Dec. 7, 2013
• Box Score 
MADISON, Wis. – After losing to North Carolina the last two years, California won the third matchup, sweeping the Tar Heels 25-20, 25-18, 25-20 in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the UW Field House on Friday night. The Bears upset the 15th-ranked Tarheels to improve to 18-12 on the season and will advance to play the winner of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday night at 6 p.m. in the second-round match.
"Wow, the third time is the charm, I guess," said Cal coach Rich Feller. "I felt like that was a battle early on and I was really, really pleased with the way our team remained composed throughout. In sets one and two, it was so close right towards the end and I thought the Bears just picked it up a little bit and we made some plays that we needed to make."
North Carolina coach Joe Sagula agreed, "I would think if I’m on the Cal side they’ve got something to prove after having lost the last two times. I think the familiarity creates a rivalry in a way. I think they were really motivated for tonight. I thought they played really hard."
Cal put on both a dominant offensive and defensive performance in the sweep. The Bears out-blocked the Tarheels 11-3, recording nine of their 11 blocks in the first two sets. Sophomores Lara Vukasovic and Lillian Schonewise led all players at the net with six and five blocks, respectively.
"Our blocking came around, some great defensive plays, some really timely hitting," said Feller. "I felt like we kind of came together a little bit, as a team, in crunch time as we have throughout the year, but this was obviously a big match and a little pressure, because we hadn’t gotten past the first round the last couple years. Getting back past the first round is a big deal for all of us."
Freshman Maddy Kerr of Cal tied sophomore Ece Taner of UNC with 11 digs apiece to take match-high honors.
Offensively, the Bears hit an impressive .411 (46 kills – 7 errors – 95 attempts) on the night, while the Tarheels (27-5) hit .255 (47-21-102). Two players recorded double-figure kills for the Bears. Sophomore Michelle Neumayr tallied 11 kills on a .391 (11-2-23) attack percentage and Vukasovic put away 10 kills on a .500 (10-2-16) attack percentage.
UNC sophomore Paige Neuenfeldt led all players in kills (13) and attack percentage, hitting .667 (13-1-18).
The first set was close throughout, with 13 tie scores and six lead changes. Cal pulled ahead at 19-18 and went on a 6-2 run to close out the first set 25-20. Six blocks were key for the Bears in this period.
The second set was also fairly close and featured eight ties, but Cal snagged the lead at 16-15 and did not look back. The Bears went on a 10-3 run and hit .600 (16-1-25) to finish off the Tarheels in the second period.
Cal took the initial lead in the third set and did not let up, going on to win 25-18 and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
