Nov. 3, 2006
Berkeley, Calif. - Second-ranked Stanford (20-2, 11-1) downed No. 13 California (17-6, 6-6) tonight in four games at Haas Pavilion, 30-26, 30-21, 28-30, 30-28. In the Cardinal's tenth-straight Pac-10 victory, sophomore outside hitter Cynthia Barboza led the squad with 17 kills, followed by senior outside hitter Kristin Richards with 16 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo also added 14 kills as Stanford tallied an impressive 62 kills.
Stanford jumped to an early 2-0 lead in game one off of kills by Barboza and Akinradewo, but Cal hung tight off of a kill by Angie Pressey and an ace by Ellen Orchard, 4-3. The Cardinal maintained its lead off of a kill from Barboza on the left side, as well as a tip in the middle, 7-4. The Bears rallied back on attacking errors to tie the game at 7, but a 2-0 run by the Cardinal ended Cal's streak. The Bears continued to fight with another 3-1 run on two kills by Orchard to tie the game again at 10. Cal errors helped the Cardinal regain the lead, kicking off a 5-2 streak that included a cross-court kill by Barboza, 15-12. Following a timeout, Cal's Pressey recorded a powerful kill in the middle, leading the Bears on a 4-2 run to challenge the Cardinal. A block by Akinradewo and Waller ended the rally as Stanford answered with back-to-back points, 19-16. A tip by junior setter Bryn Kehoe in the middle put the Cardinal ahead, 21-18. The Bears later tied the game at 22 with a block solo by Pressey, but the Cardinal maintained control with a kill by Girard in the middle, 24-22. The Bears continued to fight, but Stanford claimed game one on an ace by Richards, 30-26.
The Cardinal kicked off game two with a 4-1 lead off of an ace by senior Nji Nnamani and a kill by Richards on the left side. A kill by Barboza later sparked another 3-1 streak, including a quick kill by Girard in the middle. Cal's Natalie Smart and Hana Cutura collected a block and Jillian Davis added an ace to help the Bears to a 3-0 streak, 6-7. Barboza answered with her own ace as the Cardinal logged three points in a row, 10-7. Stanford later put together another 6-0 run on two kills from Akinradewo and an ace by Richards, 16-10. A kill from junior Franci Girard on the slide put the Cardinal up, 21-16, followed immediately by an ace from Kehoe. Kehoe registered an ace for the Cardinal, but the Bears' also recorded back-to-back kills from Cutura and Morgan Beck, 24-19. Akinradewo logged another kill in the middle as Stanford used a 2-0 streak to near the win. A quick tip from Kehoe and a California attacking error cinched game two for the Cardinal, 30-21.
In game three, Stanford scored first on wide attack by the Bears, later adding a 3-0 run on two kills by Richards to gap the Bears, 4-1. Cal bounced back with kills by Orchard, Beck and Natalie Smart to tie the game at 6. A block by Orchard and Samantha Carter pushed the Bears into the lead on a 3-0 run. A kill from Akinradewo in the middle and another kill from Barboza on the left side to end a long rally helped Stanford take over the lead at 12-11. Cal continued to hound the Cardinal, taking over the lead, 17-16, on a 4-0 run. Stanford regained the lead on a 2-0 streak, 18-17, but the Bears nabbed it back at 21-20 on an attacking error. The Cardinal surpassed the Bears again at 23-22 on a quick kill from Akinradewo in middle, but Cal rallied back once more to take the lead on a kill by Pressey, 25-24. Girard nailed a kill on the slide to tie the game at 25, but Pressey logged another kill on the left side to maintain the Bears' lead. Following a timeout, Stanford tied the game at 27 on a service error, but Cutura's kill kept the Bears ahead. Cal claimed game three on a bad set, 30-28.
The Cardinal powered to a 5-2 lead in game four off of three kills. Pressey collected back-to-back kills to pull the Bears within one, but Girard's quick kill in the middle sparked a 2-1 streak for Stanford. Another kill from Akinradewo and attacking errors by Cal increased Stanford's lead to 11-7. Cal later tallied back-to-back points to pull within two, 13-11. A kill from Richards in the middle later put Stanford ahead, 16-12, to spark another 4-1 streak. Cal rebounded with a kill from Cutura on the left side, 19-16. Following a timeout, the Bears added two more points on kills by Cutura, 19-18, later tying the game at 19 on an attacking error. Another kill from Cutura gave Cal its first lead of game four, 21-20, but Stanford regained the lead on an error, 22-21. The Cardinal used a 3-0 run to gap Cal, 25-22, including a kill by Girard and a block by Richards. Cal then came out of a timeout with back-to-back points to pull within one, 25-24. Akinradewo answered with a quick kill down the middle, but Carter nailed an ace to keep the Bears in it. Another kill from Akinradewo and a Bear attacking error put the Cardinal near the win, but Pressey logged an ace to keep Cal within a point, 29-28. Richards hammered a kill from the left side to close out the victory for Stanford, 30-28.
Kehoe tallied 51 assists in tonight's win over the Bears, while Nnamani and Richards each tallied 13 digs. Akinradewo also collected five blocks as Stanford recorded 10 team blocks.
The Cardinal returns to action next weekend at home against USC and UCLA. Stanford hosts USC on Friday, November 10 at 7:00 pm, before taking on UCLA on Saturday, November 11 at 7:00 pm.
GAME SCORES1234TEAM RECORDS Stanford (3)3030283020-2, 11-1 California (1)2621302817-6, 6-6