Dec. 4, 2004
Tallahassee, Fla. - Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani recorded 30 kills, 16 digs and five blocks to lead the sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over No. 13 Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this evening. Game scores were 25-30, 30-15, 21-30, 30-27, 15-9. The Cardinal improve to 26-6 on the year while the Gators end their season at 28-5.
Florida took the early 8-3 lead after rallying off five consecutive points in game one. The Cardinal closed the gap to 7-9 but couldn't get any closer. Stanford called their final timeout trailing 16-21 after two Cardinal attacks went long. Florida reached game point at 29-21 and closed it out 30-25 as Stanford held off four game points.
Stanford jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in game two after a kill by Ogonna Nnamani. Another Nnamani kill put the Cardinal up 8-3 as Florida called their first timeout. Stanford led 15-6 at the halfway point after another Nnamani kill. The Gators took their final timeout trailing 10-21 after a block solo by Franci Girard. The Cardinal continued to roll, reaching game point on a kill by Jennifer Hucke. Stanford won 30-15 on as Kristin Richards' tipped over the Florida block.
The two teams were tied at seven-all early in game three and continued to trade points back and forth until Florida grabbed a 13-10 advantage after three consecutive points. The Cardinal tied up the game at 13-all on a block by Ogonna Nnamani and Franci Girard and took the lead at 14-13 on a Nnamani kill that forced Florida to take their first timeout. The squads once again traded points until the Gators scored three straight to take a 21-19 advantage as the Cardinal called their final timeout. Florida opened up the lead to 24-19 before a kill by Kristin Richards stopped the Gator run. UF continued to roll reaching game point at 29-21 and won 30-21 on a service ace.
Florida led 7-4 early in game four and led 15-12 at the halfway point. The Cardinal tied up the game at 17-all on a Franci Girard kill that capped a three-point run for Stanford. But the Gators came right back to take a 20-17 lead on three consecutive UF kills as the Cardinal called a timeout. Stanford fought back to tie the game at 23-all after three consecutive Gator errors. The two squads traded points until Stanford went up 29-27 on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani to reach game point. A Florida attack that went long gave the Cardinal the 30-27 win to force a deciding game five.
Game five remained close early as Stanford led 8-6 as the two teams switched sides of the court. The Cardinal slowly opened up a 13-8 forcing the Gators to call their final timeout. An Ogonna Nnamani kill gave Stanford game and match point at 14-9. Nnamani ended the match with another kill as the Cardinal won 15-9.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristin Richards tallied 16 kills and a team-best 21 digs while teammate Jennifer Hucke added 11 kills and 11 digs on the evening. Freshman middle blocker Franci Girard had 11 kills and three blocks as well.
Florida was led by Sherri Williams' 16 kills and Marcie Hampton's 22 digs.
Tonight's winner advances to the NCAA Regional in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Dec. 11-12, and will take on Texas. Hawaii advanced to the Green Bay regional yesterday and will play Wisconsin.