Aug. 7, 2012

Stanford Olympic Page

Official London 2012 Olympic Page

STANFORD, Calif. - Tuesday's Olympic action in London guaranteed that more medals will be collected by Stanford athletes, as U.S. women's water polo as well as the beach volleyball tandem of Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor advanced to their respective Gold Medal Finals on Day 14.

In Beach Volleyball action...
Kerri Walsh Jennings '00 and Misty May-Treanor have advanced to the finals with a 22-20, 22-20 win over China's No. 2 Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, Tuesday at Horse Guards Parade in London.

Walsh Jennings posted eight kills, four blocks, three aces and seven digs for the U.S. May-Treanor added 22 kills and 17 digs.

It will be an all-USA final Thursday at 1 p.m. PT (9 p.m. local time) as Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor, ranked No. 3, will face fourth-seeded Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross.

In Synchronized Swimming action...
Team USA's Maria Koroleva '13 and Mary Killman completed their first Olympic Games with an 11th-place finish in the synchronized swimming duet competition, Tuesday, at the Aquatics Centre in London's Olympic Park.

The U.S. duet finished with 175.670 points after posting an 87.770 score in Tuesday's free routine final. They had 87.900 points in Sunday's technical routine.

Russia won duet gold for the fourth consecutive Olympics. Spain topped China in the battle for silver. The medal standings were based on the combined points from the free routine in the final and the preliminary technical routine.

In Track & Field action...
Arantxa King '12 competed in the qualifying round of the long jump for her native Bermuda. The former All-American at Stanford leaped 21-0 (6.40m), which placed her sixth in Group B. King ended up ties for 12th overall and with just 12 advancing to the final, entered a tiebreaking situation with Veronika Shutkova of Belarus. Unfortunately for King, Shutkova had the better second-furthest jump and earned the final spot in the final. King's second Olympics came to end in a painful fashion, but still a great effort for the recent Stanford graduate.

In Women's Volleyball action...
The top-ranked U.S. womens volleyball team, headed by Stanford alums Foluke Akinradewo '09 and Logan Tom '03, advanced to the semifinal round with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-22 victory over the Dominican Republic Tuesday at Earls Court in London.

Akinradewo finished with 12 points on 10 kills and two blocks, while Tom tallied four kills and an ace.

The U.S. Women, which is 6-0 at the 2012 London Games and 29-1 overall this year, will face Korea in the seminfinals on Thursday at 7 a.m. PT (3 p.m. local time).

In Women's Water Polo action...
Since its Olympic debut in 2000, women's water polo had never had a final without the United States heading into this summer's event. And it still has not as the Americans defeated Australia 11-9 in a thrilling overtime contest to reach its fourth Gold Medal Final.

Maggie Steffens scored four goals, including the eventual game-winner in the first overtime session to pace the U.S. while older sister Jessica Steffens and Melissa Seidemann each added one.

After the first period ended tied 3-3, Stanford's stars accounted for the next seven U.S. goals in the back-and-forth contest. Jessica's goal with 4:41 remaining put the U.S. ahead 8-6 but Australia countered with consecutive goals to tie it up at 8-8.

After Seidemann put the U.S. back in front 9-8 with 1:40 to play, the American defense looked to seal up the win but with one second left, Australia was awarded a five-meter penalty shot when the officials ruled that the U.S. bench had called a timeout without possessing the ball.

Ash Southern converted the penalty, sending the game into overtime. However, the U.S. defense continued its lockdown, holding the Australians scoreless over the six extra minutes while Maggie Steffens and Kami Craig netted the difference-making goals in the opening frame.

The U.S., still seeking its first Olympic Gold Medal, will have its fourth chance Thursday at 12 noon PT (8 p.m. local time) against Spain, which defeated Hungary, 10-9, Tuesday.