Nov. 4, 2012
EUGENE, Ore. - The top-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team downed No. 2 Oregon (25-20-25-22, 25-21), Sunday, in front of more than 5,000 fans at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. The Cardinal (22-2) has now won 20 straight matches, its longest winning streak under head coach John Dunning and the longest since 1999, and is 14-0 in the Pac-12. The Ducks drop to 20-3 overall and 11-3 in the conference.
Despite playing without freshman Jordan Burgess, who left the Oregon State match with an injury, the Cardinal posted one of its better offensive matches of the year. Juniors Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat led the team with 10 kills each. Wopat also posted a team-high nine blocks in the match. Freshman outside hitter Brittany Howard added eight kills and four blocks, while freshman Inky Ajanaku and sophomore Lydia Bai finished with five and four kills, respectively.
Freshman setter Madi Bugg controlled the offense with 30 assists, and added three kills, three digs and two service aces. Sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert registered a match-high 15 digs for Stanford. The Cardinal outhit the Ducks .344 to .188.
Stanford came out on fire, capturing the opening set 25-20. The Cardinal hit lights out in the first, posting a .567 attack percentage. In fact, Stanford put down 17 kills on 30 swings with no errors. Oregon also hit well offensively, recording a .371 hitting percentage. Wopat paced Stanford with seven kills on eight attempts. Bai added three kills for the Cardinal, while Gilbert racked up six digs for the defense. Senior Alaina Bergsma, sophomore Liz Brenner and freshman Martenne Bettendorf all put down five kills to lead the Ducks.
The Cardinal pulled out a 25-22 win in the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Stanford jumped out to an early lead, but Oregon capitalized on some Cardinal miscues to tie the set at 21-21. However a 4-1 run by Stanford staved off any chances of a late comeback for the Ducks. Stanford registered a .321 hitting percentage in the second, while holding Oregon to a .150 clip. Williams paced the Cardinal with five kills, two digs and a block. Wopat, Howard and Bugg added two kills each. Brenner continued to lead Oregon, recording five kills for the Ducks.
Stanford completed the sweep with a 25-21 victory in the third set. Despite hitting just .156 in the third, the Cardinal found a way to come from behind to capture the win. Oregon was limited to a .071 attack percentage as Stanford posted 5.5 blocks in the set. Howard recorded four kills to lead Stanford, while Williams added three. Wopat was huge on defense, collecting four blocks in the set, while Gilbert again tallied five digs. Bergsma finished with 15 kills and seven digs to lead the Ducks.
Stanford has a quick turnaround, playing host to Washington State and No. 8 Washington next week. The Cardinal will face the Cougars on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. and the Huskies on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.