Oct. 18, 2007
Tucson, Ariz. - The Stanford women's volleyball team had to battle, but succeeded in picking up its 14th sweep and 18th win of the season tonight, with a 31-29, 30-24, 30-28 victory over the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. The Cardinal improves to 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-10 with the win, while the Wildcats fall to 12-8, 2-6 Pac-10.
Junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo and junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza both recorded double-figure kills in the win, turning in 11 kills and 10 kills, respectively. Bryn Kehoe added 36 assists to her career tally (5,059) and Gabi Ailes notched a team-high 12 digs. Arizona was led by the 12 kills of opposite hitter Randy Goodenough.
The teams combined for nine service errors before the midpoint of game one, and the Stanford hitters struggled to come up with offense in the early stages of the game. The Cardinal used a pair of Wildcat errors to take a 3-1 lead, but Arizona turned things around and took its first lead at 7-6. Stanford fell behind by as much as two, but Wildcat miscues and kills by Akinradewo kept Stanford in the game. Alix Klineman drilled a ball to the back of the court to take the Stanford lead back at 20-19, and the freshman followed with an ace to give Stanford back its initial two-point advantage. The Wildcats would take the lead three more times before things were all said and done, but Kehoe stepped up and served three straight points and the Cardinal finally went up 28-26 on a Barboza kill from the back row. Arizona came back to tie at 28, and, after the Cardinal's first game point try, again at 29, but a Barboza kill gave Stanford its final game point at 30-29, and a Wildcat hitting error ended the game. Stanford hit just .219 with 12 kills, while Arizona hit .278 with 17 kills. The Wildcats missed 10 serves in game one alone, however, and the Cardinal came away with the 31-29 win. Barboza and Klineman led the Cardinal with three kills apiece.
The Cardinal again seemed to be missing its fire at the beginning of game two, falling behind 4-2 before finally finding its offensive rhythm. Barboza ripped a kill to tie the game at six, and Kehoe served two aces and five straight points to put Stanford ahead 10-6. The Wildcats were able to crawl within one three times, and finally tied the game up at 17. Stanford had finally had enough, however, and senior Franci Girard helped Stanford pound four kills in the next five points and take a lead it would never relinquish. The Cardinal took a three-point lead at 21-18 on a Barboza kill and it stuck, with a Klineman solo block extending it to four at 27-23. After one last Arizona point, Stanford rattled off the last three points of the game and cruised to the game two win. After Girard and Erin Waller put up a block to give Stanford game point, Klineman put up a solo block, her third block of the night, to finish things off, 30-24. Stanford out-hit Arizona .325 to .150 and was led by Akinradewo's four kills.
Stanford kept its momentum in game three, taking the first three points and then racing out to a 7-1 advantage on an ace by Barboza. A kill by Klineman and a Wildcat error pushed the lead out to 9-2, then 10-3, but the home team battled back. The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run and pulled into a tie at 12 on a Cardinal attack error. The game went into six more ties before Arizona finally strung a series of points together and took its first lead. A Stanford service error started a 5-0 Wildcat run that left the Cardinal at a 24-20 deficit. The Cardinal answered with a run of its own, however, using an ace by Cassidy Lichtman and a Klineman kill to knot the score at 24. From there, the Wildcats put together another rally, and threatened with a 28-25 lead. The Cardinal focused on the finish, however, and overpowered the Wildcats with five straight points to take the game. Girard gave Stanford game point with a kill from the middle, and an Arizona error sealed the Stanford sweep with a 30-28 game three win. Stanford out-hit Arizona .204 to .146 in the game.
Stanford was held below .250 hitting for the third consecutive match and just the fourth time this season. The Cardinal also held its 17th opponent to a hitting percentage below .250, however.
Stanford now heads north to Tempe to face the Arizona State Sun Devils tomorrow night. The match, set for 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena, wraps up the first half of Pac-10 play for both teams.