No. 17 Stanford 87, No. 18 Colorado 73

Folkl, a dual-sport athlete for Stanford, had 16 points and eight rebounds in her debut this season as the 17th-ranked Cardinal downed No. 18 Colorado 87-73 Sunday.

"I had a really easy time out there, my teammates were showing the way to go," she said. "I felt comfortable because I felt like they wanted me out there."

Stanford (3-4), which went into the season ranked No. 4, has struggled with losses to Connecticut and Tennessee. They clearly got a boost Sunday from Folkl's return, which was accompanied by rousing applause from the fans at Maples Pavilion.

"Kristin is a very special talent with an instinct for basketball," coach Tara VanDerveer said. "She does everything we need her to do, especially catching and passing the ball well. We've had so many turnovers with our post game this year, she's come in and given us a boost."

Even Olympia Scott, who had a career-high 33 points, took the time to compliment Folkl.

"The first day, she comes right in and runs the plays," Scott said. "She fits right in perfectly, as if she's never been away."

Stanford has won four NCAA volleyball titles since 1992, and Folkl has been on three of those teams.

Colorado (6-2), which had won three straight, was led by La Shena Graham's career-high 29 points. Jenny Circle, the only other Colorado player in double figures, had 17 points.

Folkl entered the game about five minutes into the first half, with the Cardinal trailing 11-7. Stanford responded with a 17-5 run to take 24-16 lead with 7:19 left as Folkl scored nine points during the stretch.

Down 34-32 at halftime, Colorado opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 40-36 lead. Circle scored six of those points.

Colorado was leading 42-40 with 15:29 left when Scott scored the first of Stanford's seven straight points, putting the Cardinal ahead 47-42.

Stanford, spurred by the enthusiastic home crowd, did not surrender the lead again, twice pushing the margin to as many as 17 points.

"For 25 minutes we played pretty well, then the bottom fell out for eight minutes and that was it for us," Colorado coach Ceal Barry said.

Vanessa Nygaard added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Stanford. But it was clearly Folkl's show.

Even Barry noticed the change in the team.

"A big piece of their puzzle is now back on the bench. I know Tara pretty well, and I know she's been drumming her fingers waiting for Kristin to come back," Barry said.

Folkl, who hadn't planned on playing basketball last season, joined the team in February after several players were injured and averaged 10.7 points and 8.2 rebounds in 10 games.

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