Press Release courtesy of Cal Athletics.
It’s a special week for the Cal volleyball program, as the Golden Bears honor the winningest coach in their history with “Rich Feller Night” on Friday against Saint Mary’s. Feller retired in April after 18 seasons at Cal, where he was twice named National Coach of the Year and led the Bears to a pair of NCAA Final Four appearances. Feller also led the Golden Bears to 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, which is a program record. That included four NCAA Elite Eight appearances and six trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
BEAR NECESSITIES
BEARS OFF TO BEST START IN SIX YEARS
The Cal volleyball team is off to an 8-1 start, its best beginning to a season since the Bears went 13-0 to commence the 2011 season. After dropping its season-opener to UC Irvine, Cal has won eight matches in a row, which also is the program’s longest winning streak since the 2011 start. The Bears need just one more win to equal their victory total from last season.
MIRKOVIC NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Cal outside hitter Mima Mirkovic was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Monday for her performance last weekend at the Rice Invitational in Houston. Mirkovic was named to the All-Tournament Team after helping the Bears to wins over Incarnate Word, Rice and Louisiana. She demonstrated a terrific all-around game, averaging 3.36 kills and 2.91 digs per set while hitting for an impressive .333 percentage. Mirkovic posted double-digits in kills in all three matches.
DEMPI DOMINATES
Right side hitter Antzela Dempi has come alive for her senior season, ranking seventh in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage at .379 and third in service aces (0.48/set). Dempi leads the Bears with 3.12 kills per set. Dempi has been named to the All-Tournament Team in each of the three tournaments Cal has played to begin the season, including being tabbed the most valuable player of the Cal Classic.
ALL IN FOR ALFTIN
Senior outside hitter Christine Alftin was a rock for the Bears last weekend at the Rice Invitational, and she was rewarded with Tournament MVP honors. Alftin averaged 3.00 kills and 2.64 digs while hitting .271. Alftin reached double-digits in kills in all three matches and helped close out a hard-fought victory over Louisiana with 10 kills and 15 digs. Alftin was also named to the Molten Classic All-Tournament Team in August.
LIKING LIBERO
Senior Jessica Gaffney has been Cal’s libero in all but one set so far this season and has responded with some of the better matches of her career. She’s already eclipsed her career-high in digs four times, including a new mark of 23 against Rice on Saturday night. Gaffney enters the week ranked sixth in the Pac-12 with 3.97 digs per set. Gaffney, who transferred to Cal from USF before her junior season, played in every set last year, almost exclusively as a back row player. When she took the court for Cal’s season-opener against UC Irvine on Aug. 25, Gaffney became the first player other than Maddy Kerr to wear the libero jersey for the Bears since 2012. Kerr started the first match of her career at libero as a freshman and played in every set of every match for four years.
Leave a Reply