Sept. 3, 2005
Chestnut Hill, Ma - Kristin Richards tallied 22 kills (.357) and Foluke Akinradewo added 19 to lead the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 25-30, 30-14, 30-21, 30-23 victory over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon at the Boston College Invitational.
In game one, Syracuse scored five straight points to take an early 6-1 lead. The Orange continued to put pressure on the Stanford defense and increased its lead to 11-4. The Cardinal them mounted its own rally and cut the margin to four points, 12-8. The momentum then shifted to Syracuse as it increased its lead back to seven points at 16-9. Again the momentum shifted back into Stanford's court as the Cardinal came within one point on eight occasions. But Syracuse played tough and refused to let Stanford tie the game. Then Syracuse combined two blocks and a Stanford hitting error to score the final three points and give the Orange game one, 30-25.
Syracuse enjoyed its only lead of game two at 1-0, and then the Cardinal went to work. The Stanford offense found sizable holes in the Orange defense and outscored Syracuse, 20-7, that opened a sizable 25-11 lead to change the complexion of the match. Stanford finished game two on a Cindy Barboza kill down the center of the court to give the Cardinal a 30-14 victory.
Stanford continued to find space in Syracuse' defense to take a quick 5-0 lead in game three. But then the Orange again found its game and cut the Cardinal lead to two points, 16-14. But Stanford gradually pushed ahead and eventually expanded its lead to as many as nine points, 28-19. A Kristin Richards kill, and blocks by Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo gave Stanford the final two points it needed to win the game, 30-21.
In game three, a 9-7 Syracuse lead soon evaporated as the Cardinal outscored the Big East team, 14-5, to take its biggest lead of the game, 21-14. Two kills by Richards and Jennifer Wilson closed out the game, 30-23, and the match.
Setter Bryn Kehoe was named the tournament MVP, while Akinradewo and Richards were named to the all-tournament team. Kehoe collected 61 kills, eleven digs and four blocks against Syracuse.
Stanford raises its record to 4-1 while Syracuse falls to 2-1.
Stanford now travels to New Hampshire on Tuesday (7:00 p.m. et).
Cardinal Catalogue: The Stanford women's volleyball program has announced that at the Stanford Invitational (Sept. 15-17) 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.
Stanford (3-1)25303030
Syracuse (2-0)30142123
Daily Diary
It's a busy weekend on the Boston College campus where the Stanford women's volleyball team is playing in the three-day BC Invitational ... School starts on Tuesday and getting to and from the team hotel takes a bit longer with BC students arriving this weekend to move into the dorms ... Because BC sits in a residential area of Boston, there are few roads getting in and out of campus ... But the team bus driver is experienced and knows the back roads through Newton ... Newton is an affluent area of Boston ... For a mere $575,000, you can buy a three room, two bath condo ... For $1.2m, that will buy you a six bedroom, three bath colonial home ... There are many sidewalk restaurants and stores for the locals to shop ... And yes, there is a Starbucks ... Saturday night, the team traveled to downtown Boston for dinner and a little shopping ... Sunday is a day of rest, and the hotel has recommended several places to go including the Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston, Beacon Hill, the Freedom Trail and shopping on Newberry St ... For a couple players and several staff members, it's off to historic Fenway Park to see the world champion Boston Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles ... Sunday night, the team will dine at one of Boston's oldest and best restaurants, Durgin Park.