The NCAA championship started with 64 teams in the tournament. After last night's game,
Stanford was one of the 32 teams remaining. Could Stanford beat Santa Clara and become one
of the sweet sixteen teams advancing to the next round of competition?
But first, a good way to appreciate volleyball played at the collegiate
level is to play some volleyball myself. So we played some sand volleyball during lunch.
We actually had enough players to play on two courts. I had a great time despite getting
sand all over my body as I tried to unsuccessfully get to the ball. I'm just so darn slow.
I always say that I could be a better player if I'm one second faster at bumping and
setting the ball and one second slower at spiking the ball. Well, I'll keep practicing and
playing...Actually, it will really help if somehow I can grow as tall as Logan Tom at 6-2
:-)
So for the second evening in a row I arrived at Stanford's Maples
Pavilion.
At least tonight I'm more used to the sign "1-800-BEAT-CAL" or
rather "1-800-BE-AT-CAL"!
Stanford easily disposed the
Santa Clara Broncos the first two games with scores of 15-9 and 15-6. Kerri Walsh (14
kills), Logan Tom (14 kills), Lindsey Yamasaki (15 kills), Tara Conrad (13 kills)
all played great. Fearsome foursome indeed. Kerri Walsh in particular had a triple-double
evening: 14 kills, 13 digs, and a season-high 11 blocks.
Could they sweep the
Broncos in three games? No! Broncos came back strong and beat Stanford 11-15 in a very
lengthy and hard-fought third game. During this whole time my heart was pounding wildly!
Fortunately the Stanford lady
Cardinals came through and crushed the Broncos 15-5. It was a very satisfying victory. Now
they were one of the sweet 16 teams!
Here was the official story from the Stanford WEB.
No. 2 Stanford Holds Off Santa Clara To Advance To Sweet 16 In NCAA Women's Volleyball
Tournament
National Player of the Year candidate Kerri
Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) recorded the Cardinal’s first
triple-double (14 kills, 13 digs, season-high 11 blocks) of the season to lift No. 2
Stanford (28-2) over Santa Clara (21-11) in a second round NCAA women’s volleyball
match at Maples Pavilion on Friday. The Cardinal now advances to the Sweet 16 for an
amazing 19th straight season. Stanford will host Pac-10 rival and No. 18 Arizona (21-10)
in the next round (Thursday, December 9, 7:30 p.m.). The Wildcats upset No. 13 Texas
(22-8) in three straight games on Friday in Austin. Stanford swept the season series over
Arizona in 1999 and has an all-time record of 37-1 against the Wildcats. No. 7 UC Santa
Barbara (28-5) and No. 10 Nebraska (27-5) will also play a third-round match next Thursday
at Maples Pavilion (5:00 p.m.).
Stanford, which also extended its home win streak to 43 matches and won for the 14th
time in its last 15 NCAA Tournament matches, had four players reach double figure kills in
a balanced attack. Freshman outside hitter Lindsey
Yamasaki (Oregon City, OR/Oregon City HS) paced the club for the second straight
night, registering 15 kills. Walsh and National Freshman of the Year candidate Logan Tom
(Salt Lake City, UT/Highland HS) added 14 each, while sophomore middle blocker Tara
Conrad (Torrance, CA/West HS) contributed 13.
Stanford dominated the match at the net, recording a season-high 21 team blocks
compared to just three for the Broncos. Walsh led the blocking attack with a season-high
11 blocks. Junior middle blocker Jennifer
Detmer (Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS) added 10, while Conrad posted eight.
Santa Clara, which won its first NCAA Tournament match ever last night, challenged the
Cardinal and forced the match to four games with a hard-fought victory in a lengthy game
three. The Broncos posted a .387 attack percentage in that game to outslug the Cardinal
(.317).
