09-10-2011, 12:39 AM
The short version: Stanford used a ferocious block to turn around a first set loss into a 3-1 victory over Penn State tonight, winning 23-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-18. Holding Final Four MVP and All-American Deja McClendon to a hitting percentage of .100 while doing so. Sophomore Rachel Williams had a wonderful match, hitting .302 with 22 kills and 12 digs, and Stanford's youngsters more than held their own with strong defense. Soph Carly Wopat, Jr Hayley Spelman and RSFr Lydia Bai also played major roles in putting down the sets of Karissa Cook.
But it was the block that was the difference. Stanford outblocked the Nittany Lions 15.5-5.0, which is an astonishing turnaround from all of their recent history. And it wasn't just the blocks, but the adjustments that PSU made in trying to avoid them, that led to the final outcome. The Lions had 33 hitting errors and hit .142 as a team, which has got to be their lowest percentage in a while.
Penn State has some issues; I'm not sure their setter is quite on the ball yet. Micha Hancock sometimes put her hitters in bad positions, and had a critical ball handling error late in set 2 that helped Stanford push out to a comfortable 6 point lead late.
That third set, though, that was fun. The largest lead in the entire set was 3 points: Penn State led 7-5, then Stanford 13-11, then the Lions 19-16. But the Cardinal reeled off 4 straight points behind kills from Bai, Williams and Wopat to take a 20-19 lead. And Williams kept it up, with kill after kill to keep the sideouts coming, before sending a ball just out to tie the game at 24. A PSU service error (one of NINE such free points on the night for Stanford) gave the Cardinal a 25-24 lead. A kill by PSU was promptly balanced by an attack error, and Stanford had set point at 26-25. A stuff by Bai and Walker made that point count.
That close loss seemed to take the wind out of the Lions' sails somewhat. Service errors, attacks sent long, or wide, or directly into the block were the order of set 4. With an 18-16 lead late, the Cardinal ran off 7 of the last 9 points behind the swings of Williams, the block of Walker and Wopat (along with freshman Morgan Boukather, who looks like she could develop nicely into a force at the net), and finally put away PSU when another shot was sent down to the floor by Boukather and Walker.
All in all, a nice effort. No Penn State hitter, with the exception of 6'6" MB Katie Slay, hit better than .200 on the night. Stanford won the match with defense and blocking, which is kinda different. And nice.
Next up, Florida, which beat Texas 3-2 in the second match tonight. Then the first leg of the Big Spike, next Tuesday (Tuesday?!?) against the (shudder) top-ranked Golden Ursines in Berkeley. Who ascended to #1 having played (ahem): UC Riverside, Fairfield, Florida International, Long Island, Virginia, East Carolina, Texas-Arlington and Nevada. My, what a murderers' row. Ooh, and they have to face Sacramento State tomorrow.
I have the feeling it's going to be a weird year - I think any of about 8 teams could win the national championship. Again, a nice change.
VG
But it was the block that was the difference. Stanford outblocked the Nittany Lions 15.5-5.0, which is an astonishing turnaround from all of their recent history. And it wasn't just the blocks, but the adjustments that PSU made in trying to avoid them, that led to the final outcome. The Lions had 33 hitting errors and hit .142 as a team, which has got to be their lowest percentage in a while.
Penn State has some issues; I'm not sure their setter is quite on the ball yet. Micha Hancock sometimes put her hitters in bad positions, and had a critical ball handling error late in set 2 that helped Stanford push out to a comfortable 6 point lead late.
That third set, though, that was fun. The largest lead in the entire set was 3 points: Penn State led 7-5, then Stanford 13-11, then the Lions 19-16. But the Cardinal reeled off 4 straight points behind kills from Bai, Williams and Wopat to take a 20-19 lead. And Williams kept it up, with kill after kill to keep the sideouts coming, before sending a ball just out to tie the game at 24. A PSU service error (one of NINE such free points on the night for Stanford) gave the Cardinal a 25-24 lead. A kill by PSU was promptly balanced by an attack error, and Stanford had set point at 26-25. A stuff by Bai and Walker made that point count.
That close loss seemed to take the wind out of the Lions' sails somewhat. Service errors, attacks sent long, or wide, or directly into the block were the order of set 4. With an 18-16 lead late, the Cardinal ran off 7 of the last 9 points behind the swings of Williams, the block of Walker and Wopat (along with freshman Morgan Boukather, who looks like she could develop nicely into a force at the net), and finally put away PSU when another shot was sent down to the floor by Boukather and Walker.
All in all, a nice effort. No Penn State hitter, with the exception of 6'6" MB Katie Slay, hit better than .200 on the night. Stanford won the match with defense and blocking, which is kinda different. And nice.
Next up, Florida, which beat Texas 3-2 in the second match tonight. Then the first leg of the Big Spike, next Tuesday (Tuesday?!?) against the (shudder) top-ranked Golden Ursines in Berkeley. Who ascended to #1 having played (ahem): UC Riverside, Fairfield, Florida International, Long Island, Virginia, East Carolina, Texas-Arlington and Nevada. My, what a murderers' row. Ooh, and they have to face Sacramento State tomorrow.
I have the feeling it's going to be a weird year - I think any of about 8 teams could win the national championship. Again, a nice change.
VG