Oct. 26, 2007
Los Angeles, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza was among four Stanford players in double-figures, turning in her 12th double-double of the year, as the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (20-1, 9-1 Pac-10) topped the No. 7 UCLA Bruins (16-5, 6-4 Pac-10) on their home court, 30-20, 28-30, 30-22, 30-27. The win was No. 20 on the year for Stanford.
Freshman Alix Klineman led the Cardinal with 16 kills, and matched a career-high with five blocks, while senior middle blocker Franci Girard had one her best nights of the season with 11 kills and four blocks. Barboza tallied 14 kills, matched a season-high with 18 digs and put up a season-high five blocks. Junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo hit .565 and tallied 14 kills and five blocks, while Erin Waller notched eight kills and a season-high 10 digs. Freshman libero Gabi Ailes added 20 digs, while senior setter Bryn Kehoe recorded 57 assists. Stanford out-hit UCLA .269 to .165, extending its streak of out-hitting opponents to 21 matches. Junior outside hitter Kaitlin Sather led UCLA with 20 kills on the night.
The win was Stanford's second against UCLA this season, and improves the team to 14-0 against the Bruins in John Dunning's tenure.
Akinradewo and Klineman ripped consecutive kills and Stanford took the first four points of game one to spur a UCLA timeout at just 4-0. A Stanford block pushed the lead to five before the Bruins could get their first point, but the Cardinal continued to rally and soon had a 10-4 lead. Back-to-back Barboza kills and a Bruin hitting error made it 16-8, but UCLA managed to keep Stanford from running away. The Bruins put together a 5-1 run to slice the lead in half at 17-13, but Barboza used a kill and an ace to keep the Cardinal a safe distance in front. The Stanford lead was back to seven after a UCLA error at 22-15, and the Cardinal held on tight from there. Klineman drove down two kills in the final points of the game, including one to give Stanford a 27-20 advantage. The Cardinal rattled off the last four points of the game, took game point on a Klineman block at 29-20, and secured the game one win when Girard pounded a ball through the UCLA block, 30-20. Barboza led the squad with six kills in the game, and Stanford out-hit UCLA .295 to .045.
UCLA took its first lead of the match with the first point of game two, but three straight kills by Barboza quickly turned things around in favor of the Cardinal. Waller's second ace of the match made it 4-1, but that lead would be Stanford's largest. UCLA answered with a 6-1 run to take back the lead at 5-4 and Sather fired up the Bruin offense, allowing her team to keep a lead that grew to two on five occasions. With UCLA up 14-12, Klineman pulled the Cardinal back into a tie at 14, then set off a string of four lead changes that ended with the Bruins back ahead, 19-18. Stanford came back to tie twice, with the last coming at 24-24, but UCLA battled to the finish. The Bruins went on a 4-1 run to take a 28-25 lead, and Stanford could come no closer than one at 28-27. Sather, who had a double-double before game two was complete, gave the Bruins game point with a kill at 29-27, then pushed a ball through the Stanford block to take the game, 30-28. The Cardinal was out-hit .234 to .152 and Sather notched a game-high eight kills.
Waller's third kill of the match gave Stanford the initial lead in game three, and Klineman ripped three early kills to keep Stanford in front. UCLA knotted the game 5-5, but Stanford capitalized on a pair of Bruin hitting errors to surge ahead, 9-5. UCLA chipped away at the lead, and finally came back to tie again at 14-14. A kill by Rachell Johnson resulted in the Bruins' only game three advantage, 15-14, but Cassidy Lichtman served an ace and four straight points to put Stanford back in charge, 18-15. Waller recorded two kills to set off of 9-1 Stanford run, which included three blocks by Barboza and Akinradewo, and ended with the Cardinal ahead 27-18. A Bruin ball handling error gave Stanford game point at 29-20 and Klineman chipped a ball over the UCLA block to finish game three, 30-22. Stanford was back in front with a .293 hitting percentage, and held the Bruins to a .109 clip. Klineman led the Cardinal with six kills in the game.
Stanford raced ahead 4-1 after a pair of early Akinradewo kills, then took an 8-4 lead on Stanford's tenth team block of the game. After UCLA trimmed the lead to one, Barboza and the Cardinal raced ahead with a 6-2 run, taking a five-point lead on a kill by the junior outside hitter at 15-10. Stanford pushed the lead out to 22-14 on back-to-back blocks by Girard, first teamed up with Waller and then with Klineman. The senior middle blocker recorded her tenth kill of the game at 24-16, and the Cardinal pushed forward for the win. A Klineman kill put Stanford up 28-20, and Girard gave the Cardinal game point with another kill at 29-21. After a six-point Bruin surge, Waller finished things off with her eighth kill of the match, 30-27. Stanford hit .350 in the final game, its best clip of the night.
Stanford returns to the court tomorrow night, heading across town to face the No. 6 USC Trojans at the Galen Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m.