Nov. 5, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - Second-ranked Stanford (20-2, 12-1 Pac-10) knocked off first-place and #7 UCLA (21-2, 13-1 Pac-10) in front of a Pac-10 season-high of 5,291 enthusiastic women's volleyball fans. The four-game win (15-2, 9-15, 15-2, 15-13) moved the Cardinal to within one-half game of the Bruins in the Pac-10 women's volleyball race and avenged an earlier loss to the Bruins at UCLA on October 7. The loss ended UCLA's 19-match win streak.
Freshman outside hitter and All-American candidate Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, UT/Highland HS) led the Cardinal with 24 kills and a .378 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter and three-time All-American Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) added 18 kills and a .452 attack percentage.
"It was such a great crowd tonight," said a smiling Stanford head coach Don Shaw following the contest. "The crowd and the great atmosphere is wonderful for women's volleyball. They saw two of the top teams in the nation. Tonight was just our night. We never really gave UCLA a chance to get rolling but they're still a very good team."
Stanford has now won 19 of its last 20 matches and defeated three Top 10 clubs in its current nine-match win streak. The Cardinal also extended its Maples Pavilion win streak to 38 matches and has won 88 of its last 89 home contests.
The Cardinal jumped all over the Bruins in games one and three, winning each by the score of 15-2. UCLA's only win came in the second game when the Bruins jumped out to a big lead and held off a mild Stanford comeback.
Stanford's comeback in the fourth and deciding game would not be so mild. The Cardinal trailed 10-4 before scoring 11 of the game's last 13 points. Stanford tied the score at 13-13 and finally took its first lead late in the game at 14-13 before closing out the match on the next point.
"The crowd was incredible," stated Cardinal junior setter Lindsay Kagawa (Albany, CA/Albany HS), who led Stanford with 50 assists. "They had a huge impact. This is what the home court advantage is all about."
"Having a great crowd like this in such an exciting match helps us win extra points," added Tom. "I was so happy we beat UCLA after losing to them the first time. We got our respect back tonight."
UCLA was paced by sophomore outside hitter Kristee Porter (Tyler, TX/John Tyler HS) with 19 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Ashley Bowles (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa HS) picked up 13 kills and junior middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman (Lakeville, MN/Lakeville HS) added 10.Stanford freshman outside hitter Lindsey Yamasaki (Oregon City, OR/Oregon City HS) and junior middle blocker Jennifer Detmer (Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS) each added 10 kills for the Cardinal.
Stanford outhit (.340-.218) and outblocked (11.5-3.5) the Bruins. Stanford has hit .300 or better 15 times and also posted double digit blocks on 15 occasions.
Stanford will host third-place USC tomorrow evening, while the Bruins visit California.