Dec. 10, 2004
Green Bay, Wis. - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani notched a match-high 28 kills as the sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team defeated No. 10 Texas, 3-0, tonight in the NCAA Green Bay Regional Semifinal. Game scores were 30-28, 30-26, 30-27. The Cardinal improve to 27-6 on the year while the Longhorns end their season at 26-5.
Sophomore middle blocker Lizzie Suiter moved into third place in total blocks for a single season on The Farm with 187 (she had five blocks tonight vs. Texas). Freshman setter Bryn Kehoe moved into third place in assists at Stanford with 1,487 (she had 46 tonight against the Longhorns).
The two teams traded points to open game one until the Cardinal went on a five-point run and went up 12-7 as Texas took their first timeout. Stanford called their first timeout at 16-12 after the Longhorns scored to straight points to close the gap to four points. The Cardinal opened a six-point lead at 20-14 after three consecutive kills by Ogonna Nnamani. Texas closed the gap to 23-26 to force a final Stanford timeout. The Cardinal reached game point on a block by Lizzie Suiter and Ogonna Nnamani at 29-26. The Longhorn held off three game points before falling 28-30 on an attack that went long.
Texas led 7-4 early in game two but the Cardinal slowly closed the gap and trailed 13-15 at the media timeout. Stanford tied it up at 15-all and took their first lead of the game at 16-15 after a solo block by Nnamani. The Longhorns took their first timeout trailing 16-18 after back-to-back Cardinal points. The two teams traded points until Stanford took their first timeout at 25-24 after consecutive Longhorn points. The Cardinal scored the next two points out of the timeout to go up 27-24 as Texas was forced to call their final timeout. The Longhorns closed the gap to 26-27 but Stanford would score the next two points to reach game point at 29-26 on a block solo by Lizzie Suiter. The Cardinal won 30-26 on a Texas blocking error and went up two games to none in the match.
Stanford took an early 5-1 lead to open game three after back-to-back Longhorn hitting errors as UT took their first timeout. Texas tied it up at six-all and took the lead at 7-6. The Cardinal called a timeout trailing 7-9 after a UT service ace. Stanford tied up the game at 13-all on a kill by Franci Girard. The two squads traded points until the Longhorns took the 18-15 lead after three consecutive points. The Cardinal tied it up at 18-all and two teams once again traded points until Stanford took a two-point lead at 28-26 as Texas took their final timeout. The Cardinal reached match point on a kill by Kristin Richards and won 30-27 on a Longhorn attack that went long.
Kristin Richards notched a double-double on the evening with 14 kills and 17 digs while Bryn Kehoe chipped in 46 assists and 12 digs.
Texas was led by Bethany Howden's 18 kills and Alyson Jennings 14 digs.
The winner of tonight's match will play the winner of the Hawaii/Wisconsin match later tonight. The two teams will face off at 3 p.m. CT on CSTV in the NCAA Regional Final with the victor advancing to the NCAA Championship in Long Beach, Calif., next week.