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Cal volleyball pulls out win over UW

Daily Planet Wire Services
Monday October 22, 2001

The Cal women’s volleyball team broke a six match losing streak with a 3-0 victory (30-16, 33-31, 30-20) over Washington, Saturday night at Haas Pavilion. The Bears were again led by freshman Mia Jerkov, who tallied 19 kills and had 11 digs. On Friday, Jerkov had led Cal with 20 kills and 14 digs against Washington State.  

The Bears (6-11 overall, 2-8 Pac-10) also received strong play from sophomore Gabrielle Abernathy, who finished with seven kills and had a team-high 14 digs, while junior Reena Pardiwala had a .400 hitting percentage (eight kills, two errors, 15 attempts) and nine digs. Washington (10-10, 3-8) was led by Kara Bjorklund’s 11 kills. Cal outhit Washington, .254 to .154.  

The Bears set the tone of the match by jumping out to a 5-0 lead in game one and went on to win handily, 30-16. Game two was the most exciting of the match. Cal was down, 29-28 when the Bears were called for a net violation. Fortunately, freshman Camille Leffall responded with a kill to keep Cal alive. UW again took the lead, 30-29, but back-to-back kills by Jerkov gave the Bears a 31-30 advantage. The Huskies tied the contest again, 31-31, but Cal responded with block assists by Pardiwala and senior Candace McNamee and a kill by Leah Young to win 33-31.  

Game three was another strong performance by the Bears as they broke away from a 5-5 tie to win handily, 30-19. The three-game victory over Washington avenged an earlier loss to the Huskies, as Cal fell to UW, 3-0 Sept. 20 in Seattle.  

Cal will next host Santa Clara, Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.