Oct. 14, 2005
Tempe, Az - Freshman outside hitter Cynthia Barboza and junior outside hitter Kristin Richards combined for 25 kills to power the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a convincing 30-22, 30-23, 30-19 victory over Arizona State in a Pacific-10 match on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Barboza led the Stanford attack with 14 kills in 32 attempts (.375) while Richards added eleven kills and eleven digs. Senior libero Courtney Schultz added eleven digs as the Cardinal raised its season record to 17-3 overall and 6-2 in the Pac-10. Arizona State lost its sixth straight match to fall to 6-11 overall and 1-6 in the conference.
Arizona State managed to stay with the nationally-ranked Cardinal through the early going of game one. Tied at 10-10, the Sun Devils even took a 12-11 lead, but Stanford pulled ahead at 13-12, and never trailed the rest of the game. The lead gradually expanded to as many as eight points at 29-21. A kill by Barboza ended game one (30-22). Barboza collected seven of Stanford's 17 kills. Stanford hit .484 while holding the Sun Devils to .184.
Game two saw Arizona State start fast. The Sun Devils jumped to a 4-1 advantage, and maintained a four point advantage at 17-13. Then with the Cardinal down at 16-18, the momentum quickly changed. Stanford scored nine straight points to take a 25-18 lead. ASU never really threatened thereafter, and game two ended when Richards crushed the ball to the ground to end the game in favor of Stanford (30-23). Stanford's defense held the Sun Devils to only a .095 hitting percentage.
Tied at 6-6 in game three, Stanford put together a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The game (30-19) ended on an ASU service error.
Stanford returns to action on Friday, October 21, at California.
Stanford (17-3 overall, 6-2 Pac-10)303030
Arizona State (6-11 overall, 1-6 Pac-10)222319
Cardinal Chatter
Stanford now holds a 46-4 lead over Arizona State in the series ... The Cardinal has won five straight matches in Tempe ... Nji Nnamani recorded a career-high 12 digs.
Daily Diary
Pre-match lunch at the hotel arrived a bit late on Friday afternoon, but this group of young women is patient, and enjoys a bit of small talk ... Part of the conversation centers on Nji Nnamani and her athletic ability not only to play volleyball, but other sports as well ... Basketball, for example, and even head coach John Dunning chimes in that he has seen Nnamani play hoops, and is an excellent player ... Nnamani, without hestitation, agrees ... "I shoot like Reggie Miller, and play defense like Michael Jordan" says Nnamani, which brings laughter from her teammates ... Happy Birthday to Michelle Mellard, who celebrates her 21st birthday on Saturday (Oct. 15) ... GOOD NIGHT, and have a great weekend!!!
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