Berkeley, CA—The UC Riverside Volleyball Team nearly knocked off the Pac-12's Cal Bears in a five set thriller in the final match of the 2016 Molten Classic, 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-7. The Highlanders finished the tournament 2-1, as they defeated Southern Utah earlier in the day three sets to one, 25-12, 26-28, 25-17, 25-17.
California Golden Bears
In the opening set the score was tied 16-16, when UCR ran off three straight points, forcing Cal to call their second timeout of the set. The Highlanders then pressured the Bears into three attack errors, and got a pair of kills from freshman Yuliya Ushakova down the stretch to claim the first set, 25-20.
The second set saw the Highlanders jump out to a 4-0 lead. That margin would remain throughout most of the set until the Bears closed it to a two point margin at 21-19. Fabiana Rosas continued her stellar play and came up with two timely kills to propel the Highlanders to a second set victory by same score as the first, 25-20.
Midway through the third set with UCR leading 17-13, Cal rallied to win six of seven points to take a 19-18 lead. UC Riverside battled back to tie the set at 21 apiece, but the home team ran off four consecutive points to take the third set and extend the match.
Neither team established a lead of more than three points in the fourth set. On set point #1 for Cal, who was leading 24-21, UCR Freshmen Leanne Newell had a kill that closed the Cal margin to two, but the Bears responded with a set clinching kill from Christine Alftin to force a decisive fifth set.
The Bears jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the final set and kept the Highlanders from scoring consecutive points as they went on win the set 15-7 and the match 3-2. A victory over Cal would have given UCR its first victory against a Pac-12 school since joining the Big West in 2002.
Mickayla Sherman led the way for the Highlanders with 17 kills. Chelsea Doyle nearly matched her career-high (55) with 54 assists and Maddie Hubbell had 22 digs in the loss. The Golden Bears were led by Alftin's 19 kills and Alyssa Jensen's 57 assists.
Fabiana Rosas had 15 kills, before exiting the match in the third set with score tied at 10 apiece. Rosas and Hubbell were named to the Molten Classic All-Tournament Team.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
In the first set the Highlanders prevailed 25-12, before dropping a set for the first time this season, a 28-26 second set battle. Coach Patton would get the team to respond with 25-17 efforts in the third and fourth sets to close out the match, 3-1.
Fabiana Rosas had 26 kills and 18 digs to lead UCR. Middle blocker Meg Graham had one of her best performances as a Highlander with 14 kills and six total blocks in the victory.
Chelsea Doyle had 48 assists and 11 digs, while Maddie Hubbell had 30 digs and six assists of her own. Nicole Rodriguez contributed to the defensive effort with 17 digs as did fellow freshman Frances Camandang with 12 digs, while Mickayla Sherman chipped in 11 kills.
The Highlanders will return home before heading back to the Bay Area to play in the Saint Mary's tournament September 2-3.
