (3-3) and Kansas State (6-0).
“We stayed so consistent and businesslike throughout the entire (Creighton) match,” Gehan said. “I think that when we start playing the Stanfords and the USCs, if we can keep that calmness and that discipline, then I think we can win a lot of those games.”
Alicia Fong covers volleyball. Contact her at [email protected]