Nov. 30, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. - The Santa Clara volleyball team season came to a close Friday night with a intense and hard-fought 3-0 (30-20, 30-28, 30-27) loss to top-seed Stanford in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Broncos finished the season with a 19-12 overall record and their fifth West Coast Conference title.
"I really liked the way we played tonight," said head coach Jon Wallace. "Our players did everything we asked of them from the scouting report to practice to taking the floor tonight and playing their hearts out. Stanford had to beat us for the win tonight."
Junior Brittany Lowe led all players with 20 kills, while freshman Krista Kelley added 12 kills. Junior Taylor O'Brien collected a match-high and personal best 15 digs, while Crystal Matich dished out 45 assists. Lauryn Dowd finished the match first on the team with four total blocks, while sophomore Lindsy Evans has three total blocks.
Stanford jumped to a 2-0 lead on points from Foluke Akinradewo and Alix Klineman, but back-to-back Cardinal errors tied game one for the Broncos, 2-2. Stanford grabbed a one-point edge once again but a kill from Dowd knotted the score once again, 3-3. The teams kept the score tight before a 4-0 run on points from Klineman, Franci Gerard and Cynthia Barboza gave Stanford a 14-6 lead. The Broncos fought hard to tie the score and produced a 5-2 run on a quartet of kills from Kelley and Lowe, 21-15. The Cardinal began to widen the gap once again but a kill from Kelley stopped its run and four straight Bronco points brought the score to 24-19. Santa Clara would only score just one more point on a kill from Kelley and Stanford won the first game, 30-20.
The Cardinal gained an early advantage in the second game as it climbing to a 5-2 lead but the Broncos rallied on points mainly from Lowe to bring the score within one, 9-8. A high-powered attack from Kelley tied the game, 9-9, but Stanford took control of the score once again. The Broncos tried to tie the game but a 7-2 run from the Cardinal made the score, 17-12. Although Stanford held control of the scoreboard, SCU fought hard to chip away at the gap with a 4-1 run on points from Nichole Clark, Lowe, Evans and an ace from Matich to bring the Broncos within two-points, 20-18. Fueled by a pair of kills from Clark and successful attacks from Kim Courtney and Kelley, Santa Clara tied the score 25-25. Yet, Stanford earned the advantage again and won game two, 30-28.
Santa Clara and Stanford battled point-for-point in the beginning of game three as the score was tied seven times. The Broncos gained their first lead of the match on a service ace from Dowd and a kill from Matich, 4-2. The Cardinal broke away on strong service efforts from Franci Girard but the Broncos fought back to produce a 5-0 run to tie the score, 11-11, and create a two-point advantage, 13-11, on points from Lowe, Evans and Dowd. Stanford came back to tie the score, 17-17, but back-to-back kills from Kelley gave SCU the lead once more, 19-17. The Cardinal compiled a 7-1 rally on kills from Akinradewo and Waller, and blocks from Klineman to take control of the scoreboard, 25-21. Two straight Bronco kills from Lowe and Evans halted the Cardinal's run, but Bryn Kehoe answered right back to make the score 26-22. A kill from Girardi brought the match to a close for Stanford, 30-27.
