Sept. 29, 2004
Moraga, Calif. - Sophomore middle blocker Lizzie Suiter's career-high 10 blocks were not enough as the 11th-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team was upset by the St. Mary's Gaels, 3-1, tonight in Moraga. Game scores were 24-30, 30-26, 34-36, 27-30. The Cardinal fall to 9-3 on the year as the Gaels improve to 11-1 heading into the weekend's competition.
Senior Ogonna Nnamani moved into sixth place in career kills in the Pac-10 with 1,867, surpassing Arizona's Barb Bell (1,859).
SMC jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in game one and led 11-6 as Stanford called their first timeout. The Cardinal continued to struggle to put the ball away, falling behind 16-8 to force a final SU timeout. Stanford made up some ground, pulling to within five at 13-18 on a kill by Jennifer Hucke. The Gaels called their first timeout, leading 19-15, after a St. Mary's hitting error. SMC led 25-21 after a Stanford service error and reached game point at 29-23 on another Cardinal service error. The Gaels would win game one on a kill by Stacey O'Connor at 30-24.
Game two began much as game one did, with St. Mary's taking the early 5-2 lead. The Cardinal were forced to take their first timeout, trailing 5-10 after another Stanford hitting error. With SMC leading 14-8, SU strung together three consecutive points to close the gap to 11-14 as the Gaels took their first timeout. The Cardinal would close to within one at 16-17 on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani but SMC rallied to score the next three points to open up a 20-16 advantage as Stanford took its final timeout. O. Nnamani tallied three consecutive kills to bring the deficit back to one at 19-20. The Cardinal would tie up the game at 24-all as the two teams traded points until Stanford went up 28-26 on a kill by Kristin Richards. Bryn Kehoe got the Cardinal to game point at 29-26 with a kill. Franci Girard closed out game two, 30-26, with a kill to even up the match at one game apiece.
The two teams remained close early with the game tied at five-all until the Cardinal went up 9-6 on a Hucke service ace. SMC would tie up the game again at 14-all on a service ace. Both squads would trade points until the Gaels went up 18-16 as Stanford took a timeout. The Cardinal tied up the game at 18-all but St. Mary's strung together three points to go up 21-18. A block by Franci Girard and Jennifer Hucke would tie the game up again at 24-all as the Gaels took their first timeout. Stanford took their final timeout as St. Mary's went up 26-25. St. Mary's held off five game points to take the lead at 34-33 and won the game 36-34 on their second game point.
The Gaels started strong in game four, staking a 7-4 lead early on and force a Cardinal timeout at 9-5 after back-to-back kills. As the two squads hit the halfway mark, SMC led 15-12 after a kill by Kaui Salzman. The Gaels continued to hold the lead, going up 20-16 after a bad set by the Cardinal. Stanford would take their final timeout, trailing 21-16. SU closed the gap to 21-23 but could get no closer as St. Mary's reached game and match point at 29-26 on a kill by Salzman. Another Salzman kill closed out the match at 30-27.
Ogonna Nnamani led the Cardinal with 24 kills and 18 digs while teammate Kristin Richards tallied 16 kills and 20 digs on the night. Jennifer Hucke added 17 kills, three service aces and 13 digs. Lizzie Suiter led the match with 10 blocks - a career-best for the sophomore. Bryn Kehoe notched 60 assists and 19 digs while Courtney Schultz put up 17 digs.
The Cardinal are back in action on Friday night against No. 12 California at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion in resumed league action.