Dec. 7, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - Junior Logan Tom notched 26 kills and 16 digs to lead the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over No. 13 Utah tonight in Maples Pavilion in a regional semifinal match. Game scores were 30-17, 30-17, 28-30, 30-19.
The Cardinal improve to 30-2 on the season while the Utes end the year at 25-7.
Stanford took control early in game one and never looked back. Logan Tom notched her ninth kill of the match to help the Cardinal reach game point at 29-17. A Utah miscue gave Stanford the 30-17 win. The Cardinal hit .429 for the game while the Utes hit .132.
An Ogonna Nnamani kill put the Cardinal up 8-4 in the early stages of game two. Utah would tie up the game at nine-all on a block, forcing a Stanford timeout. After a sideout, Cardinal Ashley Ivy came in and served tough to give Stanford the lead. The Cardinal stretched the lead to 26-16 on a Sara McGee kill. Utah took a timeout out at 28-16 after a Logan Tom kill. A Ute service error gave the Cardinal game point at 29-17. A block solo by Tara Conrad put Stanford up two games to none (game score 30-17). The Cardinal hit .500 for the game while Logan Tom again had nine kills to lead Stanford.
Utah came out of the break fired up and jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Stanford came back to tie it up at 4-all on a Ute hitting error. With the Cardinal leading 17-16, Stanford called a timeout after a block by Utah. Utah tied up the game at 19-all and took the lead 20-19 on a kill. The Utes held on to the slim lead at 24-22 but the Cardinal would tie up the match at 26-all. Utah pressed on reaching game point at 29-27. Stanford held off one game point to get to 28-29 but a Ute kill gave Utah the game 30-28, forcing a game four.
Game four started off tight with the two teams tied at 5-5. Stanford gained some distance on a Robyn Lewis service ace at 8-6. Ogonna Nnamani put down an overpass to give the Cardinal a 12-9 advantage. A Sara McGee kill put Stanford up 14-9, forcing a Utah timeout. The Cardinal reached 20-13 on a Ute hitting error and went up 23-15 to force a second timeout out by Utah. Stanford continued to pull away reaching 25-15 on a Tara Conrad kill. A lifted ball violation by the Utes put the Cardinal at match point at 29-18. Sara McGee notched a kill to win the match, 30-19.
Ogonna Nnamani and Tara Conrad contributed 15 each on the night while Conrad and Logan Tom each had five blocks to lead the team. Junior Ashley Ivy tallied a match-high five service aces and Robyn Lewis tied her season high with 57 assists.
Stanford will play Texas A&M tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in the regional final with the winner advancing to the Final Four in San Diego, Calif.