Sept. 2, 2006
Provo, Utah - No. 4 Stanford (3-1) wrapped up the weekend with a 3-0 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi (1-6) in its second win of the day, 30-12, 30-15, 30-20. Senior outside hitter Kristin Richards concluded her homecoming weekend with a team-high 11 kills, while sophomore Foluke Akinradewo added eight kills for a career-high .800 hitting percentage. Sophomore Cynthia Barboza also had nine kills for the Cardinal. Stanford ended the weekend 2-1 at the BYU Tournament, including a win earlier today over Virginia Commonwealth.
Stanford's hitters were out in force against the TAMUCC Islanders, pulling ahead to an early 7-2 lead in game one with kills from Richards and sophomore Cynthia Barboza. Following a Corpus Christi timeout, Stanford went on a 6-2 run highlighted with kills by Akinradewo from the right side and Richards from the left, bringing the score to 13-4. The Islander's scrappy defense brought the score to 15-8 with a kill by Lauren Paslay. Junior Franci Girard, Barboza and Akinradewo followed with a series of powerful kills to pull ahead, 20-9, and force Corpus Christi into a timeout. Stanford then went on a 10-1 run, including freshman setter Joanna Evans' first career ace, and claimed game one with a kill by Richards, 30-12.
The Cardinal moved ahead early, 3-1, in game two with kills by Richards and senior outside hitter Nji Nnamani. Barboza's cross-court kill on a decoy later put Stanford up, 6-3. The Cardinal strung together another 4-0 streak to put the Islanders in a timeout, but continued to pound on TAMUCC with another 4-0 run, including two blocks by Akinradewo and freshman Janet Okogbaa. The Islanders pulled closer, 16-8, with a 3-0 run, but Akinradewo ended the run with an ace. A kill from sophomore Erin Waller later put the Cardinal up, 20-9. At game point, a tip by Okogbaa cinched game two for Stanford, 30-15.
A 4-0 run put the Cardinal ahead in the beginning of game three, including kills by Barboza and senior Michelle Mellard. Sophomore libero Jessica Fishburn's fourth ace of the season increased Stanford's lead to 7-2, and Okogbaa later tallied a kill for the 10-5 lead. The Islander's pulled together a 2-0 run off of kill by Lynn Elsberry, but Richards ended the streak with a powerful kill down the middle, 11-7. Okogbaa put the score at 19-14 with a kill from the right side, then another kill by Mellard put Stanford ahead, 21-15, to start a 3-0 run. Another kill by Richards on a decoy put the Cardinal within two points of the win, 18-19. Okogbaa put the match away with a kill from the right side, 30-20.
Stanford had only a season-low nine errors as a team against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Cardinal also hit a season-high .538 in game two against the Islanders. Richards led the attack with 11 kills, while Barboza and Akinradewo followed with nine and eight kills, respectively. Okogbaa also hit .500, going 4-8 with no errors. Junior setter Bryn Kehoe collected 26 assists, while freshman setter Evans tallied 13 assists in her first match for the Cardinal. Fishburn led the team with 14 digs, followed by Kehoe with 12. The Cardinal tallied nine service aces, led by Barboza with two aces.
For their performances over the weekend, Akinradewo and Barboza were named to the All-Tournament team. Akinradewo tallied a .500 hitting percentage over three matches (nine games) with 33 kills, 14 blocks, and three aces. Barboza hit .210 for ten games with 34 kills, two blocks and three aces. Barboza hit .382 in the final two matches of the tournament, with 15 digs in those two matches.
Stanford will return to the road next week as it heads to the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge in Honolulu, HI. The Cardinal will face Northwestern on Thursday, September 7 (4:30 pm HT), Fairfield on Friday, September 8 (4:30 pm HT) and host No. 7 Hawai'i on Saturday, September 9 (7:00 pm HT).
GAME SCORES123TEAM RECORDS Texas A&M-Corpus Christi(0)1215201-6, 0-0 Southland Stanford(3)3030303-1, 0-0 Pac-10