Sept. 22, 2006
Seattle, Wash. - No. 6 Stanford (10-2, 1-1) fell to defending national champion and fourth-ranked Washington (12-1, 2-0) tonight, 30-21, 30-28, 30-25, despite an extremely tight contest in game two that featured five lead changes. Sophomore outside hitter Cynthia Barboza approached her career high with 25 kills against the Huskies, hitting .345.
The Huskies opened up to a 2-0 lead in game one until senior Kristin Richards registered a kill from the left side, 2-1. Sophomore Foluke Akinradewo followed with another kill on the slide, 4-2, but Washington's Alesha Deesing answered with two kills of her own as the Huskies pulled out a 3-1 run, 7-3. Junior Franci Girard snuck a tip over to regain momentum, later followed by a hard kill on the left side from Barboza. Washington then pulled into an 11-6 lead off of a block and a kill by Janine Sandell. Following a timeout, the Huskies continued on a 6-0 run until Akinradewo registered a kill from the middle, 15-7. Stanford pulled out a 5-2 run on kills by Akinradewo and Barboza, as well as a block by senior Nji Nnamani and Girard to force Washington into a timeout at 19-12. A powerful kill from Barboza on the right side brought the score to 20-13, but the Huskies ran up a 3-0 streak to gap the Cardinal, 23-13. Stanford fought back with a 6-3 run on kills by junior setter Bryn Kehoe, Girard and Barboza, 29-21, but Washington sealed game one on with a kill from Christal Morrison, 30-21.
Barboza slammed a kill through the Huskies to open game two as the Cardinal pulled out a 2-1 run. Washington attempted their own 2-0 streak, until Barboza ended it with a kill from the right side to tie the game at 3. From there, the Huskies collected kills from Morrison and Deesing to climb to a 6-4 lead. Richards then ended a long rally with a tip, later followed by another kill from Akinradewo, 8-7. The Cardinal tied the game at 11 with a kill and ace by Barboza, but Washington edged back into the lead on a 4-2 run, 15-13. Following a timeout, Kehoe spurred a 5-2 Cardinal run with a tip as Stanford held onto the lead, 18-17. The Huskies took back over on a 3-1 run kicked off by a block by Deesing and Stevie Mussie, 21-19. Another 3-1 run by the Cardinal later tied the game at 22. Stanford regained the lead, 26-25, on a kill from Barboza on the right side, but the game remained close. Barboza registered another powerful kill on the right side, 28-28, but Washington answered with a kill by Deesing and claimed game two on a mishandled ball, 30-28. The Cardinal improved its hitting to .357 in game two, thanks in part to nine kills by Barboza.
Game three began with a 4-3 Cardinal lead, including kills by Akinradewo and Barboza. Washington retaliated with its own 4-2 run off of kills by Deesing and Morrison, 7-6. Akinradewo ended a long run with a kill from the right side as Stanford used a 4-0 run to pull into a 10-7 lead. Following a timeout, Washington collected two points on a kill by Morrison, but Barboza maintained the lead with a kill, 11-9. The Huskies tied the game at 12 on a kill by Deesing, continuing on a 5-2 run to take over the lead, 17-14. Akinradewo collected a kill to pull within two points, but Washington persisted with another 3-1 streak, 20-16. The Cardinal fought back on Kehoe's third kill of the match to bring the score to 20-17. Barboza later ended a Husky run with a kill from the left side, 22-18, to mark a 5-1 Stanford streak. The Cardinal pulled within a point on a kill by Richards, but Washington remained steady with kills by Deesing and Morrison, 25-23. The Huskies edged near the win on an ace by Mussie, 27-23, then claimed the match on an attack error, 30-25.
Barboza narrowly missed her career high of 26 kills by posting 25 kills against the Huskies. Akinradewo also tallied 12 kills, followed by Richards with 10 of Stanford's 57 kills. Sophomore libero Jessica Fishburn collected a career-high 25 digs, followed by Richards with 15 digs.
Stanford returns to The Farm to host Arizona next Friday, September 29 (7:00 pm) and Arizona State on Saturday, September 30 at 7:00 pm.
GAME SCORES123TEAM RECORDS Stanford (0)21282510-2, 1-1 Pac-10 Washington(3)30303012-1, 2-0 Pac-10