Aug. 3, 2012

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Official London 2012 Olympic Page

STANFORD, Calif. - Team USA in women's soccer continued to progress on Friday with three Stanford players reaching the semifinals. In other action, the Bryan brothers reached the gold medal match in doubles tennis and the U.S. women's volleyball and water polo teams won crucial games in pool play.

Individually, Amaechi Morton and Cassidy Krug started their journey towards potential medals by advancing out of the first round on the track and in the diving well.

It was a busy day for Stanford athletes, but a highly successful one.

In Women's Soccer action...
In a match that featured four former Stanford players, the United States beat New Zealand, 2-0, in a quarterfinal at St. James Park in Newcastle.

The match was unique in that Kelley O'Hara '10 of the U.S. and Ali Riley '10 of New Zealand are best friends and former roommates who were playing opposite each other in the same position. O'Hara recently switched to outside left back for the U.S., a position that was defined at Stanford by the play of Riley, who uses her quickness to move up and down the flanks to become a force on offense as well as defense.

Riley was not at fault on the two U.S. goals, scored by Abby Wambach and Sydney Leroux, which put the Americans into the semifinals against Great Britain or Canada on Monday at Manchester United's famed Old Trafford at 11:45 a.m. PT (NBC Sports Network).

O'Hara supplied Alex Morgan with a great scoring chance with a long ball over the top that created a breakaway opportunity that wasn't converted. O'Hara and former Stanford teammate Rachel Buehler '07, a central defender, played all 90 minutes, Former Stanford goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart '04 did not play.

In Women's Volleyball action... The U.S., led by Stanford's Foluke Akinradewo ('09) and Logan Tom ('03), swept Serbia 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16) on Friday to clinch the top spot in Pool B. The U.S. is undefeated through its first four matches in London.

Akinradewo registered six kills and five blocks to total 11 points, while Tom recorded 10 kills and two blocks for 12 points. The Cardinal alums were two of the three U.S. players who tallied double-digit points in the match.

Up next, the U.S. concludes Pool B play against Turkey on Sunday at 12 p.m. PT. The top team in each of the six-team pools will face the fourth-place team in the opposite pool. Should the U.S. drop to second, it would enter a draw to determine its quarterfinal pairing.

In Women's Water Polo action...
Maggie Steffens '16 led Team USA with a hat trick as the Americans knocked off China in Group A Pool Play, 7-6. The Americans finished unbeaten in pool play, but tied with Spain atop Group A. The Spaniards won the tiebreaker, making Team USA the second-seeded team from the group to advance to the quarterfinals.

Team USA is dominated by Stanford players with Annika Dries '14, Melissa Seidemann '13 and Brenda Villa '03 also seeing time for the U.S. Dries also got on the scoreboard for the U.S., meaning Stanford players scored four of the seven goals.

Down 3-1 early, Steffens led Team USA back with two goals over a run that made it 5-3 U.S. The Americans would not trail again, despite a psychical game that saw both Steffans and Dries leave temporarily with cuts over their eyes.

The Americans will next face Italy in the quarterfinals on Sunday, August 5, at 6:50 a.m.

In Track & Field action...
Amaechi Morton '12 started off the track & field action in flying colors for Stanford, qualifying though to the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles. Competing for Nigeria, Morton ran 49.34 in heat 1 to finish third and advance automatically. Morton hit one hurdle that appeared to slow him down slightly, but still cruised over the final straightaway to qualify automatically.

The 2012 NCAA Champion in the event will next run the semifinals tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Morton will run out of lane 9 in the third and final semifinal heat.

In Tennis action...
Assured of at least a silver medal, Bob Bryan '98 and Mike Bryan '98 will chase gold on Saturday morning (approximately 8 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network) in the Olympics doubles competition at the All-England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in Wimbledon.

Seeded No. 1 in the 32-team draw, the Bryan Brothers edged France's Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 on Friday in the semifinals.

Tomorrow's gold medal match will pit the Bryan Brothers against the No. 2-seeded duo of Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Friday's 6-4, 6-4 victory represented a change from the earlier matches. Of the seven sets combined over the Bryan Brothers' first three matches, six had been decided by tiebreaker.

The Bryan Brothers have captured 11 Grand Slam titles and 78 career doubles crowns, representing an all-time men's team record. The duo has competed in two Olympic competitions, earning a bronze medal finish at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and reaching the quarterfinals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Meanwhile in mixed doubles, the No. 3-seeded tandem of Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond defeated Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 7-5 in quarterfinal action.

In Women's Diving action...
Cassidy Krug '07 put together a strong set of dives, placing 10th in the prelims of the 3-meter springboard and automatically qualifying for the semifinals. Krug scored 320.10 points, whcih was 67.85 behind the leader Wu Minxia of China.

Krug will compete in the semifinals on Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. with the hope of making it to Sunday's final.

In Men's Rowing action...
Silas Stafford '08 completed his Olympics, pairing with teammate Tom Peszek in the 'B' Final of the Men's Pair. Stafford and Peszek placed second in the 'B' Final with a time of 6:53.30.

The 'A' Final included six teams that all went faster than the American team, meaning Stafford and Peszek places eighth overall. Eric Murray and Harnish Bon won the 'A' final for Australia to take home the Gold Medal. Teams from France and Great Britain earned silver and bronze.