Nov. 21, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - Behind another dominant performance by senior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo, the second-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team nabbed a four-set win over No. 10 USC tonight and positioned itself just one win away from the Pac-10 title.
Stanford's 25-10, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18 victory completed a season sweep of the Trojans for just the second time since 1999. The Cardinal (23-3, 14-1 Pac-10) will be looking to guarantee itself at least a share of a third straight conference title when it takes on No. 9 UCLA tomorrow night in its last regular-season match at Maples Pavilion.
USC drops to 16-9 overall and 9-7 in the Pac-10 and remains in fifth place in the conference standings.
Akinradewo continued her recent hot streak and led all players in the match, coming just short of her season high with 19 kills on .571 hitting. The reigning AVCA National Player of the Year has reached double figures in nine of the last 10 matches, and hit over .500 in each of the last six.
Sophomore libero Gabi Ailes had perhaps her best night of the season, leading a strong defensive effort by the Cardinal. Ailes matched a season high with 24 digs, marking the 10th time in her career that she has reached the 20-dig plateau.
Sophomore outside hitter Alix Klineman also put on a tremendous performance, turning in 17 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Fellow outside hitter Cynthia Barboza earned a double-double as well (10 kills, 13 digs), her team-leading 12th of the year.
Sophomore setter Cassidy Lichtman dished out 48 assists, the second highest total of her career. Lichtman also matched a career high with five blocks.
Stanford outhit USC .331 to .161. The Cardinal continues to hit at a school-record pace for the year (.320), having hit above .300 19 times this season. USC became the 17th Stanford opponent to hit below .200 (.161).
Junior Jessica Gysin, freshman Lauren Williams and freshman Alex Jupiter all reached double figures for USC. Williams led the way with 12 kills in 20 swings (.550) and added three blocks.
Tough defense helped the Cardinal take a commanding lead quickly in the first set. Klineman and Akinradewo each had two kills in a 6-0 opening run, and after USC briefly slowed the momentum, the Cardinal hit the Trojans with an 8-2 run to go up 15-6. Stanford recorded its first two blocks in the run, and at 17-7, Klineman stuffed a third Trojan attack to push the margin into double-digits. At 18-8, Akinradewo and Klineman tacked on two more kills apiece in a 4-1 stretch that made it 22-9. Stanford took set point on a Trojan error at 24-10 and Klineman drilled an ace straight to the floor for the winner, 25-10. Klineman had six kills in the opening rout. Stanford hit .440 while holding USC to .000.
The second set went into seven ties before Stanford was finally able to establish a small lead. Klineman and Akinradewo teamed for a critical block on a long rally at 10-8 and a Trojan error put Stanford another point ahead at 12-9. Back-to-back USC swings were off target to give Stanford a four-point lead at 16-12, but the Trojans were able to slowly crawl back. Three USC blocks in a 5-2 run narrowed the gap to one at 19-18 and Williams ripped a kill to finally tie things at 20. USC took the lead at 21-20 on another Williams kill, and charged on to the finish. Trojan setter Taylor Carico had two kills as USC won the final three points and became the first team to take a set from Stanford in the month of November, 25-22. Despite five kills by Akinradewo and five by Williams, both teams posted sub-.200 hitting, with Stanford leading .149 to 130.
USC put together a 5-1 run early in the third set, establishing a three-point lead on consecutive Stanford hitting errors at 9-6. Lichtman dumped a ball into the center of the Trojan court to pull Stanford back within one at 11-10, but by the media timeout, USC had a 15-12 cushion back. Barboza served two points in a row out of the break, including her 108th career ace, to spur a USC timeout at 15-14. From there, however, Akinradewo simply took over. The senior ripped four kills and put up two blocks in a 10-2 Stanford rally, and gave the Cardinal set point at 24-18 with her 15th slam of the night. The Trojans fought off three set points, but after a Stanford timeout, Barboza finally finished things with her sixth kill, 25-21. In a resurgent hitting effort by both teams, Stanford hit a match-high .516 to USC's .375.
Klineman and Akinradewo continued to dominate as Stanford took the first four points of set four. The team built the lead two points greater on a triple block by the Cardinal front line and Lichtman served an ace to make it 10-4. Stanford then took its first seven-point lead on a Barboza's second ace of the night, 12-5. USC could make few inroads from there and Stanford easily held onto its lead. Trojan reserve Audrey Eichler picked up a few kills to help trim the lead to four for a brief period, but Akinradewo and Klineman took charge to finish. An Akinradewo kill started a 4-1 Cardinal run at 22-17 and Klineman drilled back-to-back kills to give Stanford set point at 24-17. Akinradewo sent a ball straight to floor a point later for the 25-18 win. Klineman led all players with six kills in the clinching set. Stanford hit .333 and held the Trojans under .200 for the third time in four sets (.171).
Stanford will play its final regular-season home match tomorrow night, battling the ninth-ranked UCLA Bruins at 7 p.m. Prior to the match, four Cardinal seniors - Akinradewo, Barboza, Erin Waller and Jessica Fishburn - will be recognized with a senior night ceremony.