Sept. 1, 2006

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. - In its opening match of the Florida International Invitational, the Xavier volleyball team fell to No. 17 Cal in three games, 30-19, 30-25 and 30-16 at Pharmed Arena. The loss puts XU's record on the season to 3-2, while Cal improves to 4-0 on the year. The game marked the first meeting between the two teams and XU's first against a ranked opponent this season.

In the opening game, Xavier played a back and forth match in the opening points but could not last a 12-5 run by the Golden Bears to push the advantage to 25-17. XU was able to knot the game at 8-8 but Cal was able to capitalize on too many Xavier overpasses and took the opener by a score of 30-19. Junior Jenni Horvath led the XU offensive with five kills on nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage. Freshman Lauren Kaminsky had six of the Musketeers' 14 digs. The Bear presence at the net would hold XU to a .081 hitting percentage and out-block the Musketeers 9-0 in the game.

Xavier would continue to battle in the second game and again played point-for-point with the 17th-ranked team in the nation. The Golden Bears grabbed an early 9-5 lead but XU would fight back to tied the game at 10-10 and then took the lead on the next point. However, Cal would answer and take the lead back for good after the next two points. The Musketeers would get within three at 27-24 but ran out of points in the end.

In game three, Xavier fell behind 10-3 to start the final frame. After rebounding and cutting the lead to within six, Cal would again post a 5-1 spurt to push its lead to 10 at 18-8. The Musketeers would not get within six points after a kill by Astyn Bjorklund made the score 13-7 in favor of Cal. The Golden Bears would not let up and finished the game on a 17-9 run that offered no room for the Musketeers to get back into the game.

Horvath led the way for the Musketeers on the afternoon and finished with nine kills on 23 swings for a .304 hitting percentage. Bjorklund would follow as the senior notched eight kills on 23 swings for a .261 attack percentage. Freshman Lauren Kaminsky ended her streak of four-straight matches with 10 or more kills as she ended with seven kills and a team-high seven digs. Horvath and sophomore Jenn Welsh would each add six digs with Welsh dishing out 27 assists.

As a team, the Musketeers did not record a block on the afternoon and only finished with a .143 hitting percentage as a team.

The Musketeers will return to the court tomorrow for a doubleheader against host FIU in the first contest at 1:00 pm, followed by a match with Oral Roberts at 4:00 pm. This will be the second meeting between XU and FIU with the first meeting going to the Golden Panthers 3-0 at the Cintas Center in 2002. Oral Roberts will meet the Blue and White for the first time in the history of both schools.