Cardinal Cardinal (November 12, 2004)men splash to victory

Women's soccer teamn opens NCAA tourney

by Rick Eymer

Senior Matt McDonald won the butterfly competition and sophomore Hongzhe Sun won the backstroke competition as Stanford hosted California in a triple distance men's swimming meet on Wednesday.

McDonald had the best combined time in winning the 50 fly in 23.00, the 200 fly in 49.89, and finished second in the 200 fly with a 1:51.73.

Sun won the 50 back in 22.78, the 200 back in 1:45.68 and finished second in the 100 back in 48.84 for the swiftest combined time. Stanford's Jayme Cramer was second in the back category.

Sun and McDonald was joined by Gary Marshall and Andy Grant in winning the 400 medley relay.

The Cardinal compete at the Speedo Cup this weekend.
Women's soccer

Stanford begins its run in the NCAA tournament today at 4:30 p.m. when the Cardinal take the field at Buck Shaw Stadium against Cal Poly.

Santa Clara meets California at 2 p.m., with the winners meeting Sunday at noon.

The Cardinal (12-5-3) have won all three previous meetings with the Mustangs, including twice in the postseason.

Stanford has an 11-12-2 record in postseason play, including a 7-5 mark in the first round. The Cardinal lost to Santa Clara, 1-0, in the first round last year.

Senior forward Marcie Ward leads Stanford with 18 points, while senior goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart is third in the nation with an 0.437 goals against average.
Women's tennis

Stanford freshman Whitney Deason defeated fellow freshman Lejla Hodzic, a Pinewood grad, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on Wednesday at Stanford to capture the rain-delayed singles title of the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational.

Deason, the tournament's No. 4 seed, upset top-seed Josslyn Burkett of Arizona State last Saturday in Tempe to reach the finals.

The unseeded Hodzic upset third seed Maria Rosenberg of Kansas State en route to the finals.

Deason is 7-1 on the fall season while Hodzic is 4-1. As a doubles team, the freshmen are 8-1.
Cross country

The top-ranked Stanford women's team is heavily favored to win its seventh straight NCAA West Regional title on Saturday at Woodward park in Fresno.

The second-ranked Cardinal men are looking for their ninth straight regional title.

The top two teams automatically qualify for the NCAA championships to be held in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 22.
Women's volleyball

Stanford continues its push toward the postseason with a pair of Pac-10 matches this weekend in Oregon.

The 11th-ranked Cardinal (9-3, 17-6) play at Oregon State today at 7 p.m. Stanford was at Oregon on Thursday.

Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, is closing in on the all-time Pac-10 kills record. She needs 123 more kills to slip past former UCLA star Kristee Porter, who has 2,255.

Stanford brought a 30-match winning streak into Thursday's match against the Ducks. Oregon hasn't beaten the Cardinal since 1989. Stanford has never lost in 39 previous matches with Oregon State.

Stanford returns home next weekend, hosting top-ranked and undefeated Washington on Thursday. Stanford is undefeated at Burnham Pavilion in conference play.

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