Oct. 8, 2004
LOS ANGELES - Senior Keao Burdine led with 23 points and freshman Sarah Florian had a surprise performance hitting .438 with 16 kills on the night to lead the second-ranked USC women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (30-16, 30-20, 27-30, 30-26) victory over 14th-ranked Stanford on Friday. In front of 1, 058 at the Lyon Center, the Women of Troy dominated in every category despite dropping game three.
Burdine and Florian were not the only top performances of the night for USC. Five players finished with double figure kills, including Emily Adams, who added 15 kills on a .414 effort, Bibiana Candelas, who tallied 14 kills and led with four blocks, and Staci Venski, who finished with 11 kills and three blocks of her own.
In addition to 18 kills and 15 digs, Burdine also tied her career high with four service aces. Sophomore setter Kimi Freeburg, who had 28 assists on the night, set a career-high with 17 digs. Libero Debora Seilhamer posted 16 digs and setter Alli Dillon had 30 assists.
The match marked Florian's first collegiate start, as she replaced Alicia Robinson who's playing time was limited due to increased foot pain.
With the win, USC improves to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while Stanford falls to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-10.
The Women of Troy had little trouble against the Cardinal until game three. Returning from the break, Stanford took its first lead of the match at 8-7 then pulled ahead by as much as six points at 22-16. The string of Cardinal points prompted head coach Mick Haley to insert Alicia Robinson back in the lineup for a short time. The substitution seemed to work as USC fought back to within one at 28-27. But two Trojan errors stalled the comeback and gave Stanford the game victory.
Stanford held a 16-13 lead in game four, but USC used a 7-2 run to pull ahead 20-18. Thanks to key blocks from Candelas and Florian, and kills by Burdine, the Women of Troy maintained the advantage down the stretch for the 30-26 win.