Oct. 30, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani (Normal, IL) tallied 21 kills, 11 digs and five blocks as the ninth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team defeated Arizona, 3-1, tonight in Maples Pavilion. Game scores were 30-28, 30-25, 31-33, 30-24.
The Cardinal improve to 16-5 on the year, 9-3 in Pac-10 play while the Wildcats fall to 10-12, 4-7 in league action.
Stanford took an early 8-6 lead in game one after a block solo by Sara Dukes forced an Arizona timeout. The Cardinal continued to hold the lead and forced a second 'Cats timeout at 19-16 after consecutive Arizona hitting errors. The Wildcats took a 20-19 lead but Stanford regained the lead at 22-21 on a block by Jennifer Harvey and Katie Goldhahn. With the game knotted at 27-all, back-to-back kills by Dukes gave the Cardinal game point while Kristin Richards' kill closed it out at 30-28.
Game two remained close between the two teams until Arizona forged a 13-9 lead after five consecutive points. The Cardinal would fight back to close the gap to 14-16 on a service ace by Leahi Hall and tied the game at 19-all on a kill by Katie Goldhahn. The teams battled back and forth until Stanford took a 26-24 lead on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani. With the Cardinal leading 26-25, SU would score the final four points to win the game, 30-25, on a kill by Jennifer Harvey.
Arizona raced out to a 9-4 lead in game three but Stanford would fight back to close the gap to 13-16 on a block solo by Ogonna Nnamani and tie the game at 19-19 on a block by Jennifer Harvey and Katie Goldhahn. The Cardinal took a 27-24 lead on a kill by Sara Dukes and reached game and match point at 29-27 on a Nnamani kill. But the Wildcats fought back to tied the game at 30-all and eventually won the game 33-31 force a game four.
The Cardinal forged an early 10-8 lead in game four to force an Arizona timeout after a Wildcat hitting error. The 'Cats would take their final timeout trailing 10-15 after a Jennifer Hucke kill. Stanford continued to roll and led 25-18 on an Ogonna Nnamani kill. The Cardinal reached game and match point on a kill by Hucke who closed out the match with another kill at 30-24.
Four Cardinal players ended the night in double figures in kills while three players tallied double-doubles on the evening. Freshman Kristin Richards chipped in 16 kills and 10 digs while Jennifer Hucke added 11 kills and 13 digs. Middle blocker Sara Dukes had 10 kills while setter Katie Goldhahn contributed 48 assists and 12 digs.
Arizona was led by Kim Glass' match-high 24 kills and 13 digs. Libero Kelli Mulvany added a match-high 21 digs.
Stanford is back in action tomorrow night as they face Arizona State at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion in the Pac-10 FOX Sports Net Game of the Week.