Nov. 14, 2008
Berkeley, Calif. - The No. 2 Stanford women's volleyball team got the payback it had been waiting for tonight, and it only took three sets. On a mission to avenge its only 2008 conference loss and inch another step closer to the Pac-10 title, first-place Stanford dominated with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of second-place California at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
Stanford, which never trailed in the match, improves to 22-3. With a league-leading 13-1 mark in conference play, the Cardinal is now just two wins away from clinching at least a share of its third consecutive Pac-10 Championship. Cal drops behind Washington to third place in the conference with a 10-4 Pac-10 record and a 20-5 mark overall.
Stanford was led by its three All-American hitters, who all reached double figures on the same night for the first time in four matches. Senior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza led the trio, picking up a team-best 13 kills and 18 digs for her 11th double-double of the year. Senior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo hit .611, coming in over .600 for the fourth time in the last five matches, and tallied 12 kills, six blocks and a career high eight digs. Alix Klineman had 11 kills on the night, while fellow sophomore Cassidy Lichtman served up 38 assists.
With her 12 kills, Akinradewo passed former Cardinal great Kerri Walsh for eighth place on the school's all-time kill list. The conference's active kill leader, Akinradewo now has 1,556 for her career.
Cal was led by Mindi Wiley's 10 kills and .533 hitting. The Cardinal held All-American Hana Cutura, who had 23 kills and hit .364 in the last meeting, to just nine kills and .057 hitting.
In a battle between two of the nation's top four hitting teams, the Cardinal outhit the Bears .319 to .167. The Cardinal has now hit .300 or better 18 times this year, and held 16 opponents below .200.
The sweep was Stanford's 18th of the season and 11th in 14 Pac-10 matches.
Akinradewo was quick to set the Cardinal on the right track in the first set. The senior middle blocker put up a block with teammate Alex Fisher on the opening play, then pounded consecutive kills to help the Cardinal take a 4-1 lead. Barboza picked up where Akinradewo left off, firing off three kills in a 4-1 run that made it 8-3, and two more to force a Cal timeout at 13-7. At 17-10, Cutura helped the Bears take three points in a row and squeeze the lead to just four, 17-13, but Stanford took a timeout and turned things around. Akinradewo started a 6-1 run with her fourth kill, then went back and served four straight points. After one Golden Bear point, Barboza and Fisher put down consecutive kills to give the Cardinal a commanding 23-14 lead. The Cardinal took set point on Barboza's seventh kill at 24-16, but struggled to finish. Cutura stepped back and served seven consecutive points to close the gap to 24-23, but, on Stanford's last set-point opportunity, Lichtman found Janet Okogbaa for the winning kill, 25-23. Stanford outhit Cal .300 to .184 in the first set.
Klineman provided the fire to begin the second set, slamming four kills in a 5-2 opening run. Barboza stepped up a few plays later, adding a kill and a block to her totals to give Stanford a 9-4 lead. The teams then made nearly an even swap until the media timeout, with a Golden Bear attacking error giving Stanford a five-point margin at the break. Barboza came up with another stuff on the next play, and Klineman connected from the back row to give Stanford a 17-10 advantage. Cal chiseled the lead down to four at 20-16, but this time, Akinradewo came to the front row and helped Stanford surge to the finish. The senior tallied a kill and a block to begin the run, and Erin Waller served five consecutive points, including the winning ace at 25-16. Klineman led the Cardinal with six kills in the second set, and Stanford outhit Cal .387 to .125.
Akinradewo and the Cardinal ran off with six of the first seven points to start the third set, as the senior picked up two kills and a block. Lichtman served her team-leading 19th ace of the year as part of a string of five consecutive Stanford points, and Waller and Okogbaa put up a block to make it 13-4. With Cutura serving once again, Cal began a vicious comeback, using a 12-4 run to fight back within one. Two kills by senior Morgan Beck put a 4-0 beginning to the run, and a combination of Golden Bear blocks and kills by Wiley pulled Cal back to 17-15. A Cutura swing eventually made it 18-17. Stanford dug in, however, and nabbed its three-point lead back on another Waller-Okogbaa block at 21-18. Klineman and Akinradewo drilled back-to-back kills to nab set point, and Stanford watched a Cal try sail deep to finish the win on its first opportunity, 25-20. The Cardinal hit .286 to Cal's .188 in the last set and was led by Akinradewo's five set-three kills.
The Cardinal returns to Maples on Friday to begin its final regular-season home weekend. Stanford meets No. 10 USC on Friday and No. 9 UCLA on Saturday, with both matches slated for 7 p.m. starts. Saturday's match will mark the last home regular-season contest for Barboza, Akinradewo, Waller, Fisher and Jessica Fishburn.