Nov. 18, 2004
Stanford, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani tallied a career-high 37 kills as the ninth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team upset top-ranked Washington, 3-2, tonight in Burnham Pavilion. Game scores were 28-30, 11-30, 30-27, 34-32, 20-18. The Cardinal improve to 20-6 on the year, 12-3 in the Pac-10 while the Huskies drop their first match of the season to go to 22-1, 14-1 in league play.
Nnamani's 37 kills ranks third all-time on The Farm for a single match.
Washington took an early 5-3 lead in game one which increased to 9-4 as the Cardinal called their first timeout. But Stanford roared back to tie up the game at 14-all on a block by Lizzie Suiter and Bryn Kehoe. The Huskies responded, going up 20-15 as the Cardinal burned their final timeout. Stanford once again closed the gap to 20-21 after two consecutive blocks to force the final Washington timeout. With the game knotted at 22-all, the Huskies got back-to-back points to go ahead 24-22. Washington reached game point at 29-26 as the Cardinal held off two game points before falling 28-30.
The Huskies once again took the early lead as Stanford called its first timeout trailing 2-7. Washington built its lead to 10-4 and were up 15-7 when the Cardinal went to the bench for the final time. The Huskies continued to roll in game two reaching game point at 29-11 and put the game away, 30-11.
Stanford held a slim 7-5 lead to begin game three, but Washington tied it up at 10-all. The Huskies were up 15-13 at the media timeout after a Husky service ace. The Cardinal tied up the game at 15-all on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani and took the lead 16-15 as Lizzie Suiter took care of an overpass. Washington retook the lead at 19-18 and Stanford took their first timeout after the Huskies went up 20-18. The Cardinal responded and tied the game up at 24-all. The two squads traded points until Stanford reached game point at 29-27 on a kill by Nnamani. A service ace by Leahi Hall gave the Cardinal the 30-27 victory to force a game four.
The game remained closed early with Stanford holding a slim 12-10 lead as Washington called their first timeout. The Huskies tied the game at 13-all after a Cardinal miscue. The two teams traded points until Washington grabbed the 20-16 advantage and Stanford burned their final timeout. The Huskies continued to roll, building a 25-19 lead. The Cardinal cut the lead to three at 22-25 as UW called their final timeout. Stanford tied the game at 25-all. The two teams once again traded points until the Huskies took the lead and reached match point at 29-26. The Cardinal held off three match points to tie the game at 29-all on a kill by Franci Girard. Stanford reached game point at 33-32 as Kristin Richards dug an attack by Brie Hagerty that dropped in for a kill on the Washington side of the net. Bryn Kehoe got a kill to end the game at 34-32 to send the match to a deciding game five.
The Huskies grabbed a quick 3-0 lead as Stanford called an early timeout. Washington continued to press and led 8-3 as the squads switched sides of the court. Stanford closed the gap to 10-12 but the Huskies reached match point at 14-11. The Cardinal held off two match points to close to 13-14 as Washington called a timeout then tied the match at 14-all. The two teams traded points until the Huskies reached match point again at 16-15 and won 17-16. But the Cardinal hung on and reached match point at 19-18 after a Washington service error. A service ace by Jennifer Hucke gave Stanford the 20-18 comeback win.
Freshman setter Bryn Kehoe notched a double-double with 61 assists and a team-high 21 digs on the night. Sophomore Kristin Richards chipped in 10 kills and 20 digs as well. Libero Courtney Schultz added 15 digs while both Lizzie Suiter and Franci Girard notched eight blocks each.
The Cardinal are back in action tomorrow night at 7 p.m. against Washington State.