Sept. 13, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Alix Klineman had one of the best hitting nights of her career, slamming 16 kills at a career-best .615 clip to lift the Cardinal to a sweep of Santa Clara tonight in the Stanford Invitational title match. With the 25-12, 25-16, 25-15 rout, No. 7 Stanford (7-2) completed a perfect sweep of the tournament field and handed the Broncos (6-2) just their second loss of the year.
Klineman was named the Stanford Invitational MVP after recording 40 kills in three matches and hitting a team-best .481 for the tournament. Seniors Cynthia Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo joined Santa Clara's Lindsy Davigeadono and Anna Cmaylo, UC Santa Barbara's Charlene DeHoog and New Mexico State's Amber Simpson on the all-tournament team.
In addition to her 16 kills and career-high hitting percentage, Klineman matched libero Gabi Ailes with 11 digs to lead all players. The double-double was the sophomore's second of the year. Cassidy Lichtman turned in 26 assists for Stanford in the match, while Akinradewo put up six blocks for the third consecutive night.
Stanford outhit Santa Clara .429 to .058, marking the third time the Cardinal has hit above .400 this year. The Broncos were led by senior outside hitter Brittany Lowe's nine kills.
It didn't take long for Klineman to catch fire in the first set, as the sophomore recorded five kills and an ace to account for six of Stanford's first nine points. Klineman's fifth kill put Stanford up 9-5, and two blocks by Akinradewo soon allowed the Cardinal to build its lead to 13-6. Two more Klineman kills and four Bronco hitting errors fueled a 6-1 Stanford run shortly after, during which Stanford took its first double-digit lead at 19-9. Stanford continued to run away, and Barboza pounded a pair of kills to give the Cardinal set point at 24-11. A point later, senior Erin Waller pushed her second kill off the block to finish the rout, 25-12. Stanford hit a staggering .600 in the first set, while holding the Broncos to a .036 clip.
After Santa Clara took the first two points of the second set, Stanford ran off on a 10-2 run, only allowing the Broncos to score on a pair of service errors. With Stanford up 10-4, Santa Clara used two Lowe kills to trim the lead to three, but a series of SCU errors allowed Stanford to build its lead back even bigger, 16-9. Akinradewo tallied three kills and an ace in a 6-2 run that landed Stanford a 22-14 lead, and soon after, fellow middle blocker Janet Okogbaa crushed an overpass to give Stanford set point, 24-16. Klineman made the best of the opportunity, drilling her 10th kill crosscourt to send Stanford to the locker room with a 2-0 lead. In the 25-16 set-two victory, Stanford spread the ball around, with Barboza, Akinradewo, Klineman and Lichtman each recording three kills. Stanford outhit Santa Clara .344 to .027.
In set three, Stanford built a three-point lead on a Barboza ace at 6-3, and held that lead until just before the midpoint of the set. At 13-10, Lichtman recorded a kill and Waller followed with a well-placed ace to extend the margin to five. After the media timeout, Barboza led the Cardinal on a three-point run to 18-11, and Stanford never faltered. The Cardinal took set point on Santa Clara's 21st hitting error of the match, and Waller teamed up with Akinradewo for her season-high fourth block to finish, 25-15. Stanford continued to dominate in the hitting column in the final set, .382 to .105.
Stanford travels to San Luis Obispo, Calif. next weekend to wrap up the preseason at the Mission Inn of Pismo Beach Invitational. The Cardinal will square off with Saint Mary's on Friday at 7 p.m., and will take on the host, No. 16 Cal Poly, on Saturday night, also at 7 p.m.