Dec. 18, 2004

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LONG BEACH, CA- Stanford (30-6), behind 29 kills from senior Ogonna Nnamani, won its sixth NCAA Division-I Women's Volleyball Championship with a 30-23, 30-27 30-21 victory over Minnesota (33-5) in front of a crowd of 8,826 fans at the Long Beach Arena on Dec. 18.

Stanford entered the match as the 11th seed in the tournament, while Minnesota was the fourth seed.

Stanford used a 5-0 run to break a 13-all tie to take game one 30-23, despite trailing 6-3 in the early going. The Cardinal, behind three points by Nnamani, scored the final five points of game two to win 30-27. Stanford scored 12 of the last 15 points of the third game to wrap up the title with a 30-21 victory.

Stanford concluded the season on a 15-match win streak, something the Cardinal has not accomplished since the 2001 season. Stanford dropped only three games in its last 10 matches (total of 33 games).

Nnamani, the tournament's most outstanding player, hit .562 for the match on 48 swings to pace the Cardinal offense. Setter Bryn Kehoe handed out 48 assists as Stanford hit .436 as a team for the match. Jennifer Hucke produced nine kills with a .368 attack percentage, while Kristin Richards contributed eight kills and 11 digs. Franci Girard hit .556 with five kills, while Liz Suiter totaled six kills on a .417 attack percentage with a team-high five blocks. Courtney Shultz dug a team-high 14 balls for Stanford.

Erin Martin and Trisha Bratford each charted 13 kills for Minnesota in the loss. Kelly Bowman and Meredith Nelson were credited with nine kills in the match, including 19 assists from Bowman. Lindsey Taatjes knocked down five kills to go with five blocks and five digs. Jessy Jones produced six kills for the Gophers, while Paula Gentil had a team-high 15 digs.

Ogonna Nnamani set an NCAA Tournament record with 145 kills in all 2004 NCAA tournament matches over 21 games. Wisconsin's Sherisa Livingston holds the record with 139 tournament kills in 139. Nnamani also tied the NCAA Tournament record with 15 block solos, and is shared by by Pacific's Jayne Gibson in 1981.

Named to the NCAA All-Tournament team were Nnamani, Hucke, Richards, Kehoe, Martin and Gentil.

Minnesota pulled out to a 6-3 game one advantage capped by a service aces from Marci Peniata. However, Stanford managed a 5-0 run including kills from Nnamani, Richards and Hucke to give the Cardinal an 8-6 lead. The Gophers tied the game back up at 10 as Bowman recorded a kill followed by a combined block from Taatjes and Byrnes. Stanford regained a two-point advantage at 15-13 as Nnamani provided a kill followed by a Bowman hitting error. Following the media timeout, the Cardinal rattled off three more points to stretch the run to five straight scores as Richards tallied a kill and block assist prompting the Gophers to call their first time out at 18-13. Stanford extended the lead to six points at 24-18 as Suiter combined with Kehoe for a block and followed with a kill through the middle. The Cardinal closed out game one at 30-23 as Franci Girard picked up a kill and block. Nnamani totaled eight kills with a .571 attack percentage to lead the Cardinal in game one. Stanford hit .395 as a team with five team blocks and held the Gophers to a .133 mark. Jones and Martin each charted four kills in the first game for Minnesota.

Minnesota recovered from an early 0-3 deficit in game two as the Gophers scored six of the next seven points. Stanford tied the game back up at seven as Richards and Hucke recorded back-to-back kills. The Cardinal earned a two-point lead at 13-11 after Suiter knocked down a kill. Bowman and Bratford scored successive kills to lead the Gophers back into a tie at 15-15 following the media timeout. Nnamani followed a Bowman service error with a kill to give the Cardinal an 18-16 lead. Minnesota pulled into a tie at 20-all as a Hucke attack went into the net. The Gophers gained the advantage at 23-21 with kills by Martin and Bowman sandwiched around a Cardinal attack error by Suiter. Stanford knotted the game at 27-27 after a kill by Nnamani and a Gopher attack that just missed line in the corner. Hucke ended a long rally with a kill on the right side to give the Cardinal a 28-27 lead. Nnamani followed with a block solo to provide the Cardinal with its first game point of game two at 29-27, and promptly ended it with a kill for a 30-27 victory. Nnamani scored 12 kills in the second game alone on 19 attacks, while the Cardinal hit .486 as a team. Bratford was credited with six kills in the second game for the Gophers.

The Gophers came out of the intermission break to take a 7-4 lead as Bowman hit a kill off the right side followed by a Richards attack error. After Richards hammered a kill, Minnesota suffered a blow on the back row as Gentil went down with an injury on a play that Bratford was credited with a kill off a touch at 8-5. Down 9-6, Stanford tied the game with three straight kills by Nnamani. The Cardinal took a 12-10 lead on a Gopher back-row attack error and Martin hitting error. Minnesota stormed back into the game with successive kills by Bratford for a 13-all score. Nnamani tipped a shot over the defense, which was followed by Kehoe ace and two more Nnamani kills to lift the Cardinal to a 22-18 lead. Minnesota stopped the four-point run with a Martin kill, only to see Stanford roll off five more unanswered points for a 27-19 lead. Stanford closed out the game at 30-21 on a Nnamani's 29th kill of the match.

MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Ogonna Nnamani, Senior Outside Hitter, Stanford

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Bryn Kehoe, Freshman Setter, Stanford
Kristin Richards, Sophomore Outside Hitter, Stanford
Jennifer Hucke, Senior Outside Hitter/Opposite,Stanford
Erin Martin, Senior Outside Hitter, Minnesota
Paula Gentil, Junior Libero, Minnesota