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When Rachel Williams' blast hit the court safely, it not only gave the top-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team a 25-20-25-22, 25-21 victory over No. 2 Oregon on Sunday, but also gave the Cardinal a three-match lead over the second-place Ducks with six matches remaining to play in the Pac-12 Conference.

Williams and Carly Wopat each had 10 kills for Stanford (14-0, 22-2), which extended its winning streak to 20, the longest under coach John Dunning and the longest since 1999.

Stanford won't have to wait long for its next match, with Washington State coning to town for a 7 p.m. first serve on Wednesday night and Washington visiting Thursday.

The Cougars took Stanford to five sets in Pullman, while Washington remains among the top seven teams in the nation.

Even without injured outside hitter Jordan Burgess, the Cardinal were able to stifle Oregon's attack just enough to clinch the important victory.

Wopat was also a huge contributor defensively, contributing nine blocks. She also hit at an impressive .692 pace. Williams hit .409 and the Cardinal clobbered Oregon with a .344 team hitting percentage.

Freshman setter Madi Bugg controlled the offense with 30 assists, and added three kills, three digs and two service aces. Sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert registered a match-high 15 digs.

Brittany Howard recorded four of her eight kills in the third set, while Wopat had four of her blocks in the closely-contested finale.

Men's water polo
Nine different players scored, including six with hat tricks, as third-ranked Stanford men's water polo finished off a non-conference weekend sweep Sunday with a 24-7 win at No. 19 Santa Clara.

The Cardinal (14-4) extended its season-best winning streak to six and posted a season high in goals Sunday. Stanford will return to MPSF play on Friday, traveling to No. 2 UCLA for a critical conference matchup at 7 p.m.

Freshmen Bret Bonanni and BJ Churnside each scored a team-high four goals while Alex Bowen, Michael Carter, Ian Gamble and Nick Hoversten netted three goals apiece. Travis Noll scored twice while Menlo School grad Alex Avery and Sacred Heart Prep grad Robert Dunlevie each added a goal.

Clayton Evans and Hunter Ploch each played a half in the cage, making a combined three saves.

Just as in Saturday's win at UC Davis, the Cardinal jumped all over the Broncos Sunday, scoring the game's first six goals within the opening 6:45. Churnside netted two of the goals, one on the 6-on-5, while Carter capped the run with an even-strength effort with 1:15 to go in the frame. Garrat Johnson would score with 1:01 to go to get the Broncos on the board.

Hoversten and Noll would score 38 seconds apart within the opening minutes of the second period, while Carter and Bonanni would net their second goals of the game later in the frame as Stanford enjoyed a comfortable 10-3 halftime lead.

The Cardinal would score six more times in the third period before outscoring the Broncos 8-1 in the final frame to account for the final result.

Men's tennis
Cardinal freshman Robert Stineman captured the Orange Division singles title at the Pacific Tigers Invitational, defeating Daniel Ho, 6-2, 6-2, in an all-Stanford final.

The doubles final was also an all-Cardinal affair, with Ho and Denis Lin edging Maciek Romanowicz and Stineman, 9-7.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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