Sept. 19, 2008
San Luis Obispo, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team quickly put away Saint Mary's tonight at the Mission Inn of Pismo Beach Invitational hosted by Cal Poly. The No. 6 Cardinal (8-2) swept its fourth-straight opponent, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17, dropping the Gaels to 8-3 on the year.
Stanford was led by its three All-Americans, with sophomore Alix Klineman pounding down eight kills at a .300 clip and seniors Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza each tallying seven kills. Sophomore Cassidy Lichtman turned in her fifth double-double with 11 digs and 20 assists. Saint Mary's was led by sophomore outside hitter Megan York's 10 kills and 11 digs. The Cardinal outhit the Gaels, .302 to .126, marking the sixth time this season an opponent has hit under .200 against Stanford.
Saint Mary's was able to stay with the Cardinal early in set one, but Klineman collected back-to-back kills to fuel a four-point Stanford run that broke the stalemate, 9-6. At the media break, the lead was still just two, but Barboza came out firing after the timeout. The senior pounded four kills and Lichtman served eight straight points, helping Stanford score the first seven points out of the timeout and take a 22-13 lead. Junior Janet Okogbaa drilled the kill that gave the Cardinal set point at 24-16, and Gabi Ailes dropped in a well-placed ace to end the set, 25-16. Barboza delivered six of her seven kills to lead all players, and Stanford hit .600 to the Gaels' .258.
Akinradewo banged a pair of kills to start set two, helping the Cardinal take each of the first four points of the set and seven of the opening eight. Stanford continued to dominate, but missed four serves early on to keep the lead from growing to more than eight. After taking a 15-7 lead, Stanford allowed Saint Mary's to crawl back within five, 15-10, and, after pulling back ahead 19-11, the Cardinal once again gave the Gaels a second chance. After Stanford miscues fueled a 5-1 run, Saint Mary's had narrowed the margin to 20-16 and another one of Stanford's seven service errors in the set made it 23-19. Senior Alex Fisher recorded a kill to give Stanford set point at 24-19, but four set points and four errors later, the Cardinal saw its lead slip to 24-23. The team collected itself on the next play, however, and Klineman sent her sixth kill of the night to the middle of the court for the win, 25-23. Stanford hit .216 in the second set, while Saint Mary's hit .083.
Stanford came out with another aggressive start in the final set, taking a 9-2 lead on a kill from the middle by Okogbaa. Again, the Cardinal allowed the Gaels to crawl back, giving up five straight points to narrow the gap to 9-7. Barboza served the 100th ace of her career, then followed it with another one to push the lead back out to 13-8. A few points later, senior Jessica Fishburn served three straight points and dropped in her first ace of the season to make it 18-12. Stanford fought its way forward from there and Klineman picked up two kills and a block late in the set to give the Cardinal the chance to win at 24-17. Ailes finished the set, 25-17, with her second ace of the night. Stanford hit just .125 in the final set, but still outhit the Gaels (.036).
Stanford returns to the court tomorrow to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs on their home floor at 7 p.m. The Cardinal begins the Pac-10 season next Friday against Oregon State at Maples Pavilion.