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The Cardinal (30-3) victory marks head coach John Dunning's seventh 30-plus win season during his 12 year on The Farm. The Cyclones finish the season with a 22-8 overall record.
"One of the things our team has been seeking this year is to play consistently," Dunning said. "We've been up and down at times and tonight we did a great job of playing consistent with our level of play."
Freshman outside hitter Jordan Burgess led the team with 16 kills and a .448 attack percentage and played great defense posting 14 digs and three blocks on the night. She now has a team-best 12 double-doubles on the year.
"We've always done a really good job of spreading the offense around," Burgess said. "Normally we'll run a ton of middle so when we start running middle at the beginning of the match we split some sets. It's a whole team thing so everyone else did a really great job creating openings for me."
Freshman setter Madi Bugg contributed 30 assists, 13 digs, two blocks, and three service aces in the contest to post her 11th double-double of the season.
"Jordan is pretty consistent during every game so she's a go?to hitter for us," Bugg said. "When she starts getting kills all the time it's much easier for the rest of us."
Junior outside hitter Rachel Williams also recorded eight kills and nine digs in the victory.
Junior middle blocker Carly Wopat logged in six kills and led the team with four blocks. As a team, Stanford had 49 kills, 15 total blocks and 58 digs. The Cardinal finished with a hitting percentage of .322 for the match, while limiting the Cyclones to just a .140 attacking percentage.
"We have the ability to stop people defensively," Dunning said. "We have a nice combination of blocking defense. I thought this was one of our best pass and server performances of the year. Our pass serves were on all night. "
The Cardinal came out firing on all cylinders leading 7-2 in the first set, but the Cyclones rallied behind some great kills and defensive plays to stay close while Stanford committed a series of attack errors. The Cardinal would separate itself behind Burgess' five kills and Williams' four kills, respectively. Wopat made some great defensive plays with two blocks and a dig, while also registering two kills. The Cardinal would total 18 kills, 19 digs and hit .375 to take the first set handedly, 25-16.
The second set was tight early with both teams exchanging series of great plays, displaying balance offensively and defensively. Stanford would prevail sealing the second set 25-19 behind strong serving from Bugg in the last four points of the set, featuring two service aces. The Cardinal was also solid defensively with 21 total digs in the set, and limited the Cyclones to an attacking percentage of .095. Wopat also recorded two key blocks. Burgess and Williams both posted four kills in the set.
Stanford started the third set strong, but the Cyclones capitalized a run of its own to tie the game. The Cardinal came out of a timeout and established a lead before the winning eight of the last nine points to seal the victory. Burgess slammed down six kills in the third set and sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert had six digs. Freshman middle blocker Inky Ajanaku had two momentum shifting blocks in the set as well to cap off the sweep.
With the win, Stanford has advanced to the Berkeley Regional Final and takes on Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 8 at Haas Pavilion at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The winner will earn a spot in the Final Four in Louisville, Ky. Tickets for Saturday can be purchased directly from Cal by calling 1-800-GO-BEARS or online at CalBears.com. All tickets are general admission.
? Stanford Sports Information
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Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=27858
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