Stanford Sweeps Huskies

OMAHA ? Second-seeded Stanford (30-3) swept No. 6 seed Washington (29-5), 30-12, 30-25, 30-15, Thursday evening, as the Cardinal hit .315 as a team and held the Huskies to .000 hitting during the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinals at the Qwest Center Omaha.

Stanford (30-3) advances to the national championship match on Saturday at 8 p.m. and will play Nebraska (32-1), which defeated UCLA (33-4) in four games earlier tonight in the first semifinal match. The Cardinal will be attempting to win a NCAA-record seventh Division I women’s volleyball title. Washington, the defending national champion, finished the season with a 29-5 record.

Nebraska and Stanford are familiar with playing each other in the Qwest Center Omaha, despite the very few volleyball matches contested in the arena. Nebraska defeated Stanford in the 2005 AVCA College Volleyball Showcase in that event’s title match on Aug. 27, 2005, in front of 10,576 fans.

The top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament will meet for only the second time in an NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship match. Top-seed Southern California defeated second-seed Stanford in four games in 2002. The NCAA Selection Committee began seeding the 64-team tournament field in 2000.

Stanford used a 6-2 run to take a 14-8 lead in the opening set, then closed out the period on a 10-0 run to win 30-12, as the Cardinal hit .268 with seven team blocks and five aces. Washington was held to a season-low 12 points in the first game. Its previous low in a 30-point game (games one through four) this season was 15 against Stanford on Nov. 24. The Cardinal gained a two-game advantage by outscoring Washington, 6-3, down the stretch to win 30-25. Stanford rolled out to a 14-3 lead in the third game en route to a 30-15 win.

Stanford is the second seed in the tournament ranked second in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll. Washington, the tournament’s sixth seed, is ranked third in the latest national poll.

Washington and Stanford split in the regular season, both winning in three games on their home court. The Huskies won, 30-21, 30-28, 30-25, on Sept. 22 in Seattle, while the Cardinal won, 30-27, 30-15, 31-29, at Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford is the only team to sweep Washington this season, and it accomplished the feat twice. All-time, Stanford leads the series 41-8.

Foluke Akinradewo sparked Stanford with 15 kills on a .444 attack percentage and four blocks. Cynthia Barboza chipped in 10 kills, three aces and five blocks as the two Cardinal AVCA All-America First Team selections combined for 23.5 points in the sweep. Bryn Kehoe charted 44 assists, seven digs, three blocks and two kills. Franci Girard was credited with six kills and a match-high six blocks, while Kristin Richards recorded nine kills and 13 digs. Jessica Fishburn led the Stanford back row defense with 14 digs, and Erin Waller managed nine kills and four blocks.

Christal Morrison and Jessica Swarbrick paced the Huskies with six kills each in the loss. Swarbrick added three blocks, while Morrison tallied nine digs on defense. Stevie Mussie and Alesha Deesing produced four kills apiece. Courtney Thompson handed out 21 assists, eight digs and a kill in her final collegiate match.

Stanford held a 51-24 advantage in kills and a 13-4 margin in team blocks. The Cardinal served eight aces to the Huskies’ three. Stanford held Washington to a .000 attack percentage for the match, as the Huskies had 24 attack errors on 101 swings.

Thompson finished her career having led the Huskies to a 112-18 (.862) record. During her career, Washington won its first national championship (2004). The Huskies also reached the NCAA semifinals twice (2004 and 2006) and the regional finals in 2003 during her time as the setter.

Thompson finished her career ranked third in all-time assists with 6,552 and trailing Penn State’s Michelle Jaworski (1987-90) by 65 assists and UAB’s Tammy Robertson (1989-92) by 129 assists. Thompson also was selected as ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second Team this year.