Nov. 25, 2003
Santa Clara, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani had a match-high 22 kills as the sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team defeated No. 13 Santa Clara tonight, 3-1. Game scores were 24-30, 30-25, 30-22, 30-22.
The Cardinal improve to 22-6 overall while the Broncos fall to 20-10.
Santa Clara rattled off four consecutive points to open game one and pushed the lead to 11-4 to force the first Cardinal timeout. With the Broncos leading 15-7, Stanford strung together three points to close within five at 10-15 and got to within three at 13-16 as Santa Clara called a timeout. But the Broncos opened up the lead again taking a 20-14 advantage as the Cardinal called their final timeout of the game. Stanford fought back to close the gap to 21-24 but could get no closer as Santa Clara pulled away to win game one 30-24.
Stanford came out firing in game two, building a 9-4 lead after a block by Jennifer Harvey and Katie Goldhahn. Santa Clara closed the gap to 14-16 before the Cardinal began to pull away again and opened a 21-16 lead on a Kristin Richards kill. Stanford reached game point on another Richards' kill at 30-24, and a Broncos service error closed out the game at 30-25.
Game three was a back and forth battle with the Cardinal taking a slim 15-12 at the media timeout after a Kristin Richards kill. Stanford continued to lead taking a 24-20 advantage on Sara Dukes kill. The Broncos took their final timeout trailing 22-28 and Stanford reached game point on a Santa Clara hitting error. Ogonna Nnamani closed out the game with a kill at 30-22 to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead in the match.
Game four remained close between the two teams as Stanford took a 15-12 lead into the media timeout after a service ace by Sara Dukes. The Cardinal scored the next three points to gain an 18-12 advantage on a kill by Jennifer Harvey. Stanford led 26-16 after a kill by Ogonna Nnamani and reached game point at 29-19 on a kill by Jennifer Hucke. The Broncos held off four game points before falling 30-22.
Freshman Kristin Richards added 19 kills and 14 digs to the effort while Sara Dukes had seven kills and seven blocks on the night. Jennifer Hucke notched seven kills, two service aces and 11 digs while libero Leahi Hall tallied 12 digs.
Becky Potter had 20 kills for Santa Clara while Toni Muratore added 17 on the night.
Stanford will close out the 2003 regular season with a non-conference match against No. 20 Notre Dame on Saturday, November 29, at 1 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.