Sep 3, 2008

Stanford powers past UCF for its first sweep

FROM DAILY NEWS DISPATCHES

In front of a packed house at the University of Central Florid, the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team put on a spectacular hitting show, prevailing 25-13, 25-17, 25-14 on Tuesday for its first sweep of the year.

The Cardinal hit .461 on its brief tour of Florida, and improved to 2-1 on the season.

Playing for the first time back in their home state, Floridian middle blockers Foluke Akinradewo and Janet Okogbaa hit a combined .520 and together rattled off 15 kills. Akinradewo was back on track after a slow opening weekend, hitting a more customary .636 with eight kills on 11 swings and just one error. Okogbaa and senior Erin Waller tallied seven kills and four blocks apiece, and every player in the Cardinal lineup hit better than .300 on the night.

The Cardinal outhit the Knights .461 to .011.

Sophomore Alix Klineman drilled five of her seven kills in the opening set, and a pair of her early swings quickly established the Stanford lead. Two more kills by Okogbaa built Klineman's early momentum into a 9-2 Cardinal run, and kept the Knights from finding a rhythm. A kill by Waller gave Stanford a 10-4 lead, and, soon after, an 8-2 run, once again fueled by Klineman, put the Cardinal up 21-10. Waller ripped another kill down the line to give Stanford set point at 24-13, and then paired with Akinradewo for a block to end things, 25-13. Stanford hit .500 while holding the Knights to a negative percentage. Klineman recorded kills on five of her six swings.

In the second set, a powerful swing by senior Cynthia Barboza and a pair of Knights miscues soon had Stanford on top 5-1. More UCF hitting and serving woes soon pushed Stanford's advantage to 12-5, and after a few hard swings by Akinradewo, to 18-10. The Knights managed to pull within five after winning three straight points, but Okogbaa and Waller took control in the front row and put the set away. Waller crushed her fourth kill of the match to give the Cardinal set point and a double-digit lead at 24-14, then had the clinching swing to finish the Knights off at 25-17. Stanford outhit UCF .296 to .032, and was led by Waller and Okogbaa's combined six kills.

The Cardinal pulled away more gradually in the third set, but nonetheless soon had a 12-6 lead. Okogbaa and Akinradewo led Stanford early on, and Barboza took some hard swings late, allowing the Cardinal to finish the match in dominating fashion. A block by Okogbaa and Waller gave Stanford its first seven-point lead at 17-10, and Akinradewo pushed it to double digits with a kill at 23-13. An error gave Stanford set point at 23-14, and the Cardinal put up a block to finish off the match.



Football

Cornerback Wopamo Osaisai, a senior from Pinole, has been named Pac-10 defensive player of the year after his 11 tackles led Stanford in a 36-28 season-opening win over Oregon State. He made nine solo tackles and broke up two passes.



Women's soccer

Seventh-ranked Stanford heads to Athens, Ga., this weekend for matches against Auburn and No. 22 Georgia as part of the Georgia/Nike Invitational. The Cardinal remained undefeated by taking down Navy 3-1 and No. 15 Boston College 3-0 over Labor Day weekend. The Cardinal have scored 11 goals, earned two shutouts and allowed just one goal in 270 minutes of play.