Nov. 10, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - The third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team captured its 10th win over a ranked opponent this season with a 3-1 victory over No. 5 USC tonight in front of a crowd of 3,870 at Maples Pavilion. Game scores were 30-26, 30-17, 19-30, 30-18.
The Cardinal improve to 23-2 on the year, 14-1 in the Pac-10 while the Trojans drop to 18-3 overall, 12-2 in the Pac-10.
"I think I'm pleased the most with how well we played as a team tonight," said Stanford head coach John Dunning. "We were communicating well and it eliminated a lot of errors."
The Cardinal jumped on the Trojans early in game one, grabbing the 10-5 lead on a kill by Logan Tom. Stanford continued to roll reaching 16-7 on a block solo by Tara Conrad, forcing a second USC timeout. With the Cardinal leading 24-12, the Trojans went on a five point run to close the gap to 17-24 but Stanford pressed on and reached 28-20 on a kill by Conrad. But USC wasn't finished yet, putting together a four point run to close within four points at 24-28. Another Conrad kill got the Cardinal to game point at 29-24. Stanford won the game 30-26.
Stanford pressed on in game two taking the 12-7 lead on a block by Sara McGee and Robyn Lewis. The Cardinal slowly pulled away from the Trojans and went ahead 20-12 on a kill by McGee. A five point run put Stanford up 26-15. A block by Conrad and Lewis put the Cardinal at game point at 29-16. Logan Tom's kill gave Stanford the 30-17 win. The Cardinal hit .667 for the game (21-1-30) committing only one hitting error.
Game three remained tight between the two teams until, with Stanford leading 9-8, the Trojans rolled off four consecutive points to go up 12-9. USC continued to play aggressively and opened the lead to six points at 17-11, forcing a Stanford timeout. The Trojans took the 25-17 lead on a kill and eventually won the game 30-19.
Game four was a back and forth battle in the early stages. With Stanford leading by only a point at 9-8, the Cardinal strung together three points to take a 12-8 advantage. USC responded to close within two at 10-12 but Stanford answered pulling ahead 15-10 on a Trojan miscue. The Cardinal then took control of the game and went up 21-13 on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani. A block by McGee and Nnamani gave Stanford the 23-15 lead. Back-to-back blocks by the tandem of McGee and Logan Tom put the Cardinal up 26-17. Stanford won the last four points of the match to take the 30-18 victory.
Four Cardinal players ended the night in double figures in kills. Stanford was led by Logan Tom's match high 21 kills and 17 digs. Tara Conrad chipped in 15 kills and six blocks on the night. Ogonna Nnamani had 13 kills and five blocks while Sara McGee notched 12 kills and a match-high nine blocks. Setter Robyn Lewis tallied 52 assists, seven digs and four blocks.