Nov. 1, 2007
Stanford, Calif. - Led by junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo, the No. 5 Stanford women's volleyball team matched a season-high with 15 blocks and cruised to a 30-24, 27-30, 30-19, 30-17 win over the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks tonight in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal improves to 21-2 overall and 10-2 in the Pac-10 with the win, while Oregon falls to 16-8, 5-7 Pac-10.
Freshman outside hitter Alix Klineman paced the Cardinal with 16 kills and tallied a career-high six blocks. Akinradewo turned in 13 kills, hit .667 and matched a season best with eight blocks. Junior opposite Erin Waller also had a notable night, tallying ten kills, four blocks and a .450 hitting percentage. Bryn Kehoe (54 assists, 11 digs) and Cynthia Barboza (12 kills, 13 digs) recorded their 12th and 14th double-doubles, respectively, and freshman Gabi Ailes chipped in 11 digs. Stanford out-hit Oregon .303 to .165, breaking the .300 plateau for just the second time in the last seven matches. Stanford is now 44-2 all-time against the Ducks. Gorana Maricic led Oregon with 19 kills.
The Ducks jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in game one, but the Cardinal capitalized on three Oregon hitting errors to squelch their early momentum. Akinradewo put down the first Cardinal kill with Stanford down 6-4, and began a 7-1 run that turned things around for good. Barboza pounded back-to-back kills to give Stanford its first lead at 8-7, and helped push the lead to four at 13-9. After trading a series of points, the Cardinal strung together three and took a 21-15 lead on Barboza's fourth kill of the game. The Ducks trimmed the lead to two after four consecutive points at 22-20, but the threat didn't last long. Two Klineman kills and a series of Oregon hitting errors allowed Stanford to cruise smoothly to the finish. Klineman gave Stanford game point at 29-23, and Akinradewo ripped her fourth kill of the game to seal the Cardinal win, 30-24. Stanford out-hit Oregon .243 to .081 in the opening game.
Game two began with a flurry of ten ties and five lead changes, and neither team able to establish more than a two-point lead. Stanford strung together three points to go up 10-8, but by the media break, the Ducks were on top by two, 15-13. Another rash of Oregon miscues allowed the Cardinal to take back the lead at 18-17, but the game would lock in seven more ties before its end. Oregon held a two-point advantage at 26-24, but two Duck errors and a solo block by Waller put the Cardinal back in front at 27-26. The Ducks rattled off three points of their own, however, and claimed game point on a kill by Heather Meyers at 29-27. After a Stanford timeout, Meyers ripped another kill to finish game two, 30-27, in favor of the Ducks. Stanford hit just .119 in the second game, and allowed the Ducks a .237 clip. The Ducks tallied 24 kills in the game to just 10 by the Cardinal, and Maricic put down eight kills in game two alone.
Akinradewo was on fire to start game three, as the junior middle blocker tallied two kills and three blocks to account for all five of the first Cardinal points. Akinradewo's energy led to an immediate 5-1 Stanford lead, but the Ducks chipped away slowly and finally pulled within one at 11-10. Stanford refused to give up the lead, however, answering with the longest run of the match. A Klineman kill at 17-14 began the series of Cardinal points that finally blew the game open. Waller served eight straight points, including two aces, and the margin became double digits at 24-14. Stanford continued to roll, with Akinradewo adding her fourth and fifth blocks of the game to lead the Cardinal effort. Franci Girard gave Stanford game point with a kill at 29-18, and a Duck missed serve ended things at 30-19. Akinradewo had 10 points (5 kills, 5 blocks) in the game, and Stanford out-hit Oregon .382 to .135.
Oregon held the opening advantage in game four, and took as much as a three-point lead at 7-4. Barboza stepped up and delivered a series of powerful serves, however, and the Cardinal took five straight points to take a 9-7 lead. Two of Barboza's serves were aces and Waller and Girard capitalized on three overpasses to complete the run. That was only the beginning of Stanford's push, however, as the Cardinal had two more surges in store. Barboza ripped a kill at 15-12, to start a 7-0 run that included two kills and a block by Waller and put Stanford up 21-12. Just a point later, Stanford added six more points in a row, two coming on another pair of Barboza aces. Stanford took its largest lead at 27-13, and took game point at 29-17. A decisive kill by Klineman ended the game, 30-17.
Stanford returns to the court tomorrow night, looking to extend a 45-match win streak against the Oregon State Beavers. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.