Sept. 17, 2005
Stanford, Ca - Freshman outside hitter Cynthia Barboza collected 20 kills and 15 digs to help power the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 30-28, 26-30, 30-23, 30-21 victory over 24th ranked UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night at the Stanford Invitational at Maples Pavilion.
Freshman middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo added 16 kills while junior middle blocker Kristin Richards tallied 15 more and junior Nji Nnamani collected eleven as Stanford won its tenth straight match to raise its season record to 11-1. Senior libero Courtney Schultz collected a career-high 23 digs. Richards had 21 digs.
In game one, Stanford led from start to finish including a 12-6 lead in the early going. But the Gauchos played tough, and pulled to within one point, 17-16. From that point, Stanford could not put together a sizable rally. UCSB eventually tied the match at 25-25. Stanford scored four straight points to take a 29-25 lead. The Gauchos refused to fold and scored three straight points to pull within one point at 29-28. However, a service error by UCSB's Megan Blackshire gave Stanford a 30-28 decision.
UCSB again gave Stanford problems in game two, and eventually scored a 30-26 victory. Stanford jumped to a 5-2 lead, but the Gauchos tied the match at 12-12, and took their first lead of the game at 13-12 on a kill by Lauren McLaughlin. UCSB increased its lead to 25-22. Stanford cut the Gauchos margin to one point, 25-24, on a Barboza kill and a UCSB hitting error. UCSB then took charge and regained its three point lead at 28-25. A Barboza kill cut the Gaucho lead to two points at 28-26, but a kill and service ace by Megan Blackshire gave UC Santa Barbara the four point win, 30-26.
Stanford took the lead for good in game three at 3-2 and extended the margin to five points (15-10), then seven points (20-13), and then eight points (25-17). A 4-0 run by UCSB cut the Stanford lead to 25-21, but a 5-2 run gave Stanford the game win, 30-23.
Stanford led 9-8 in game four, and then an 8-2 run gave Stanford a healthy 17-10 margin. The lead grew to as many as nine points (27-18). Stanford closed out the game (30-21) and the match on kills by Richards and two by Akinradewo.
Akinradewo was named Tournament MVP. Richards and Barboza also were named to the all-tournament team along with Utah State's Zuzana Cernianska, Megan Blackshire of UCSB, and Missie Stidham and Kaul Salzman of St. Mary's.
Stanford opens Pacific-10 play on Friday (9/23/05, 7:00 p.m.) against USC, and then hosts UCLA (9/24/05, 7:00 p.m.) at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (11-1)30 26 30 30
UC Santa Barbara (4-6)28 30 23 21
Cardinal Catalogue
The Stanford women's volleyball program has announced that at the 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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