Oct. 11, 2007
Stanford, Calif. - The second-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team had no trouble taking care of its sixth conference opponent tonight, cruising past the Washington State Cougars 30-23, 30-19, 30-22 for its 17th consecutive win. Freshman Alix Klineman sparked the Cardinal offense with 16 kills, and Stanford picked up its 13th sweep of the year. The Cardinal improves to 17-0 overall and 6-0 in the Pac-10 with the win, while the Cougars fall to 9-11, 0-6 Pac-10.
Cynthia Barboza joined Klineman in double-figures with 12 kills, and the junior outside hitter chipped in three of Stanford's season-high 11 aces. Senior setter Bryn Kehoe added 26 assists to her career tally, moving within just 42 assists of the program's all-time record. Freshman libero Gabi Ailes added a team-high 15 digs, marking her 16th-straight match in double-figures. Stanford out-hit an opponent for the 17th-straight match, .248 to .106, but was held under .250 hitting for just the second time this year. Senior opposite Adetokunbo Faleti led the Cougars with 15 kills.
Washington State jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in game one, but junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo put up two blocks in an ensuing 7-1 Cardinal run and Stanford was soon up 8-4. After Akinradewo's third block of the game, this time with Klineman, the Cougars began to creep back. The visitors were able to cut the lead to one on two occasions, but back-to-back kills by Franci Girard sent Stanford rolling back out to its four-point lead. Four consecutive Cougar points brought the match into a tie at 17-17, but Stanford ran away from there. A Kehoe tip started a string of five consecutive Stanford points to make it 22-17, and a pair of consecutive Erin Waller kills earned the Cardinal its first six-point lead at 26-20. Girard pounded a kill, then teamed up with Waller for another Stanford block to give the Cardinal game point at 29-22. Girard's fourth kill of the game gave Stanford the win, 30-23. Stanford hit just .188 in the game, but still managed to out-hit the Cougars (.106).
In game two, the Cougars again took a 3-1 lead, but two kills by Klineman allowed the Cardinal to reverse things by 5-4. Washington State was allowed one more lead, but a 7-1 run turned things around for good. Klineman added two kills, Kehoe served back-to-back aces and Janet Okogbaa and Cassidy Lichtman teamed up for a block to give Stanford a comfortable 13-7 advantage. Ailes then served four straight points to extend the lead to 18-10, putting the Cardinal in position to run away. Barboza collected back-to-back aces, Stanford's sixth and seventh of the match, to make it 22-15, and, a point later, Klineman, Barboza and Okogbaa delievered a series of kills to push the lead out to nine, 25-16. The margin went to double-digits on a Klineman kill at 27-17, and Barboza ripped a ball to the back corner to give Stanford game point at 29-18. After one last Cougar point, Lichtman sealed the win with her first kill of the night, 30-19. Klineman had nine kills in game two alone, and Stanford out-hit WSU .381 to .175.
In game three, the Cardinal was in charge early, taking a 3-1 lead on a pair of Cougar errors, and extending it to 6-2 when sophomore setter Joanna Evans won a battle at the net. Washington State came back to tie at 6-6, then took leads at 7-6 and 9-8, but Klineman ripped three more kills in a five-point span to single-handedly provide a Cardinal answer. Barboza delivered consecutive kills and Ailes served her third ace of the match to start a 10-1 Stanford run that included two aces by Waller and four kills by Barboza, and gave Stanford a 23-14 lead. Stanford's first double-digit lead came at 26-16 on a block by Evans and Okogbaa, and the team pushed out to game point at 29-22 on a block by Girard and Lichtman. An ace by Evans, Stanford's 11th of the match, ended things at 30-22.
Stanford will take on the eighth-ranked Washington Huskies tomorrow night. The contest, a re-match of last year's NCAA semifinal match, is set for a 7 p.m. start at Maples Pavilion and will be televised by CSTV on tape delay. The match will air Sunday at 7 p.m.