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Third-Ranked Stanford Downs Colorado, 3-0
Sept. 8, 2005 Boulder, Co - Freshman outside hitter Foluke Akinradewo tallied a match-high 19 kills (.516) while Kristin Richards added 12 more to help lead the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team to a 30-26, 30-28, 30-24 victory over the University of Colorado on Tuesday night at the Coors Events Center. "Foluke was a sideout machine for us," said Stanford head coach John Dunning. "She made a big impact in the match. She's a 6-foot-3 sky pilot." Colorado jumped to an early 10-4 lead in game one, the biggest deficit in a match thus far during Stanford's seven match road trip to the East Coast and the Midwest. However, the Cardinal mounted a comeback to take the lead at 19-18, and further advanced the lead to 25-20 thanks in part to a Akinradewo kill and block solo, and a net violation by Colorado. At 28-26, a hitting error by the Buffaloes and a service ace by Richards gave Stanford game one, 30-26. Once again, Stanford's defense prevailed as it held the Colorado attack to a .162 hitting percentage. The Cardinal had held the opposition to a .026 hitting percentage in four previous matches on this current road trip. Akinradewo and Richards each tallied five kills in game one. Except for a 1-0 deficit, the Cardinal led throughout game two. Their biggest lead was five points, 21-16. Colorado mounted a brief comeback at 22-21, forcing the Cardinal to call a timeout. The game remained close at 26-25, 27-26, and 28-27. A Richards kill gave Stanford a 29-27 lead, but the Buffaloes added a point to make it 29-28. But Nji Nnamani received a perfect set from Bryn Kehoe to slam the ball down onto Colorado's court, and give Stanford a 30-28 game victory. Stanford's offense got in high gear in game two with a .395 hitting percentage compared to .247 for the Buffaloes.
Game three saw Colorado lead through the early portions, but never more than two points. With the Buffs ahead at 10-8, Stanford outscored the home team, 9-2, to take a 17-12 advantage. Then Colorado fought back to tie the game at 18-18. A 5-0 run by the Cardinal gave Stanford a 23-18 lead. From there, Stanford closed out the match with a 30-24 decision. The victory gives Stanford a five-match winning streak, and a 6-1 season record. Colorado falls to 2-1. Stanford continues play in the Colorado Invitational on Friday against Marquette (5:00 p.m., mt). Stanford (6-1) 30 30 30 Cardinal Catalogue: Stanford now holds a 7-0 advantage in the series against Colorado ... Four of those matches were played in Boulder ... All-American outside hitter Kristin Richards is nearing the 1,000 mark in kills ... With 12 kills on Thursday night against Colorado, Richards now has 966 in three-plus seasons at Stanford ... The Stanford women's volleyball program has announced that at the Stanford Invitational (Sept. 15-17) and matches against USC (Sept. 23) and UCLA (Sept. 24) at Maples Pavilion, monetary donations will be accepted and delivered to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund to help flood victims. Ticket Tale Daily Diary |
