Nov. 30, 2007
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Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team handed its first opponent of the 2007 NCAA Tournament a 3-0 sweep tonight, as the top-seeded Cardinal bested Santa Clara 30-20, 30-28, 30-27 at Maples Pavilion. Stanford heads to the Second Round tomorrow night with a 28-2 record, while Santa Clara ends its season at 19-12.
Freshman Alix Klineman was the star for the Cardinal, posting 19 kills, a career-high seven blocks, her eighth double-double of the year and a .425 hitting percentage. Junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo added 11 kills on 18 tries (.556) and junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza chipped in 10 kills. Senior setter Bryn Kehoe had 47 assists and ten digs, while carrying the team to a .395 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Brittany Lowe led Santa Clara with a match-high 20 kills on the night.
Stanford held Santa Clara to a .197 team clip, marking the 23rd time this season that a team has hit below .200 against the Cardinal.
Game one stayed close early on, but Akinradewo's third kill of the game allowed Stanford to quickly break away. The junior middle blocker gave the Cardinal a 6-3 lead, and Barboza and Klineman added back-to-back kills to push the lead to 10-5 soon after. The Cardinal followed with a 4-0 run a point later to make it 14-6, as Klineman, Franci Girard and Barboza pummeled the Broncos with a trio of kills. Stanford ran out to a nine-point lead with a Klineman kill at 19-10 and, despite a brief Bronco surge, Barboza helped the team keep the lead with a block and a kill at 24-15. Four consecutive Santa Clara points brought the visitors within five at 24-19, but the Cardinal responded with a 6-1 run to seal the win. A Girard kill gave Stanford a 27-20 lead, and back-to-back Stanford blocks made it game point, 29-20. Girard served one of the night's two Stanford aces to finish the game, 30-20. Stanford outhit Santa Clara, .314 to .118, in the opening game behind Klineman's seven kills.
Santa Clara took a 2-1 lead in game two, but that was all the Cardinal would allow. Klineman tallied a kill and a block in a 4-0 Cardinal run to quickly get Stanford back on track and two more kills by the freshman extended the lead to 8-4. The Broncos roared back to tie at nine, however, using a 5-1 spurt to pull back in the game. After another tie at 10, however, Klineman and the Cardinal took back control. Akinradewo notched a kill to start a 5-1 Stanford run, and Klineman capped it with back-to-back kills at 15-11. Stanford maintained the margin until 20-15, when Santa Clara fought back for its most legitimate threat of the night. Three straight Bronco points made it 20-18 and the visitors finally pulled into a tie at 25. A 4-1 Stanford run, which included two blocks by Girard, seemed to squelch the Bronco momentum, but Santa Clara didn't let down. A Cardinal service error and a Lauryn Dowd kill then sliced the lead to 29-28 and forced a Stanford timeout. The Cardinal entertained no thoughts of an upset, however, and Akinradewo delivered a decisive kill to finish things off, 30-28. Stanford hit .447 in the game to Santa Clara's .260, and was led by seven more kills by Klineman.
Stanford took the first point of game three, but Santa Clara took four of the next five to take a 4-2 lead. The game locked in five ties before a Bronco attacking error finally gave Stanford the lead at 9-8. Stanford pushed the lead to 11-8, before the Broncos rattled off five straight points to force another lead change. Santa Clara kept the advantage again, fighting off three more Stanford ties before allowing the Cardinal to get back in front. With Stanford down 20-18, Klineman rallied for Stanford, dishing out three solo blocks and a kill in a 7-0 Stanford run. Klineman's third block of the series made it 25-20, but the Broncos wouldn't go away. Santa Clara used three kills by Brittany Lowe to put together a 6-2 run and pull within one at 27-26, but two attack errors allowed Stanford to push forward to game point. After one last Bronco point, Girard pounded a kill to seal the win, 30-27. Stanford outhit Santa Clara .467 to .220 in the final game.
The Cardinal will face the Sacramento State Hornets, winners over Minnesota earlier tonight, in a Second Round match-up tomorrow night at Maples Pavilion. First serve is set for 8 p.m.