Cardinal volleyball in the zone Cardinal volleyball in the zone (September 07, 2005)

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford women's volleyball season is not even two weeks old yet and the Cardinal will be playing in its third different time zone on Thursday when it meets host Colorado in the opening round of the Colorado Invitational.

After opening the year in the Central time zone, third-ranked Stanford will have spent a week in the Eastern time zone by the time Tuesday's match against host New Hampshire is completed.

Stanford's trip east proved a success in more than just winning all three matches at the Boston College Invitational. The freshmen players displayed some of their vast potential while veterans like junior outside hitter Kristin Richards and sophomore setter Bryn Kehoe played consistently well.

It may be a bit odd to describe Kehoe as a veteran, but the sophomore began playing like a veteran halfway through her freshman season and has been brilliant in directing the attack to date.

After helping Stanford win the national championship last season, Kehoe played for both the United States senior national and junior national teams over the summer.

The blend of youth and experience showed when it came time for all-tournament honors. Kehoe was named MVP, and she was joined on the all-star team by Richards and freshman Foluke Akinradewo.

Richards had 22 kills and Akinradewo added 19 as Stanford (4-1) rallied to beat Syracuse, 25-30, 30-14, 30-21, 30-23, on Saturday to complete the tournament trifecta.

Stanford beat Maine, 30-19, 30-20, 30-15, on Friday after opening with a 30-15, 30-15, 30-16 win over host Boston on Thursday.

Kehoe recorded 61 assists against Syracuse, and had 126 for the tournament to go along with 35 digs. Senior Courtney Schultz, like Kehoe, reached double figures in each match in digs. Schultz finished with 34.

Akinradewo had a monster offensive tournament, recording hitting percentages of .741, .538 and .536. She had a team-high 16 kills in the opener against the Eagles.

Freshman Cynthia Barboza hit .556 while recording a team-best 11 kills in the win over Maine. Barboza added 15 kills (hitting .394) and 13 digs against Syracuse.

Richards had nine kills (.438) against Maine and recorded a double-double (22 kills, 12 digs) against Syracuse. The Cardinal hit .394 as a team, while limiting Syracuse to a .150 percentage.

Stanford was even more dominant against Boston (.316 to a minus .049) and Maine (.347 to a minus .053).

For good measure, Katie Goldhahn recorded 10 digs and Jennifer Wilson had nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage against the Orange.

Wilson, who had eight kills in the first two matches combined, drew praise from knowledgeable play-by-play announcer Rebecca Harlow, a student at Stanford.

"Wilson has been used sparingly until now, but she had a great performance on Saturday," Harlow said on KZSU. "This was a breakout match for her."

The Stanford-Boston College match drew a Northeast (and Boston College) record crowd of 2,127. The Eagles drew a total of 1,480 fans for all their matches combined last year.

Stanford also announced plans that it will seek monetary donations for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund from fans attending the Stanford Invitational, which begins Sept. 15, and also at Pac-10 matches against visiting USC and UCLA.

For entertaining daily reports, unaccredited but written by Sports Information Director Bob Vasquez, concerning the women's volleyball team, visit http://gostanford.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stan-w-volley-body.html.

Women's soccer

The big test comes this weekend when 14th-ranked Stanford plays two nationally-ranked opponents at the USF Invitational at Negoesco Stadium, but the Cardinal can feel pretty good about its offensive output in beating visiting San Jose State, 5-0, on Friday and then beating host USF, 2-0, on Sunday.

Stanford meets No. 13 Illinois on Friday before taking on No. 2 North Carolina, a perennial powerhouse, on Sunday.

Stanford (2-1) was shut out in its opener against nationally-ranked Portland, but may have gotten some things straightened out as evidenced by the Cardinal's effort against the Spartans and Lady Dons.

Senior Leah Tapscott scored the first goal in each match. She scored in the 40th minute against San Jose State to spark an outburst, and scored in the 20th minute against USF.

Tapscott got an assist from freshman Marisa Abegg against the Lady Dons. Sophomore midfielder April Wall added an insurance goal, her first collegiate goal, on an assist from freshman Kelley Birch in the 45th minute.

Freshman goalie Alex Gamble recorded the first shutout of her collegiate career, making two saves.

Stanford added four second-half goals against the Spartans, with Shari Summers, Martha West, Austinn Freeman and Lizzy George recording the goals.

Gamble and sophomore Erica Holland shared Friday's shutout.

Men's water polo

Senior Thomas Hopkins scored four goals - all in the first period - and fourth-ranked Stanford opened its season with a 19-4 win over visiting Santa Clara on Sunday.

Stanford scored six straight goals after an early 1-1 tie to gain control of the contest. The Cardinal led, 12-2, at halftime.

Ten different players scored for the Cardinal. Freshman Will Hindle-Katel scored his first three collegiate goals, while senior Peter Varellas, junior J.J. Garton and sophomores Michael Bury and Forrest Schwartz each added two goals.

Cardinal coach John Vargas used all four of his goalies, including Menlo School grad Jimmie Sandman. Sophomore Sandy Hohener started, and juniors Beau Stockstill, David Carlson also played.

Stanford hosts UC Davis on Saturday and UC Santa Cruz on Sunday, both at noon.

Cross country

The Stanford women's team opened with a victory at the USF Invitational in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on Saturday.

The Cardinal men, even with all seven runners in the top 11, finished second to Arizona.

The women placed four runners in the top five of the 5,000-meter race, and finished with 42 points. Arizona was second with 56, and Stanford used just five runners.

Arianna Lambie and Julie Allen finished first and second. Lambie completed the course in 18:18.3 while Allen came in at 18:20.7. Lindsay Flacks finished fourth (18:27.1) and Katie Harrington was fifth (18:28.7).

The Cardinal men captured fifth through 11th place, but Arizona swept the top four places to gain the victory.

Hari Mix led Stanford with a time of 25:34.7 over 8,000 meters.

Men's soccer

Stanford hopes to find its offense by the time it takes the field on Friday at noon for a match with Cal State Northridge in the Cal tournament in Berkeley.

The Cardinal allowed just one goal in its first two matches of the year, but that was good enough only for a tie and a loss.

Stanford opened with a 0-0 double overtime draw against host San Jose State on Thursday and then fell to host UC Davis, 1-0, on Sunday.

Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen recorded his first shutout of the year against the Spartans, who held a 13-9 advantage in shots taken.

The Cardinal (0-1-1) allowed a goal on a long pass and quick strike in the 16th minute against the Aggies and it stood up.

Stanford had several opportunities to tie the contest before halftime. Luke Sager was awarded a free kick from about 10 yards above the Aggie penalty box in the 37th minute, but the UC Davis keeper made the stop.

Cardinal sophomore Scott Bolkan sent a low drive toward the Aggie net two minutes later, but it was stopped with a sliding save. Sager got the rebound, but could not convert.

Field hockey

The frustrating losses keep mounting for Stanford, which has played well enough defensively to be undefeated.

The Cardinal instead finds itself winless in five matches following a 3-1 loss to visiting Iowa on Friday and a 3-2 overtime loss to visiting Syracuse on Sunday and a 3-0 setback to Michigan State on Monday.

Stanford has allowed just 16 goals in five games but has scored just five times. Two of the losses have come in overtime.

The Hawkeyes scored twice in the first 10 minutes of play and never trailed. Syracuse's only lead was the final margin.

Sophomore Jess Zutz scored an unassisted goal at the end of the first half against Iowa. Zutz led the Cardinal with four shots, followed by freshman Caroline Hussey with two shots.

"We made some changes at the half and we're continuing to get better each game," Stanford coach Lesley Irvine said. "We took some big steps forward, creating offensive opportunities, some of which we didn't capitalize on. We're pleased to have competed so well. Madison Bell really stepped up; we were pleased with her aggressiveness in the goal."

Bell recorded a career-high eight saves against Syracuse, while Zutz and freshman Caroline Hussey scored for Stanford.

The Cardinal travel to Appalachian State on Wednesday for its NorPac opener.

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