Sept. 30, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - No. 6 Stanford (12-2, 3-1) knocked off Arizona State (9-5, 1-2) in three games tonight, 30-27, 30-21, 30-25. Sophomores Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza combined for 31 kills against the Sun Devils as Akinradewo hit .560. Senior outside hitter Kristin Richards added 10 kills, as well as a team-leading three aces.
The Sun Devils jumped to a 3-1 lead off of a kill by Nina Reeves in game one. Stanford bounced back with its own 4-1 run to take the lead, 5-4, on kill by junior Franci Girard and a block by Girard and sophomore Erin Waller. Arizona State kept it close, tying the game at 10 on a kill by Margie Giordano. Kills from Barboza and Richards spurred a 3-0 streak that moved the Cardinal ahead, 14-11. Stanford continued to pull ahead to an 18-13 lead with a service ace by Waller, but the Sun Devils put together a 5-1 run to move within a point, 19-18. Arizona State wouldn't back down, tying the game at 22 on an ace by Staci Smith. Following a timeout, an ASU serving error and a block by Girard and Barboza kicked off a 3-0 Cardinal run, 25-22. Barboza and Waller registered kills to move closer to the win, then Stanford claimed game one on a kill by Barboza from the left side, 30-27.
Stanford opened to a 7-3 lead in game two, thanks to a 5-1 run including three kills by Akinradewo. The Cardinal collected three kills in a row from Barboza and Waller to move ahead, 10-5. Arizona State rallied back with a 4-1 run, 11-8, on a service ace and kill by Nicole Morton. Stanford forced a string of errors from the Sun Devils, then a block from Richards and Akinradewo capped off another 4-0 Cardinal streak, 16-9. Arizona State edged closer on kills by Morton, then pulled out their own 5-1 run, including an ace by Alison Lund. Richards ended the streak with a powerful kill, 22-17, then Stanford later gapped the Sun Devils with five points in a row, including back-to-back service aces by Richards. A massive kill from Barboza on the left side ended game two, 30-21.
Game three opened in a tight contest, but Arizona State pulled into the lead on kills by Reeves and Tierra Burnley, 4-3. Girard and Richards registered a block to tie the game at 4, but the Sun Devils pulled out a 2-0 run on a block, 6-4. Richards pounded a quick kill on the left side as Stanford answered with its own 4-1 streak to take the lead at 9-8. Arizona State regained the lead on another kill by Burnley, 12-11, but Stanford rallied back with a 3-0 run to tie the game at 16 on an ace by Richards. The Sun Devils collected a block and a kill by Reeves to move ahead, 21-20. However, a powerful kill from Barboza turned the momentum around as Stanford gapped Arizona State with a 6-1 streak. A kill from Girard in the middle put the Cardinal up, 26-22. Kills from Richards and Barboza put Stanford near the win, then the Cardinal clinched the match on a Sun Devil attacking error, 30-25.
The Cardinal tallied nine team blocks to hold Arizona State to a .142 hitting percentage, including six blocks from Girard. Barboza also collected three blocks. Sophomore libero Jessica Fishburn led the squad with 11 digs, followed by Kehoe with eight digs. Kehoe also recorded 48 assists as Stanford hit .300 as a team.
Stanford returns to action next weekend, hosting cross-Bay rival California on Friday, October 6 at 7:00 pm.
GAME SCORES123TEAM RECORDS Arizona State(0)2721259-5, 1-2 Stanford (3)30303012-2, 3-1