Post by bigfan on Nov 13, 2006 17:18:00 GMT -5
Women slip, regain lead atop Pac-10
UCLA moves into tie for first before falling to Cardinal
By Andrew Lomeli
With control of the conference lead on the line this weekend, the No. 2 Stanford women’s volleyball team came away still able to dictate its own destiny. That is particularly good news after the Cardinal experienced a mixed bag in their toughest home stand this season.
The Cardinal (21-3, 12-2 Pacific-10 Conference) dropped just their second conference match of the season to No. 6 Southern California on Friday night, allowing No. 5 UCLA to slip into a tie for first in the Pac-10 with their win over No. 12 California on the same night. Stanford took sole possession of first place the next night with a four-game victory over the Bruins, 17-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-27.
“USC played very well and surprised us with their level of play,” head coach John Dunning said of the 18-30, 24-30, 31-33 loss. “But we have a lot of proud, competitive people on this team that were strong enough to come back out and beat UCLA. We’re definitely going to hold on to the lessons of this weekend.”
USC (23-3, 11-3) entered the weekend looking for revenge after the Cardinal swept the Women of Troy in Los Angeles on Oct. 12. The tone was set early, as the Trojans went on an early four-point run in game one to secure the lead. Richards started close in with a solo block to make it 13-15, but USC responded with an eight-point run that sucked the energy out of Stanford. The Trojans eventually took the game on a Jessica Gysin ace.
The Cardinal kept it closer in game two, but USC’s Asia Kaczor’s 12 kills provided too much offense for Stanford to handle, and the Trojans escaped with the win.
Stanford’s offense rose to the challenge in game three, tying USC’s mark of 21 kills in the same frame. Both teams exchanged points and the lead throughout the game, and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Foluke Akinradewo forced game point for Stanford at 30-28. But the Women of Troy would not buckle under pressure as they scraped together five points to take the nail-biter on a Cardinal attack error.
“There were a lot of factors behind our loss,” sophomore outside hitter Erin Waller said. “We were looking forward to UCLA more than USC, but USC played great and made us pay for it. We just weren’t communicating or playing our game.”
Stanford could see silver lining in game three in that Richards became the all-time digs leader in school history with 1,457.
Kaczor led the match with 26 kills. Akinradewo led Stanford with 15 kills but injured her shoulder in the match.
The Cardinal looked to rebound from their loss the next night against the Bruins (25-3, 12-3) without the help of Akinradewo. UCLA came out strong in game one to claim the early 5-1 advantage. The Bruins would hang on to that momentum, limiting the Cardinal to .158 hitting en route to a 30-17 trouncing of Stanford.
It appeared the Cardinal would make easy work of UCLA in game two with a late 21-15 lead. The Bruins exploded for a five-point run to pull within one, but that would be as close as they would come. A UCLA attack error sealed the game for the Cardinal. The Bruins’ 13 errors proved costly, limiting them to .000 hitting.
Things looked troubling for Stanford early in game three as the Bruins put together an 8-3 lead, but a six-point run for the Cardinal put Stanford ahead for good. The teams exchanged rallies, but the Cardinal were able to cash in on their early runs to take the game on a successful block of a UCLA attack.
It would look grim again for the Cardinal when the Bruins posted a 16-10 lead in game four. Stanford pulled it together one more time and went on a 7-1 run to make it close at 16-17. The squads kept it tight in the home-stretch with a tie at 27-all, but a kill by sophomore outside hitter Cynthia Barboza capped three consecutive Stanford points to grant the Cardinal the game. With the game win came the match victory and sole possession of first place in the nation’s most competitive conference.
Barboza once again led Stanford with 15 kills. She was followed by Waller with 13 and Richards with 12. After Nana Meriwether collected 11 blocks in the first two games, the Cardinal limited the UCLA senior to just two blocks in games three and four. Meriwether tallied a match-high 17 kills.
Playing in Akinradewo’s place was senior middle blocker Lizzie Suiter, who hasn’t seen much action over the past two seasons due to injury. Suiter rose to the occasion, notching six kills and committing just one error.
“Playing without Foluke meant playing with a different mentality, and it was an adjustment for everybody,” Suiter said. “UCLA came out very strong, but we have a really deep team that can play well regardless of who’s on the court. Who know what our numbers would have been like if Foluke would have played.”
Dunning said he was especially happy with the way in which each player put her best foot forward.
“Everybody stepped up [Saturday night],” Dunning said. “Big matches like this are usually determined by offense, but tonight it was defense. Our block took care of things as the match continued. Everybody found a way tonight.”
The Cardinal travel to Oregon State (3-20, 0-14) and No. 24 Oregon (17-7, 7-7) next week. Both schools were swept by Arizona and Arizona State this past weekend.
UCLA moves into tie for first before falling to Cardinal
By Andrew Lomeli
With control of the conference lead on the line this weekend, the No. 2 Stanford women’s volleyball team came away still able to dictate its own destiny. That is particularly good news after the Cardinal experienced a mixed bag in their toughest home stand this season.
The Cardinal (21-3, 12-2 Pacific-10 Conference) dropped just their second conference match of the season to No. 6 Southern California on Friday night, allowing No. 5 UCLA to slip into a tie for first in the Pac-10 with their win over No. 12 California on the same night. Stanford took sole possession of first place the next night with a four-game victory over the Bruins, 17-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-27.
“USC played very well and surprised us with their level of play,” head coach John Dunning said of the 18-30, 24-30, 31-33 loss. “But we have a lot of proud, competitive people on this team that were strong enough to come back out and beat UCLA. We’re definitely going to hold on to the lessons of this weekend.”
USC (23-3, 11-3) entered the weekend looking for revenge after the Cardinal swept the Women of Troy in Los Angeles on Oct. 12. The tone was set early, as the Trojans went on an early four-point run in game one to secure the lead. Richards started close in with a solo block to make it 13-15, but USC responded with an eight-point run that sucked the energy out of Stanford. The Trojans eventually took the game on a Jessica Gysin ace.
The Cardinal kept it closer in game two, but USC’s Asia Kaczor’s 12 kills provided too much offense for Stanford to handle, and the Trojans escaped with the win.
Stanford’s offense rose to the challenge in game three, tying USC’s mark of 21 kills in the same frame. Both teams exchanged points and the lead throughout the game, and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Foluke Akinradewo forced game point for Stanford at 30-28. But the Women of Troy would not buckle under pressure as they scraped together five points to take the nail-biter on a Cardinal attack error.
“There were a lot of factors behind our loss,” sophomore outside hitter Erin Waller said. “We were looking forward to UCLA more than USC, but USC played great and made us pay for it. We just weren’t communicating or playing our game.”
Stanford could see silver lining in game three in that Richards became the all-time digs leader in school history with 1,457.
Kaczor led the match with 26 kills. Akinradewo led Stanford with 15 kills but injured her shoulder in the match.
The Cardinal looked to rebound from their loss the next night against the Bruins (25-3, 12-3) without the help of Akinradewo. UCLA came out strong in game one to claim the early 5-1 advantage. The Bruins would hang on to that momentum, limiting the Cardinal to .158 hitting en route to a 30-17 trouncing of Stanford.
It appeared the Cardinal would make easy work of UCLA in game two with a late 21-15 lead. The Bruins exploded for a five-point run to pull within one, but that would be as close as they would come. A UCLA attack error sealed the game for the Cardinal. The Bruins’ 13 errors proved costly, limiting them to .000 hitting.
Things looked troubling for Stanford early in game three as the Bruins put together an 8-3 lead, but a six-point run for the Cardinal put Stanford ahead for good. The teams exchanged rallies, but the Cardinal were able to cash in on their early runs to take the game on a successful block of a UCLA attack.
It would look grim again for the Cardinal when the Bruins posted a 16-10 lead in game four. Stanford pulled it together one more time and went on a 7-1 run to make it close at 16-17. The squads kept it tight in the home-stretch with a tie at 27-all, but a kill by sophomore outside hitter Cynthia Barboza capped three consecutive Stanford points to grant the Cardinal the game. With the game win came the match victory and sole possession of first place in the nation’s most competitive conference.
Barboza once again led Stanford with 15 kills. She was followed by Waller with 13 and Richards with 12. After Nana Meriwether collected 11 blocks in the first two games, the Cardinal limited the UCLA senior to just two blocks in games three and four. Meriwether tallied a match-high 17 kills.
Playing in Akinradewo’s place was senior middle blocker Lizzie Suiter, who hasn’t seen much action over the past two seasons due to injury. Suiter rose to the occasion, notching six kills and committing just one error.
“Playing without Foluke meant playing with a different mentality, and it was an adjustment for everybody,” Suiter said. “UCLA came out very strong, but we have a really deep team that can play well regardless of who’s on the court. Who know what our numbers would have been like if Foluke would have played.”
Dunning said he was especially happy with the way in which each player put her best foot forward.
“Everybody stepped up [Saturday night],” Dunning said. “Big matches like this are usually determined by offense, but tonight it was defense. Our block took care of things as the match continued. Everybody found a way tonight.”
The Cardinal travel to Oregon State (3-20, 0-14) and No. 24 Oregon (17-7, 7-7) next week. Both schools were swept by Arizona and Arizona State this past weekend.
