Oregon gave its opponent trouble, but
Stanford’s attackers ultimately prevailed on Thursday at McArthur Court.
Four of the Cardinal’s hitters recorded
double-digits in kills as they handed the Ducks (9-15 overall, 1-13 Pacific-10 Conference) their 10th sweep of the season, 30-22, 30-22, 30-27.
“(Stanford) was pretty difficult to block, but I think our blockers did a good job,”
Oregon setter Heather Madison said. “Ogonna (Nnamani) hits over the block and Kristin Richards hits low, so we were just trying to adjust to that.”
Nnamani landed a match-high 21 kills on 46 attempts for the No. 11 Cardinal. The
senior outside hitter finished with a .348
hitting percentage. She recorded nine kills in the first game alone.
The Ducks had two players turn in equally impressive performances. Outside hitter
Kelly Russell posted 15 kills, bringing her total number of kills on the season beyond 300. Sarah Mason also posted 15 kills, and both players recorded 13 digs.
“They both did an amazing job,” Madison said, who finished with 39 assists. “We
executed a lot better in this match than in
previous matches.”
Mason, a sophomore, landed Oregon’s
only two service aces of the match in the
first game.
“A lot of people stepped up, but Sarah had an incredible match,” Madison said. “We have a lot of people that are really driven on this team.”
Madison said her team’s all-around
patience on the floor is what kept them in
the contest.
Stanford (18-6, 10-3) received 11 kills and a match-best 18 digs from Richards, who now has 15 double-doubles this season. Senior Jennifer Hucke also shined with 10 kills and 10 digs.
Freshman Franci Girard added 11 kills and a match-high six block assists for Stanford, which finished with 10 team blocks compared to Oregon’s four. Every player that was
included in Stanford’s attack recorded a
hitting percentage above .225.
Oregon hit .175 for the match and
sustained its hitting percentage above the .200 mark in the first and third games. Stanford
hit .341 to extend its winning streak to
three matches.
Senior libero Katie O’Neil collected a team-high 15 assists for the Ducks.
Oregon tied the score five times in each of the first two games. In the third game, the Ducks strung together several sideouts and recorded 13 ties, but never saw a lead greater than two points.
Stanford libero Bryn Kehoe added 50 assists and 14 digs.

[email protected]