Oct. 5, 2007
Eugene, Ore. - Outside hitters Alix Klineman and Cynthia Barboza both posted double-doubles and the second-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team cruised to its 12th sweep of the year tonight with a 30-27, 32-30, 30-20 win over the No. 19 Oregon Ducks in Eugene, Ore. Stanford won its 16th-straight match, and now stands a perfect 16-0 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-10, while the Ducks dropped to 14-4 and 3-3 in the Pac-10.
Barboza registered her third-straight double-double and tenth overall with 18 kills and 12 digs, while Klineman turned in the fourth one of her career with 18 kills and 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo chipped in 10 kills, and senior setter Bryn Kehoe tallied 49 assists. Stanford out-hit Oregon .377 to .218, holding its 14th opponent of the year below .250 hitting. The Ducks were led by Gorana Maricic's 18 kills.
Stanford's 16 match winning streak is the program's longest since 2001, when the Cardinal ran off 19 in a row on its way to the 2001 NCAA Championship.
Akinradewo ripped a kill on Stanford's first attempt of the match, and put down two more on her first pass through the front row to give Stanford the early advantage in game one. Oregon held close and took a brief lead at 6-5 on back-to-back Maricic kills, but Stanford had a quick answer. The Cardinal put up a 7-1 run, jumping out to a 12-7 lead, before Oregon could get control. The Ducks trimmed the lead to one at 15-14, and did so three more times before finally tying the match at 21-21. A Cardinal attack error allowed Oregon to take the lead at 22-21, but Barboza took it right back with a pair of kills to make it 24-22. The Ducks came back to tie three times, with the last coming at 27-27, but Klineman gave the Cardinal a final push to help the team come out on top. The freshman ripped a kill, and, after a Kehoe ace, put up a block with senior Franci Girard to seal the Cardinal victory, 30-27. Barboza led the Cardinal with six kills in game one, and Stanford out-hit Oregon .317 to .222.
Klineman notched the first kill of game two, and Stanford raced out to a 6-2 opening lead. The Cardinal held onto the four-point lead, and extended it to five, its largest of the game, on another kill by Klineman at 12-7. Oregon rattled off four straight points, however, and pulled within one on a pair of Stanford errors. Three straight Maricic kills tied the game at 15, and the Ducks quickly converted the junior's offense into an 8-3 run and a 20-18 lead. Stanford's hitters responded, with Girard, Erin Waller and Barboza rattling off a string of kills to swing the game back in the Cardinal's favor at 21-20, but Oregon got the lead back, and held on. After a series of one-point Duck advantages, Sonja Newcombe ripped a kill to give Oregon game point at 29-27. Stanford's focus didn't waver under the pressure, however, and the team calmly took back control of the game. Barboza ended a long rally with a kill, then watched a Duck attack go out of bounds to tie the game at 29. Waller and Girard put up a block to give Stanford its first game point opportunity at 30-29, but Neticia Enesi put up a block to put the game back into another tie. Girard dropped a kill in from the middle at 31-30, and a setting miscue by the Ducks ended the game, 32-30. Klineman led the team with seven kills in the game, and Stanford out-hit Oregon .390 to .261.
The teams traded points to begin game three, but, after a Duck service error, Barboza served six straight points to give Stanford a 9-4 lead. Oregon found its way to within one at 9-8, and again at 13-12, but Barboza paced the Stanford offense and kept the team in front. A kill by the junior gave Stanford its first four-point lead at 18-14, and, three points later, it was Barboza again giving the Cardinal the four-point cushion at 20-16. A Duck hitting error pushed the lead to five at 23-18, and two points later Klineman helped Stanford break the game open. Stanford ran off six consecutive points to turn the lead into double-digits at 29-19, and, after one last Duck point, Barboza capped the game three win, 30-20. Barboza and Klineman had seven kills apiece in the third game, and Stanford hit a match-best .425 to Oregon's match-low .167.
The Cardinal returns home to host Washington State and Washington next Thursday and Friday at Maples Pavilion. After a 7 p.m. meeting with the Cougars on Thursday, Stanford will meet the No. 8 Huskies in a re-match of last year's NCAA Semifinal match on Friday. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. start, and will be aired by CSTV on a tape-delay basis.