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Palo Alto Online

Stanford suffers rare home loss in women's volleyball

by Rick Eymer

Call it a reality check. The Stanford women's volleyball team had plenty to cover when it went back over that three-game loss to third-ranked Florida on Saturday in the Stanford Invitational. No one said the Cardinal had to enjoy the view though.

"It's hard but you have to make yourself look at it," said Stanford coach John Dunning after the No. 4 Cardinal were swept at home for the first time in nearly three years. "What are we really like? I'd rather find out now. We deal in reality. It's better to know what you're really like."

Florida won, 30-17, 30-25, 30-18, and left no doubt which was the better team over the weekend in handing Stanford (4-1) its first loss of the season.

The Cardinal won their opening match of the Invitational on Friday, beating San Diego, 30-25, 30-25, 35-33.

Stanford faces another challenge this weekend with a possible showdown against nationally-ranked Hawaii in the Hawaii Invitational. Stanford meets Weber State in the first round on Friday with a match looming against the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday in front of what will likely be a sellout crowd. Hawaii takes it volleyball seriously.

"Hawaii is another good team and it's a good chance to match up against a good team," said Stanford senior middle blocker Jennifer Harvey. "It's fun to play in front of big crowds."

The Cardinal turned a critical eye toward the Florida match, and Harvey thinks the experience - though not fun - was worth the effort.

"We learned a lot on what we need to work on," she said. "We put forth a good effort and had streaks of points but we also gave up streaks. We realize we have a lot to improve upon. We also know we'll be better next time out."

Stanford will open Pac-10 play at Oregon State on Sept. 18.

"At this point we know Hawaii is a better team than we are," said Dunning. "We have to fight and claw to get to that level, and it's possible. We have people who will work hard and I know how much better they can get. We can't shy away from great opportunities like Florida or Hawaii. You have to crave those situations."

Florida and Stanford made up half of last year's Final Four, and Dunning thinks the Gators are a lot better this year. Florida (6-1) lost its season opener to defending NCAA champions and top-ranked USC but has since dropped one game in winning six straight, including three over nationally-ranked opponents.

In the Gators, Stanford was facing its first nationally-ranked opponent of the season.

The Cardinal remain a team in transition as Dunning experiments with different combinations, and works freshman Kristin Richards into the starting lineup. Senior setter Anna Robinson and sophomore setter Katie Goldhahn are also being used equally.

"We're finding our own identity," said Harvey.

Harvey, Robinson and fellow seniors Sara McGee and Sara Dukes figure to play a prominent role, along with junior All-American Ogonna Nnamani, in finding that identity.

Harvey, one of the leading blockers in the country last year, has continued to improve her overall game.

"She's much stronger and more confident," said Dunning. "She's become a much better attacker and she will have a lot of success this year."

The 6-foot-5 Harvey, who hails from Denver, is the tallest women's volleyball player ever at Stanford. The net is 7-feet-41/4 off the ground and she can extend her entire hand over it standing straight.

Harvey was one of the few bright spots against Florida, as she hit at a .385 clip. Stanford was limited to .089 as a team.

Nnamani added a team-high 12 kills while junior libero Leahi Hall recorded 13 digs.

Against San Diego, Nnamani had a match-high 18 kills while hitting at a .417 clip. She also had a team-high eight digs. Harvey added 10 blocks, while Dukes recorded a career-high eight blocks.

Men's water polo

Even without junior All-American Tony Azevedo, the two-time defending national champions turned in a championship effort. Junior Matt Moser scored a career-high four goals as the Cardinal easily handled host UC Santa Cruz, 22-4, in their season opener on Sunday.

Greg Crum, Thomas Hopkins and Peter Varellas each added three goals as 10 different players scored.

Stanford's three goalkeepers - Chad Taylor, Beau Stockstill, and David Carlson - combined for eight saves.

Moser and Hopkins each scored twice in the second quarter as Stanford outscored the Banana Slugs 7-0 to take a 12-2 halftime lead.

The Cardinal travels to the Southern California Tournament in Irvine beginning Sept. 20.
Men's soccer

Junior Darren Fernandez scored in the second overtime to give Stanford a 1-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the opening round of the Cal Adidas Legacy Classic on Friday.

On Sunday, the Cardinal were on the other end of a 1-0 contest, losing to tournament champion Old Dominion.

Junior goalkeeper Robby Fulton, senior Abe Geiger and sophomore Chad Marshall were named to the all-tournament team.

"This tournament was a good early season test for our young team," said Stanford coach Bret Simon. "Old Dominion played defense at a very high level and we were just unable to score."

Sixth-ranked Stanford (1-1) hopes to apply the lessons it learned this weekend when the Cardinal travel to the Brown Tournament beginning Friday against the host team.

Against the 18th-ranked Waves, Fernandez headed in the only goal of the game on an assist by Bret Shimizu at 102:27. Fulton earned his 11th career shutout with a career-high 13 saves.

"This was a huge win, because it gives us confidence," added Fulton. "We hope that we can build on this and just keep playing better."

Old Dominion scored a goal just before halftime and made it stand as Stanford lost one of its first two games of the season for the first time since 1996.

Stanford lost to Old Dominion for the third straight meeting between the clubs and fell to 1-3 all-time versus the Monarchs.
Women's soccer

Stanford doesn't lose very often, let alone two in a row, but that's how the season started this year.

The fourth-ranked Cardinal (1-2) will try to rebound when they travel to Boston for the Harvard Tournament beginning Friday with a match against the host team.

Stanford suffered its first losing streak in five years after falling to defending NCAA champion Portland, 1-0, on Friday and No. 22 Pepperdine, 1-0, on Sunday.

Against the Pilots, Stanford senior co-captain Natalie Spilger got off four shots while sophomore Leah Tapscott and freshman Gina Farias-Eisner each had two. The Cardinal outshot Portland 5-2 in the second half.

Stanford outshot the Waves, 18-5. Senior co-captain Ally Marquand led the Cardinal with six shots and has a team high 12.
Field hockey

Senior Noor Dawood scored in the final second on an assist from Keely Machmer-Wessels to lift Stanford to a dramatic 3-2 victory over Virginia Commonwealth in a nonconference match on Friday.

Old Dominion ended the Cardinal's modest two-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Sunday.

Against Virginia Commonwealth, Lyndsay Erickson scored her first career goal, and Missy Halliday scored for the second time in as many games to set up Dawood's game-winner.

"To win a game in this fashion is a great way to start a road trip," said coach Lesley Irvine.

Jamie Hais made a key defensive save to keep the contest tied and set up Dawood's game-winning goal. Stanford outshot Virginia Commonwealth, 15-10.

Old Dominion held a 4-0 lead at halftime before Erickson and Dawood both scored to close the gap. Stanford goalkeeper Emily Zander recorded a career-best 24 saves.

Stanford continues its road trip at William and Mary on Tuesday.
Softball

Stanford sophomore Lauren Lappin joins Stanford grad Jessica Mendoza and Stanford coach John Ritter on the United States national team, which will make up the 2004 Olympic team.

The 18-member national team was chosen out of a pool of 46 which participated in team trials last week in Chula Vista.

Lappin, an Anaheim resident, is the youngest player on the team at age 19. She's making her first appearance with the national team but was a member of the USA Elite Team which won the gold medal at the Canada Cup over the summer.

Mendoza, a four-time All-American during her career at Stanford, has been with the national team since 2001. She played in the 2002 World Championships and 2003 Pan AM Games.

Ritter was also an assistant coach with the Pan Am Games team.
Men's gymnastics

J.D. Reive was named assistant coach recently.

Reive was an assistant coach with Nebraska between 1997-2000, while also working with the boys team at the Nebraska School of Gymnastics. For the past two months, Reive has been a member of the camp staff at Woodward West.
General

Associate Athletic Director Scott Schuhmann, currently in his 14th year at Stanford, will be honored by the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the Golden Hurricanes 1964 Bluebonnet Bowl team.

Schuhmann played outside linebacker for one of the Tulsa's all-time great football teams. His team was selected to the University's Athletic Hall of Fame as this year's Honor Team recipient. The team will be honored on Friday, October 3 and at halftime of the Tulsa-Hawaii football game on October 4.