The Cal volleyball team can carve a sixth notch into its collective belt.
On Thursday night, the Bears — playing against Cal Poly (4-3) as part of the Hilton Inn Invitational Tournament in Berkeley — recorded their sixth win of the season en route to upping their record to an unblemished 6-0. Even more impressive than that perfect record is that Cal has yet to drop even one set in their six games so far this year. That makes 18 straight sets won for the Bears. Their all-time record is 30 straight, set in 2011.
But the match didn’t start out as lopsided as one would expect for a team as on fire as the Bears are right now. The Mustangs kept it close early, and the match was 16-12 about 20 minutes in.
And then the Bears pulled away.
Cal took nine of the next 12 points, along with the first set, 25-15. From there, it looked like the rout was on, especially when the Bears won the first five points of the second set. It was a recipe for a standard blowout — until Cal Poly made things interesting.
The Mustangs went on a run during which they won seven of eight points and suddenly found themselves just one point away from the Bears, who led by a score of 16-15. But, similar to the first set, the Bears pulled away once again and finally took the second set with a 25-22 victory, although the three-point margin was a far cry from the 10-point victory in the first set.
“Cal Poly, because of the style they play, made it difficult for us at times,” said Cal coach Rich Feller after the match. “They run laser-fast balls to the outside. And it’s hard to get out there and stop it.”
Senior Adrienne Gehan, meanwhile, attributed the struggles in the second set to inconsistent passing and undisciplined play by the Bears.
“It was just passing,” Gehan said. “Once we got in that rut, I think everyone was trying to make that one killer play instead of sticking to our usual game plan.”
The story was the same in the third set, in which Cal took an early 10-4 lead. But once again, Cal Poly closed the gap, and suddenly the margin was reduced to just two.
But on the back of senior Adrienne Gehan’s 16 kills, .462 hitting percentage and 9 digs, the Bears were able to close out the third set, 25-16, and complete their sixth-straight sweep.
Gehan was far from the only player who shined for the Bears. Christina Higgins recorded 10 kills on .474 hitting. She also added two block assists and a team-high two solo blocks. The Cal team as a whole hit an impressive .421, compared with the Mustangs’ .145.
“She blocked really well — she got that one off-blocker defense ball, which is really hard,” Gehan said. “And she hit really well.”
The match wasn’t the prettiest for the Bears, as no one would have expected any sets for Cal to come as close as that second set against a team that won just three games last season. But the performance was still enough to earn the team its sixth win — and sixth sweep — of the year.
Riley McAtee covers volleyball. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @riley_mcatee