Oct. 31, 2004
Berkeley, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani's 28 kills was not enough as the Stanford women's volleyball team fell to California, 3-2, this afternoon in Berkeley, before a crowd of 1,315. Game scores were 21-30, 25-30, 30-28, 30-24, 9-15. The Cardinal drop to 15-6 overall, 7-3 in the Pac-10 while the Golden Bears improve to 12-7, 7-3 in league play.
Cal opened game one on a four-point run before Ogonna Nnamani notched a crosscourt kill to put Stanford on the board. The Golden Bears led 10-2 as the Cardinal took their first timeout. California continued to roll, leading 19-11 when Stanford called their second timeout. Trailing 15-27, the Cardinal put together a four-point run as Cal took their first timeout after Franci Girard took care of an overpass. The Golden Bears reached game point at 29-19 after a Stanford attack went long. The Cardinal held off two game points before falling 21-30.
Game two remained close early with Cal leading 15-12 at the media timeout after a kill by Angie Pressey. Stanford called their first timeout trailing 14-19 after back-to-back kills by Pressey. The Cardinal pulled to within one at 20-21 after a Cal attack went long as the Golden Bears took their first timeout. California went on a 5-1 run out of the break to go up 26-21 as Stanford called their final timeout. The Golden Bears reached game point at 29-25 and closed it out at 30-25 to go up two games to none.
The two teams battled back and forth early in game three with Stanford holding a 15-14 edge at the media timeout after a Kristin Richards took care of an overpass. A blocking error by Cal and another Richards' kill gave the Cardinal a 19-16 advantage as the Golden Bears called their first timeout. Trailing 20-23, California would string together three consecutive points to tie the game at 23-all on a kill by Gabrielle Abernathy. A kill by Jennifer Hucke put Stanford up 28-26. The Cardinal reached game point on a blocking error by the Golden Bears but Cal would hold off two game points, forcing the final Stanford timeout, at 28-29. A kill by Kristin Richards closed out the game 30-28.
With the Cardinal up 6-5 in game four, California went on a 5-0 run to take the 10-6 lead as Stanford called a timeout. SU closed to within two at 14-16 but the Golden Bears scored consecutive points to go up 18-14 on a kill by Alicia Powers. The Cardinal rallied again to pull within one at 17-18, forcing a Cal timeout after a kill by Ogonna Nnamani. Stanford tied up the game at 20-all on a service ace by Courtney Schultz and opened a four-point lead at 26-22 on a block by Lizzie Suiter and Jennifer Hucke. The Cardinal reached game point on a Cal hitting error and forced a deciding game five with the 30-24 win.
The Golden Bears jumped out to the early 5-1 lead to open game five. California continued to roll, leading 8-2 when the teams changed sides of the court. The Cardinal called their final timeout trailing 3-10 after a kill by Gabrielle Abernathy. Cal reached game and match point at 14-6 and closed it out 15-9 after the Cardinal held off three match points.
Kristin Richards notched a double-double on the afternoon with 16 kills and 13 digs. Franci Girard added 11 kills and three blocks while Lizzie Suiter led the match with five blocks.
Stanford is back in action next week, hosting UCLA and USC at Burnham Pavilion in continued conference action. The Cardinal take on the Bruins on Thursday, November 4 at 7 p.m. and the Trojans on Friday, November 5.