When the Bears play Stanford in the Big Spike on Wednesday, they will have as tough an opponent on their hands as they will all year.
Cal is playing a team that is ranked No. 7 and is returning all six of its starters and its libero from 2012. The Cardinal squad also currently ranks first in the Pac-12 in kills per set and blocks and second in hitting percentage. As if that weren’t enough for the Bears, Stanford’s Carly Wopat and Inky Ajanaku rank first and second in hitting percentage in the conference, respectively.
So the Bears will be massive underdogs. Cal will most likely lose, with the only uncertainty being how many sets it takes for the Cardinal to put down the Bears.
But this match is pivotal for a young Cal team that is attempting to show that it has improved from the team that notched a 15-16 record a year ago.
At the beginning of the year, it looked like the team really was ready to move past 2012’s mediocrity.
The Bears ripped through their first seven games with 22 straight sets won, including wins over tough-but-not-elite teams like then-No. 19 Creighton and Santa Clara. Cal soon took the No. 23 slot in the national rankings, and it looked like the program had turned a new leaf. Passing — which had been emphasized all offseason after a poor show in 2012 — looked to be one of the team’s strengths. The players were playing with legitimate chemistry, and though many of those first seven opponents weren’t top talent, it looked like Cal would have no problem taking its next two matches, posting a 9-0 record heading into the Big Spike.
Then the bottom fell out.
Cal lost to Kansas State in five tough sets in a game that Cal coach Rich Feller called “a little blip.” That blip turned into a full-blown alert when the Bears lost to UC Davis in a match where they shouldn’t have lost even one set. To give an idea of how monumentally unexpected that upset was, I heard one Davis fan remark after the match that it was the biggest win for the Aggies in five years. To be on the losing side of that must hurt.
So that brings us back to the Big Spike on Wednesday. Which Cal team will show up? The one that started 7-0 and looked near unbeatable? Or the one that’s looked lost and confused on the court the last two matches?
Even if the former shows up, the Bears will still have their hands full. Don’t let losses to Texas and Florida fool you — this Stanford squad is stacked. Even if the Bears play their best, our young team will most likely not be able to top the Cardinal, which looks poised for a deep playoff run come December.
But keep your eyes on the court. We already know that Adrienne Gehan is a beast both offensively and defensively — her 129 kills are nearly 60 more than the next player on the squad, and she’s second in digs. We know that Lillian Schonewise is filling in well at middle blocker, as her 1.17 blocks per set place her just outside the Pac-12’s top 10. We know that Maddy Kerr, a true freshman, has looked excellent at libero with a team-leading 3.43 digs per set. And a myriad other players have shown flashes of talent from Christina Higgins to Lara Vukasovic.
But can they function as a team? Can they pass and communicate well?
Watch for those details, because even if the result of the contest looks like a certainty, the way Cal will play is completely up in the air. Whichever Cal team shows up on Thursday will go a long way toward indicating whether the last two losses are a fluke or a trend.
Riley McAtee covers volleyball. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @riley_mcatee.