NEW ORLEANS, La. – Alabama A&M (0-1, 0-0 SWAC) dropped a season opening 3-0 decision to Pac-12 member California (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match on Friday, August 27.
Over the first 12 points of the opening frame the teams would be separated by no more than three points as the Bears took a narrow 7-5 lead. That would then change drastically as Cal exploded to a 13-5 run fueled by five straight points to push the lead to 20-10. They would then wrap up the game by scoring five of the final seven points to make the score 25-12 and take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set California would pick up where they left off, taking a 4-0 lead, which they later extended to 10-3. The Bulldogs would then storm back as they forced three errors and delivered back to back kills by freshman middle hitters
Samaurya Mahone (Duncanville, Texas)
Alondrah Santana (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) to power a 6-1 run.
That closed the gap to 11-10, however, the Bears would then respond by delivering eight kills, three from Bella Bergmark and two apiece from Leah Schmidt and Katie Smoot. This fueled a 14-1 run that closed out the set at 25-11 and gave Cal a 2-0 lead.
The third set started just like the first with A&M getting the first point but the Bears would soon catch up, tying in at 3-3. They would pull ahead to 13-4 behind a 10-1 run before the Bulldogs would react with a mini 4-2 run that would close the gap to 15-8. Cal would then close out the frame with another major run, this time 10-0 to secure a 25-8 victory and a 3-0 match win.
Santana led the Bulldogs in kills with five while junior middle hitter
Alana Cox (Madison, Ala) had four digs. Freshman setter
Aerienne Acuff (French Lick, Ind.) dished out seven assists to round out the top performers.
Smoot had 13 kills for the Bears while Jade Blevins had 10 assists and Mima Mirkovic lead the defense with 11 digs.
The Bulldogs will be back in action later today as they face off against host Tulane. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. in New Orleans, Louisiana.
