California Defeats Valparaiso in NCAA Tournament
December 02, 2005 | Volleyball
The 16th-ranked California Golden Bears defeated the Valparaiso Crusaders 30-26, 30-24, 30-21 Friday night at the UW Field House in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Cal (19-10) was led by All-Pac Ten Conference outside hitter Angie Pressey, who fronted the Golden Bear attack with a match-high 15 kills and added two blocks. Freshman outside hitter Morgan Beck helped out with 11 kills.
Despite Pressey's performance, the Golden Bears hit only .186 in the match, but the Cal defense, which tallied 12 blocks, held the Crusaders to a .076 mark.
Valparaiso (27-8) was led by 11 kills from Lauren Moulton. Outside hitters Jessi Novak and Amy Palash both added eight kills.
With the first game tied at 26, Pressey led Cal on a 4-1 run and capped the period with the winning kill. The Golden Bears fell behind 23-24 in the second game until making a 6-1 run to take the victory. Cal jumped out to an 11-6 lead to clinch the victory, recording its largest game win of the match at 30-21.
Cal will meet the winner of the Wisconsin vs. Loyola-Chicago match in the second round Saturday at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House.
