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Satisfying wins set up showdown
Eighth-ranked Cardinal volleyball team hosts No. 4 Santa Clara with a chance to avenge loss to Broncos in 2005 NCAA tourney

by Rick Eymer

After a slow start to her sophomore season, Stanford outside hitter Cynthia Barboza elevated her game and helped the Cardinal women's volleyball team sweep three matches at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge in Hawaii over the weekend.

Barboza, who had 46 kills and hit at a .471 clip, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Challenge. She was joined on the all-tournament team by senior outside hitter Kristin Richards and sophomore middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo.

Eighth-ranked Stanford completed the weekend with a gratifying 30-10, 30-22, 30-24 victory over No. 9 Hawaii before a crowd of 8,213 at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday night.

On Monday, Barboza was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for her efforts in Hawaii.

The Cardinal (6-1) opened with a 30-27, 30-27, 30-17 victory over Northwestern on Thursday and then recorded a 30-13, 30-16, 30-14 win over Fairfield on Friday.

Stanford hosts fourth-ranked Santa Clara (6-1 entering Tuesday night's match against San Jose State) at Thursday at 7 p.m. to open the Stanford Invitational. The Broncos ended Stanford's season in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year in Maples Pavilion.

"There's no way our team isn't thinking about the fact they beat us last year and went on to the Final Four," Stanford coach John Dunning said. "There's nothing like losing to help you face things and motivate you. They are a solid team again."

Both teams return most of their starters from a year ago. Santa Clara lost All-American Cassie Perret, a Woodside Priory grad, to graduation.

Stanford played that match without Barboza, a prep national Player of the Year. Barboza missed the final 11 matches of last season with a torn ACL in her left knee.

"We had a rough start at BYU but we improved last week and knew it," Dunning said. "It was a matter of showing it and we played very well, very consistently. We were up and down before then."

Barboza may have shown the most improvement. She committed 15 errors in her first 79 attacks and was hitting .063. She made those numbers a distant memory by making just eight errors in her last 142 attacks for a .437 hitting percentage. Barboza is hitting .303 on the season with a team-high 90 kills. She also has a team best 10 service aces.

Akinradewo and Richards tend to keep opposing teams honest on defense. Try to stop Barboza and Akinradewo (87 kills, .451 hitting percentage) or Richards (77 kills) could wind up carrying the load.

"It's good that we've been able to spread things out," Dunning said. "It gives us a more potent offense."

Bryn Kehoe (11.36 assists per game, 3.09 digs) will also be back at setter against the Broncos. The junior All-American missed seven matches with a broke right hand last year and did not set during the NCAA tournament.

Senior middle blocker Lizzie Suiter may also be back for Thursday's match. Suiter hurt her back during practice over two weeks ago and has yet to play this season.

Suiter missed a majority of last season with two ankle sprains and a vision problem and was coming on at the end of the year.

"She had a great spring and played well in Europe," Dunning said. "She's just had some bad luck. I hope she returns this week because she will be able to help us."

Barboza had a season-high 19 kills in the opening win over the Wildcats and added 15 in the win over the Rainbow Wahine.

Against Fairfield, Stanford recorded 10 kills in its first 12 attacks to help take a 15-4 lead in the first game. Meanwhile, the Stags recorded just two kills in its first 16 attacks, committing five errors for a minus .188 attack percentage.

Stanford committed just nine hitting errors for the match. Fairfield (3-5) had nine in the first game.

Sophomore Libero Jessica Fishburn added 32 digs in the tournament and leads the team with 86 overall.

Georgetown, St. Mary's and UC Irvine are also in the Stanford Invitational.

Men's water polo

Fourth-ranked Stanford opened its season with two victories in Colorado Springs on Sunday, beating Navy, 14-5, and host Air Force, 9-5.

Stanford scored the game's first four goals against the Midshipmen and carried a 10-3 lead into the final quarter.

Sophomore Will Hindel-Katel led the Cardinal with four goals.

After falling behind the Falcons, 2-1, Stanford scored four unanswered goals to pull away in the third quarter.

Freshman Janson Wigo scored three goals to help lead Stanford past Air Force.

The Cardinal (2-0) open the NorCal Tournament at Avery Aquatic Center with Navy (6-2) on Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

Women's soccer

Stanford extended its scoreless streak to 360 minutes following a pair of road victories over the weekend.

The Cardinal (4-2) beat host Rutgers, 1-0, on Friday night and then beat Long Island, 4-0, on Sunday.

Stanford hosts the Nike Invitational at Maloney Field, and will meet No. 12 Tennessee on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Freshman Ali Riley scored the match's lone goal against the Scarlett Knights in the 16th minute.

Freshman Alicia Jenkins stole the ball near midfield and played it to sophomore Hillary Heath. Riley picked it up from Heath and dribbled past the Scarlet Knight defense, sending a drive past goalkeeper Erin Guthrie.

"Alicia did really good work getting the ball," said Riley. "She passed it to Hillary who passed it to me and I dribbled in and shot from 12 yards out. It felt great to get my first goal. I'm happy we won, but we still have a lot to work on. It's just going to get better from here."

Stanford outshot the Blackbirds, 16-1, and scored three times in the first half. Junior Lizzy George, Riley, freshman Kelley O'Hara, and freshman Kristin Stannard scored for the Cardinal.

Sophomore Lea MacKinnon recorded her team-leading third assist.

"We did an excellent job protecting the ball and defending the net," Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "This sets us up for a great tournament at home."

Men's soccer

Stanford salvaged a tie out of the Stanford Nike Invitational over the weekend, playing Cal State Fullerton to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

San Jose State scored twice in the final five minutes, stunning host Stanford, 2-1, on Friday.

Gavin Wenyon's strike from 25 yards out with eight seconds remaining gave the Spartans the win.

Junior Evan Morgan put Stanford up 1-0 at the 48:06 mark with his first goal of the year. Sophomore T.J. Novak eluded two defenders in a run up the right sideline before crossing in a pass to Morgan, who tapped the ball past San Jose State goalie Richard Mann.

The Spartans tied the game at the 85:05 mark.

Morgan also scored against the Titans, giving Stanford the early lead.

The Cardinal (1-3-2) participates in the Cal Legacy Classic this weekend, meeting Sacramento State on Friday at noon in Berkeley.

Cross Country

Stanford's men's team placed all five of its runners in the top eight to easily win the Aggie Open at Wildhorse Golf Course on Saturday.

Stanford's Russell Brown won the 8,000 meter race in 25:04.60. Rolf Steier was second in 25:05.10.

The Stanford women finished second to Cal as Alicia Follmar (18:33.60) and Katie Harrington (18:33.80) finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Field hockey

Stanford lost to California, 4-3, in a nonconference match on Saturday.

The Cardinal (2-4) held a 3-0 lead at halftime, but the 16th-ranked Bears rallied in the second half.

Jess Zutz scored a goal and had an assist for Stanford. Julia Drewes and Liz Robinson also scored.

Stanford travels to Iowa for a night match on Wednesday.

Women's golf

Stanford finished second, two strokes behind USC, in the Topy Cup at the Tanagura County Club in Japan on Saturday.

Stanford senior Jennifer Tangtiphaiboontana finished second with a three-round total of 219 as the Cardinal finished with a 894.

Stanford competes in the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship in Franklin, TN beginning Friday.