Oct. 13, 2004
Stockton, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani's 29 kills helped the Stanford women's volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over Pacific tonight in Stockton, Calif. Game scores were 25-30, 30-20, 26-30, 30-16, 15-12. The Cardinal improve to 12-4 overall while the Tigers fall to 10-4 on the year.
Pacific took the early 12-7 lead in game one, forcing a Cardinal timeout. Stanford fought back to tie the game up at 17-all after a kill by Jennifer Hucke. The two teams traded points until they knotted up again at 24-all. The Tigers then went on a five-point run to reach game point at 29-24. UOP put the game away at 30-25 to go up 1-0 in the match.
The two squads remained closed early in game two until Stanford took a slim 11-8 lead on a kill by Bryn Kehoe. The Cardinal had a 15-10 lead at the media timeout after a Tiger hitting error. Stanford increased the lead to 18-10 on a Kehoe service ace. UOP took their first timeout trailing 12-20 after a kill by Kristin Richards. The Cardinal scored the next four points after the timeout to go up 24-12. Stanford reached game point at 29-19 on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani and closed out the game at 30-20 on a kill by Jennifer Hucke.
Game three was close early as the two teams battled back and forth until Pacific staked a 12-9 lead to force a Cardinal timeout. Stanford closed the gap to 16-17 on a kill by O. Nnamani but could get no closer as they called their second timeout, trailing 18-22 after a Tiger service ace. UOP opened up a 26-21 lead and didn't look back. Pacific reached game point at 29-23 and took game three, 30-26.
Stanford held a slim 8-5 lead early in game four and held a 13-8 advantage after a block solo by O. Nnamani forced a Pacific timeout. A block by Lizzie Suiter and Kristin Richards put the Cardinal up 18-9. The Tigers took their final timeout trailing 12-22 after a kill by Franci Girard. Stanford continued to roll reaching game point at 29-16 after a UOP service error. Bryn Kehoe notched her fourth ace of the match to give the Cardinal the 30-16 win and force a game five.
The two teams were tied early in game five, with Stanford holding the 7-6 edge as Pacific took their first timeout after a block by Lizzie Suiter and Jennifer Hucke. The Cardinal remained steady leading 12-8 after a kill by Franci Girard forced the final Tiger timeout. Stanford reached game point at 14-9 on a kill by Kristin Richards. Pacific held off two match points as the Cardinal called a timeout leading 14-11. Ogonna Nnamani tallied her 29th kill of the match as Stanford won 15-12.
Kristin Richards added 14 kills and 15 digs to the Cardinal effort while Lizzie Suiter added a match-best nine blocks. Bryn Kehoe had 46 assists and four service aces on the night while libero Courtney Schultz chipped in 15 digs.
Pacific was led by Ashley Groothuis' 24 kills and Sidney Bennett's eight blocks.
The Cardinal are back in action on Friday, October 15, at 7 p.m. against Oregon State at Burnham Pavilion in continued league action.