Sept. 16, 2005
Stanford, Ca - Freshman middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo collected a season-high 19 kills (.720) to lead the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 30-19, 30-16, 30-23 victory over Utah State on Friday night at the Stanford Invitational.
Akinradewo also collected three blocks and three digs as Stanford won its ninth straight match to raise its season record to 10-1. The nine straight wins is the fourth longest streak in head coach John Dunning's 4-plus seasons at Stanford.
Stanford hit .344 compared to only .080 for the Aggies. For the sixth time in eleven matches, Stanford's defense held the opposition to a hitting percentage less than .100.
In game one, Stanford led from start to finish. The Cardinal jumped to a 3-0 lead, then 11-3, 16-6, 27-16, and then the Cardinal closed out the game (30-19) with a kill by Richards. Richards earned her 1,000th career kill that made the score 13-5. Stanford hit .226 while the Cardinal defense continued to play strong, holding the Aggies to a .029 hitting percentage.
Utah State enjoyed a 6-3 lead in game three, but then a 14-4 run gave Stanford a 17-10 lead, and the Cardinal never looked back. A 7-0 run gave Stanford a 29-15 lead, and Foluke Akinradewo ended the game (30-16) on a kill down the middle of the Aggie defense. Stanford's offense collected a .441 hitting percentage while the Stanford defense held Utah State to a -.027 percentage.
In game three with the score tied at 12-12, Stanford collected five straight points, and expanded the lead to as many as eight points at 27-19. A Richards kill ended the game (30-23) and the match in favor of Stanford.
In the first match of the evening, 23th ranked St. Mary's defeated 24th ranked UC Santa Barbara, 28-30, 30-20, 30-27, 30-22.
The Stanford Invitational concludes on Saturday at 5 p.m. with Stanford hosting UC Santa Barbara followed at 7 p.m. with Utah State facing St. Mary's.
Stanford (10-1)303030
Utah State (6-5)191623
Cardinal Catalogue
The Stanford women's volleyball program has announced that at the Stanford Invitational (Sept. 17) and matches against USC (Sept. 23) and UCLA (Sept. 24) at Maples Pavilion, monetary donations will be accepted and delivered to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund to help flood victims.
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