Sept. 1, 2006
Provo, Utah - No. 4 Stanford (1-1) opened the BYU Tournament with a 3-1 loss to host BYU in front of a record-breaking crowd, 30-17, 25-30, 25-30, 16-30. Senior Kristin Richards and junior Franci Girard tallied 14 kills each as the Cardinal combined for 60 kills, followed by sophomore Foluke Akinradewo with 12 kills.
BYU's hitting made for a tight contest through much of game one. The Cougars kept up point for point until Stanford pulled ahead to a 5-3 lead thanks in part to kills by Akinradewo and freshman Cynthia Barboza, as well as Jessica Fishburn's second service ace of the season. The Cougars tied it up again at 6 with a kill by Erica Lott, then took the lead off of a Cardinal attacking error. Junior setter Bryn Kehoe helped the Cardinal regain the lead, 8-7, with a service ace. BYU continued to hang, but the Cardinal took the lead, 16-13, off of a kill by Richards. Following a BYU timeout, Stanford went on an 11-0 run to bring the score to 27-15, thanks to six kills from the Cardinal, including three from Richards. A kill by senior Nji Nnamani ended the game with a win for Stanford, 30-17.
BYU pulled ahead to a 4-0 lead to open the second game until Girard ended the streak with a kill. The Cardinal brought the game within one point, 7-6, off of a kill by Richards down the left side. The Cougars then went on a 5-3 run, capped by kill down the middle by Lott. A serving error and a hitting error by the Cougars brought the Cardinal within one, 12-11, but BYU extended it's lead to 14-11. Stanford later went on a 6-2 run off of two kills by Richards to tie the score at 22, but BYU pulled back into the lead with a pair of blocks, 24-22. The Cougars claimed game two with a kill by Chelsea Goodman, 30-25.
In game three, the Cougars jumped to brief 3-2 lead before the Cardinal moved ahead with a kill by Kehoe, 4-3. BYU later took a 7-5 lead off another kill by Lindsy Hartsock. A kill by Girard put the momentum back in Stanford's favor. The Cardinal tied the game at 8 with an ace by Girard. Scrappy defense by the Cougars resulted in a 12-10 lead, but the Cardinal tied the game with an ace from Akinradewo, 12-12. BYU later advanced to a 15-13 lead with another kill by Goodman. The Cardinal bounced back with two kills by Girard to pull within a point, 16-15. A tip by Kehoe brought the game within a point at 22-21, but the Cougars went on a 5-1 run on two kills to bring the score to 27-22. The Cardinal fought back with a tip by Girard and a block by Akinradewo, but BYU wrapped up the game on kill by Lott, 30-25.
BYU opened the fourth game with an 8-0 run before Richards broke the streak with a kill from the left side. The Cougars continued with another 7-0 run until Barboza registered a powerful kill down the middle. BYU continued to dig well and extended its lead to 19-4 off of a kill by Rachel Dyer. A block by Akinradewo and Kehoe moved the game to 19-6. Stanford then put together a three-point run off of a block and kill by Richards. Okogbaa and Akinradewo combined for another block at 26-14, but two kills by Lott put the Cougars within two points of the win. BYU claimed the match on an attacking error, 30-16.
Girard and Richards led the squad with 14 kills, followed by Akinradewo with 12 and Barboza with 10 kills. Kehoe collected 45 assists, in addition to a team-leading 15 digs. The Cardinal collected five aces as a team and a season-high 13 blocks.
Stanford returns to action tomorrow against Virginia Commonwealth at 10:00 am (MT) and versus Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 5:00 pm.