Oct. 17, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Despite notching a match-high 22 kills, outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani and the Stanford women's volleyball team fell to No. 1 USC tonight, 3-0, in Maples Pavilion before a crowd of 3,549. Game scores were 17-30, 21-30, 23-30.
The Cardinal are now 14-4 overall, 7-2 in the Pac-10 while the Trojans remain perfect at 17-0, 8-0 in league action.
Stanford fell behind 3-6 early in game one and was forced to take a timeout, trailing 5-10. USC continued to pound away at the Cardinal taking a 19-11 advantage on a block and forced the second Stanford timeout at 21-13 after a service ace. The Trojans would score the final four points of the game to close it out at 30-17 on a kill.
USC once again raced out to a quick 7-3 lead in game two and found themselves leading 15-9 at the media timeout. Stanford would call their first timeout of the game, trailing 12-20 after a kill by April Ross. The Trojans reached game point at 29-19 and the Cardinal held off two game points before falling 30-21.
Stanford opened game three with a 5-2 lead after a USC hitting error but quickly found themselved tied at seven-all. The Cardinal rallied to score four straight points to force a Trojan timeout after a kill by Anna Robinson. USC slowly closed the gap, however, and tied the gap at 14-all after a block. The two teams traded points until the Trojans established a 21-18 lead as Stanford took their final timeout. The Cardinal could get no closer and held off two match points before falling 30-23.
Kristin Richards, Jennifer Hucke and Jennifer Harvey each contributed six kills to the match while Katie Goldhahn led the team with 24 assists, followed by Anna Robinson's 18. Richards led the Cardinal with eight digs on the night, while Leahi Hall chipped in five.
USC had five players in double figures in kills on the night with libero Nicole Davis led the match with 15 digs on the night.
Stanford is back in action next Thursday, October 23 in Seattle, where they begin the second half of Pac-10 play against the Washington Huskies at 7 p.m.