Cardinal Cardinal (October 01, 2004)water polo is now No. 1

Women's volleyball hosts California tonight after falling to St. Mary's

by Rick Eymer

The top-ranked Stanford men's water polo team will likely get another chance to play second-ranked USC this weekend at the NorCal Tournament in Stockton.

The Cardinal (1-0, 7-1) open play on Saturday at with a 10:30 a.m. game against either Pacific or Cal Baptist. If Stanford wins, they will play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. against UC San Diego or St. Francis (N.Y.).

The Cardinal entered the season as the nation's No. 1 team, but dropped to second with an 8-6 loss to USC in the championship game of the Southern California Tournament two weeks ago. Stanford regained the top ranking with a 9-8 victory last weekend against the Trojans.

Greg Crum was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Athlete of the Week for his efforts in helping lead Stanford to victories over USC and Pacific last weekend.

Crum scored three goals against USC, including the game-winner with 1:42 to play, as the Cardinal dropped the Trojans from the ranks of the unbeaten. He also scored three goals in a 13-3 win over the Tigers.

Crum is Stanford's second leading scorer with 17 goals.

Stanford hosts Princeton (10-1) today at 5 p.m.

Thomas Hopkins continues to lead the Cardinal with 23 goals. Peter Varellas also has 17. Goalkeeper Chad Taylor has 45 saves in seven games.

In other news, the game times for the NCAA Final Four at Stanford on Dec. 5 have changed. The third-place game will start at noon with the championship match set for 2 p.m. Match times for the semifinals on Dec. 4 remain the same at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Women's volleyball

Stanford won't have much time to worry about its latest loss to St. Mary's as Pac-10 and Bay Area rival California comes to Burnham Pavilion for a showdown tonight at 7 p.m.

Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani recorded 24 kills and moved into sixth place on the Pac-10's all-time kills list with 1,867 but the Cardinal dropped a 30-24, 26-30, 36-34, 30-27 decision to the host Gaels. She also had 18 digs.

It's the second time this season Stanford (9-3) as lost to St. Mary's. The Gaels (11-1) beat Stanford at the Nevada Invitational earlier in September.

The Cardinal hope to rebound against Cal, as both teams enter the contest with 2-0 conference records. It's Nike Fan Appreciation Day, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free Nike T-shirt to be worn during the televised match.

Game three proved crucial against the Gaels. Stanford took their final timeout as St. Mary's went up 26-25. St. Mary's held off five game points to take the lead at 34-33 and won the game 36-34 on their second game point.

In Game 4, the Gaels took the early lead. Stanford closed within 23-21 but St. Mary's reached game and match point at 29-26 and closed it out.

Sophomore middle blocker Lizzie Suiter recorded a career-high 10 blocks, while Kristin Richards had 16 kills and 20 digs and Jennifer Hucke added 17 kills, three service aces and 13 digs. Freshman setter Bryn Kehoe had 60 assists and 19 digs while Courtney Schultz recorded 17 digs.
Women's soccer

Stanford hosts St. Mary's on Sunday at 1 p.m. after playing at Santa Clara on Thursday.

Stanford is 13-5-2 against Saint Mary's, and has not lost a meeting against the Gaels (8-3) since 1989.

St. Mary's is coached by former Stanford coach Paul Sapsford.

With six-straight wins, the Cardinal moved to No. 16 in the NSCAA/adidas poll, No. 12 ranking from Soccer America and Soccer Times and a No. 10 ranking from Soccer Buzz.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.