Nov. 17, 2006
Corvallis, Ore. - Third-ranked Stanford (23-3, 14-2) swept Oregon State (3-22, 0-16) tonight, 30-16, 30-16, 30-24, at Gill Coliseum. The Cardinal tallied 57 kills in its third-straight conference win, led by sophomore outside hitter Cynthia Barboza's 12 kills. Junior middle blocker Franci Girard and senior outside hitter Kristin Richards also collected nine kills each against the Beavers.
Senior Nji Nnamani put Stanford on the board first in game one with a kill as the Cardinal pulled into a 2-1 lead. Oregon State later overtook the lead with an ace by Rachel Rourke, 4-3, but sophomore Erin Waller nailed a kill to lead Stanford on a 4-0 run, 7-4. The Cardinal continued to gap the Beavers with another 7-1 streak on blocks by Girard, Barboza and Kehoe, 14-6. Following a timeout, Rourke collected a kill to spark a 3-0 run for Oregon State, 14-9. Barboza ended the run with a tip, leading the Cardinal on another 3-1 run, 17-10. The Beavers continued to hang tight with a 3-0 run on a block and kill by Rourke, but Nnamani answered with a tip, 18-13. Freshman Janet Okogbaa later tallied two kills on the left side and Barboza placed a kill on the right line to put the score at 21-15. Girard and junior setter Bryn Kehoe later came out of a timeout with a block to spark a 7-0 Cardinal run, 28-16. Kehoe's tip put Stanford near the win, then Girard hammered a quick kill from the middle to end game one, 30-16. The Cardinal hit .459 as a team in the first game, led by Barboza's six kills.
Oregon State held a narrow 3-2 lead to open game two off of kills by Abby Windell and Kristin Murray. Waller and senior Michelle Mellard tallied kills to tie the game, then Richards pounded a kill to kick off a 3-0 streak for Stanford, 6-4. Stanford then recorded another 3-0 streak that included kills by Richards, Barboza and senior Lizzie Suiter to increase its lead to 9-6. Three more kills from Suiter, Richards and Nnamani put the score at 13-8 to force the Beavers into a timeout. Mellard came out of the timeout with a kill in the middle, but Oregon State followed with back-to-back points on an error and a block to hang within four points, 14-10. Stanford later strung together another 9-1 run on five kills to gap the Beavers, 23-11. A kill from Richards on the left side brought the score to 26-13, then Suiter put game two within reach with a kill on the right side, 27-14. Mellard and Okogbaa's kills cinched game two for the Cardinal, 30-16.
Stanford jumped to a 4-2 lead in game three off of Beaver errors and powerful kill by Richards. Oregon State rallied back to take the lead with a kill by Murray on the left side, 5-4. Another kill by Richards down the left line sparked a 5-1 run to regain the lead, including an ace by Nnamani. Suiter put the Cardinal ahead, 11-8, with a kill, sparking a 4-0 streak. Barboza, Waller and Mellard collected kills as Stanford continued to distance Oregon State, 19-11. The Beavers tallied a 4-1 run on an ace and a kill by Windell, 20-15, and later pulled within three points on a kill by Murray, 21-18. Kehoe placed a tip over the middle and Girard registered a kill to spark a 3-1 streak for the Cardinal, 24-19. Oregon State continued to fight with a block by Bree Knitter, later followed by a kill from Murray to pull within two, 26-24. Stanford used a 3-0 run on errors and a kill from Waller to edge toward the win, then claimed the match on an ace by Mellard, 30-24.
Girard and Waller collected three blocks each as Stanford totaled 7.5 team blocks. Kehoe recorded 44 assists, in addition to four kills. Barboza led the squad with 11 digs, followed by sophomore libero Jessica Fishburn, while Nnamani paced the Cardinal with two aces.
Stanford will host two final Pac-10 Conference matches next weekend against highly-ranked Washington and Washington State. The Cardinal will face the Huskies on Friday, November 24 at 7:00 pm to determine the conference champion. On Saturday, November 25, Stanford will match up against Washington State at 7:00 pm on Senior Night.
GAME SCORES 123TEAM RECORDS Stanford (3)30303023-3, 14-2 Oregon State(0)1616243-22, 0-16