Oct. 3, 2001
Santa Clara, Calif. - The fourth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team recorded a 3-1 victory over 24th-ranked Santa Clara this evening in the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif. Game scores were 26-30, 30-20, 30-24, 30-21. The Cardinal improve to 10-1 on the year while the Broncos fall to 8-5.
Stanford tallied a season-high 21 blocks for the match which is also the most team blocks by a Pac-10 school in 2001 as well. The Cardinal outblocked Santa Clara 21 to six for the match.
Stanford went up 4-3 on a block by Sara McGee in game one, but Santa Clara fought back to take an 8-6 lead on a block of their own. With the game knotted at 11-all, the Broncos put together a three point run to go ahead 14-11 and took a five point lead at 18-13 on a service ace. A Santa Clara kill by Jessie Mechem gave the Broncos a 23-17 edge but the Cardinal regrouped and rallied off five straight points to close within two at 23-25. With Santa Clara leading by a point at 26-25, the Broncos forged ahead and reached game point at 29-25. The Cardinal held off one game point on a Logan Tom kill but fell 26-30.
Stanford took an early 6-3 lead on a service ace by Tom and would get to 8-4 on a block by Ashley Ivy and Sara McGee. A kill by setter Robyn Lewis put the Cardinal up 13-7. Stanford went up by 12 points at 25-13 on a service ace by Michelle Chambers and never looked back. They won the game on a kill by Sara Dukes at 30-20 and evened up the match at one game a piece.
The Cardinal raced to an 8-3 lead on another Logan Tom ace to open game three. When the Broncos pulled to within three at 7-10, Stanford strung together three of their own. The Cardinal pushed the score to 17-10 behind solid blocking. Santa Clara closed the gap to five points at 19-24 but didn't get any closer. Stanford reached game point at 29-23 on a block by Tara Conrad. A block solo by Sara McGee gave the Cardinal the 30-24 victory.
Game four was a back and forth battle between the two teams early in the game. Stanford broke a 10-10 tie on back-to-back kills by Conrad and Sara Dukes. After the Broncos went up 13-12 on a block, the Cardinal notched four consecutive points to take the lead back. With Stanford leading by only four points at 22-18, the Cardinal rolled off six straight points to put the game out of reach. A kill by Dukes got Stanford to match point at 29-19. Santa Clara was able to hold off two match points by freshman Ogonna Nnamani's kill gave Stanford the 30-21 win.
Junior Logan Tom tallied a match-high 23 kills and 14 digs while adding three service aces and five blocks. Sophomore Sara McGee set a career-high with 12 blocks on the night. Her 11 block assists ties the most by a Pac-10 player this year. Freshman Ogonna Nnamani notched a career-high 17 kills on the night while hitting at a .343 clip. Senior Tara Conrad added six kills and seven blocks to the Cardinal effort. Setter Robyn Lewis recorded 54 assists, 10 digs and a season-high seven blocks.
The Cardinal are next in action on Thursday, October 4 against Oregon at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.