Oct. 31, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - Seniors Cynthia Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo put on another tremendous show tonight and lifted the Cardinal women's volleyball team to a 25-22, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of No. 6 Washington in Maples Pavilion.
Fifth-ranked Stanford remains tied for first place in the Pac-10 with a 9-1 record, while carrying an 18-3 mark overall. Washington, which entered the match in third place in the conference, drops to 16-4, 7-3 Pac-10.
Barboza led Stanford with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Akinradewo chipped in 12 kills on .632 hitting. Sophomore outside hitter Alix Klineman contributed 10 kills, eight digs and three blocks, while fellow sophomore Cassidy Lichtman turned in 34 assists.
Washington was led by Kindra Carlson's 12 kills. The Cardinal outhit the Huskies .299 to .214.
Stanford completed a season sweep of Washington for the first time since 2002 and beat the Huskies in three both times for the first time since 1999.
With her third double-double in as many matches, Barboza became one of the school's all-time leaders in both kills and digs. With six digs in the second set, Barboza passed Bev Oden '93 and became one of the school's top 10 defensive players of all time (1,091). She joined another exclusive list in the third set, pounding her 1,465th career kill to join the school's all-time top 10 in that category as well. Already one of the most dangerous servers in Stanford history with 107 career aces, Barboza joins Kristin Richards '07, Kristin Klein '92 and Logan Tom '03 as the only players with a spot on all three of those lists.
Akinradewo also had a landmark night. Teamed up with Klineman in the second set, she registered her 508th block to pass Laura Olesen '90 for third place on the Cardinal career chart. In the first set, she slammed her 1,500th career kill, the ninth Stanford player and the 36th player in Pac-10 history to accomplish the feat.
Stanford was hot early and raced out to a 9-4 lead on Barboza's first three kills of the match. Washington used a three-point series to trim the lead to two at 11-9, but at 17-12 a Husky hitting error gave the Cardinal its comfortable five-point lead back. Washington fired back with a 7-2 run that knotted the set at 19, however, and sent it into three more ties soon after. Tied at 22, Klineman finally drove the Cardinal forward, pounding a kill to start a string of three unanswered Stanford points. Lichtman served a crucial ace for set point, and Barboza finished things with her seventh kill of the opening set. Stanford outhit Washington .359 to .256 in set one.
Stanford held a small advantage at the beginning of the second set, but after five early ties, the Huskies put up a block to take their first lead, 8-7. Stanford managed four points in a row, going up 11-8 on an ace by Gabi Ailes, but Washington stormed back and took over the lead on consecutive aces by Jill Collymore, 14-13. The Huskies stretched the margin to their largest of the night on a Carlson kill at 20-17, but Stanford put together a fierce run to come from behind and win. Klineman delivered two kills in a 3-0 run that tied things at 20, and a few points later, Barboza took a hard swing to give Stanford the lead back, 23-22. Akinradewo watched a Husky hit go wide for set point, and, after one last UW point, Barboza once again finished the job, 25-23. The senior added five more kills to her total in the second set. Stanford had the edge in the set-two hitting column, .214 to .159.
Washington was up 5-3 when Stanford went on a 14-4 rampage in the third set to all but seal the win. Klineman had two kills and a solo block in an initial 5-1 spurt and added another kill in another 5-1 run that followed. Erin Waller teamed with Akinradewo for a block soon after, and the pair of seniors added an ace and a kill, respectively, to push the lead out to the largest by either team at 17-9. Washington fought back within four at 18-14, but could come no closer. Stanford methodically took points to near the finish, earning its final two on a pair of Akinradewo kills to win 25-18. Akinradewo had six of her 12 kills in the final set, helping Stanford hit .333 to Washington's .241.
After a one-day respite, Stanford returns to Maples to play Washington State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Cardinal will be looking to complete a season sweep of both Washington schools in the same year for the first time since 2001.