Sept. 4, 2004
Reno, NV - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani had 25 kills, 14 digs and six blocks as the sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team defeated Nevada, 3-2, in the final match of the SBC/Sands Regency Invitational in Reno, Nevada. Game scores were 30-25, 30-28, 28-30, 26-30, 15-11. The Cardinal improve to 2-1 on the season while the Wolfpack fall to 1-2 on the year.
Game one remained close between the two teams until Stanford took the 20-17 lead on a kill by outside hitter Kristin Richards. They extended the lead to 25-21 on a kill by middle blocker Lizzie Suiter and reach game point on a Nevada hitting error at 29-24. A Wolfpack service error closed out the game at 30-25.
Nevada opened the early 8-5 lead after four consecutive Cardinal hitting errors, then extended it to 14-6 to force the second Stanford timeout. SU rallied to close the gap to four points at 17-21 on a kill by middle blocker Franci Girard, then pulled to within two at 22-24 on kill by Richards. The Cardinal tied up the game at 25-all, then rattled off two more points to take the 27-25 lead on a kill by opposite hitter Courtney Schultz. Stanford reached game point on block solo by O. Nnamani at 29-27 and put the game away on a kill by O. Nnamani at 30-28.
Game three remained close between the two teams until Nevada took a 23-20 lead as Stanford called a timeout. The Wolfpack extended the lead to 26-22 but called a timeout when the Cardinal closed the gap to 25-27 on an O. Nnamani kill. UNR reached game point at 29-26 on a kill by Karly Sipherd. Stanford held off two game points on back-to-back kills by Richards but fell 30-28 in the end.
The Wolfpack used their momentum in game three to forge a 14-3 lead early in game four. Trailing 7-18, The Cardinal strung together seven consecutive points to close the gap to 14-18 on a Nevada hitting error. But Stanford could get no closer, as UNR went up 27-22 on a kill by Teal Ericson and reached game point on a Cardinal hitting error at 29-25. The Wolfpack would win 30-26 to force a deciding game five.
Stanford took control early in game five, claiming a 6-2 lead to force a Nevada timeout. UNR took their second timeout after falling behind 12-7 on a kill by Girard. The Cardinal reached match point at 14-8 on another Girard kill. The Wolfpack scored three consecutive points to close the gap to 11-14 before Richards closed out the game with a kill at 15-11 to seal the win.
Kristin Richards had 24 kills, 15 digs and five blocks in the Cardinal victory while setter Bryn Kehoe added a match-high 57 assists and 10 digs. Libero Leahi Hall tallied 14 digs as four players notched double figures in digs for the Cardinal. Franci Girard notched eight blocks while Lizzie Suiter had seven on the evening.
Nevada was led by middle blocker Salaia Salave'a who had a match-high 27 kills and nine blocks on the night.
Stanford is back in action next week, hosting the Stanford Invitational at Burnham Pavilion, September 9-11. Penn State, Eastern Washington and San Francisco will join the Cardinal for the tournament beginning on Thursday.