Aug. 30, 2003
Fort Collins, Colo. - Junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani tallied a career-high 30 kills as the fourth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team posted a 3-2 win over Florida A&M at the University Park Holiday Inn Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. Game scores were 26-30, 30-14, 28-30, 30-26, 15-11.
The Cardinal improve to 3-0 on the year while the Rattlers fall to 1-2.
Florida A&M took the early 5-3 lead to open game one but Stanford came back to take a 10-7 advantage on a rotation error by the Rattlers. Back-to-back kills by Florida A&M put the Rattlers up 14-11 and forced a Stanford timeout. FAMU pulled away after a four-point run to take a 21-13 advantage. The Cardinal fought back to close within four at 19-23 on a Jennifer Hucke service ace forcing a Rattlers timeout. Stanford got to within two points at 24-26 after a Katie Goldhahn service ace but could get no closer. FAMU won the game 30-26 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Stanford posted a 10-5 lead early in game two after a Rattlers hitting error. With the Cardinal leading 11-8, Stanford went on a six-point run to go up 17-8 on a block by Jennifer Harvey and Anna Robinson. A block solo by Sara Dukes at 22-12 forced a FAMU timeout. The Cardinal continued to pull away, ending the match on a five-point run and a 30-14 victory on a Rattlers hitting error.
Game three was a battle to the end as the teams remained close early in game three. The Rattlers took their first timeout trailing 14-17 after a block by Harvey and Dukes. With Stanford leading 26-24, Florida A&M tied the game on a Cardinal hitting error at 26-all and again at 28-all. The Rattlers would win game three 30-28 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
After posting a 5-1 Cardinal lead in game four, the Rattlers would come back to tie the game at 11-all on a Stanford ball-handling error. The game would remain close as FAMU took a timeout trailing 22-24 after a service ace by Harvey. Stanford took a 27-22 lead on a kill by Richards and reached game point on a kill by McGee at 29-25. Ogonna Nnamani closed out game four with a kill at 30-26 to force a game five.
The Cardinal staked a 6-2 lead to open game five after a kill by Jennifer Harvey. The Rattlers came back to pull within one at 5-6, forcing a Stanford timeout. The Cardinal would score four of the next five points to take a 10-6 advantage. After taking a 12-6 lead over FAMU, the Rattlers would score four consecutive points to pull within two at 10-12. Stanford responded with a kill and a service ace to reach match point at 14-10. A Florida A&M blocking error gave the Cardinal the 15-11 win.
Senior middle blocker Jennifer Harvey tied her career high with 12 kills on the evening while chipping in a match-high seven blocks at the net. Fellow middle blocker Sara McGee added 16 kills and five blocks. Freshman Kristin Richards notched a career-high 13 kills and seven digs while sophomore Courtney Schultz led the match with 13 digs.
Nnamani was tabbed MVP of the tournament for her efforts. She was joined by teammate Sara McGee on the all-tournament team as well.
Stanford is next in action hosting the Stanford Invitational, September 5-6 in Maples Pavilion. They will take on the University of San Diego at 7 p.m. on Friday to open the tourney.