Nov. 29, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani tallied a match-high 23 kills while hitting .409 as the No. 6 Stanford women's volleyball team swept No. 20 Notre Dame, 3-0, this afternoon in Maples Pavilion. Game scores were 30-28, 30-24, 30-24.
The Cardinal improve to 23-6 on the year while the Fighting Irish fall to 23-6.
Notre Dame opened up a 7-4 lead in game one before the Cardinal tied it up at 10-all on an Irish service error. A block by Sara Dukes and Jennifer Hucke put Stanford up 14-11 as Notre Dame called their first timeout. The Fighting Irish regrouped and went on a five-point run to take the 17-16 lead but the Cardinal would hang tough to take back the lead at 23-22 on an Ogonna Nnamani kill. UND would take their final timeout trailing 22-25. Stanford reached game point at 29-26 on a kill by Kristin Richards. The Irish would hold off two game points before falling 30-28 on another Nnamani kill.
Notre Dame led 7-6 in game two before the Cardinal rallied off four consecutive points to grab a 10-7 lead on a dump by Katie Goldhahn. Stanford continued to roll, opening up a six point lead at 21-15 on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani as the Irish took a timeout. Notre Dame closed to within four at 22-26 to force a Cardinal timeout but Stanford notched two consecutive points to open the lead back up at 28-22. A Notre Dame service error put the Cardinal at game point, leading 29-24. Jennifer Harvey closed out the game with a kill at 30-24.
The two teams battled back and forth to open game three with Stanford holding a slim 15-13 advantage at the media timeout. Notre Dame tied the game at 16-all and forced a Cardinal timeout when they pushed the lead to two at 20-18. Stanford regained the lead at 22-21 in a Kristin Richards kill and opened the game up on three consecutive kills to lead 26-22. A block by Jennifer Harvey and Ogonna Nnamani gave the Cardinal game and match point at 29-23 while Harvey closed the door with a kill to give Stanford the win, 30-24.
Freshman Kristin Richards notched a double-double with 16 kills and a match-high 14 digs on the afternoon. Senior middle blocker Jennifer Harvey added eight kills, three blocks and a career-high nine digs while fellow middle blocker Sara Dukes had nine kills and three blocks.
Notre Dame was led by Lauren Kelbley's 10 kills and Meg Henican's 10 digs.
Stanford awaits word on the postseason as the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Selection Show will be shown on ESPNews at 5 p.m. PT on Sunday.