OMAHA WORLD-HERALD CORRESPONDENT
http://www.omaha.com/
Published Friday December 19, 2008
Cardinal coach John Dunning's one-word opening statement at the postmatch press conference pretty much summed up Stanford's come-from-behind win over Texas in the NCAA semifinals Thursday at Qwest Center Omaha.
Wow.
Down two sets and out of sync offensively, the second-ranked Cardinal rallied for an improbable 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory over the No. 3 Longhorns to earn their third consecutive berth in the national title match.
Stanford players celebrate after defeating Texas in a semifinal of the women's NCAA volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver)
Early on, the 2006 and '07 runners-up didn't even look like they belonged on the same floor as Texas, which was making its first final four appearance in 13 years. The Longhorns seemed headed for a quick sweep until Stanford regrouped to take three straight sets, improving to 31-3 while extending its winning streak to 16 matches.
"We weren't going to let it end like that," said Cardinal senior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza, who drove the winning point off the Texas block and out of play. "We've worked too hard for the past four years. We've come too close in too many matches.
"We know how to fight back. That's what we've been doing all year, digging ourselves out of holes."
Stanford improved to 3-0 on the season in matches that have gone the distance while the Longhorns (29-4) fell to 1-3, including a five-set loss to the Cardinal at Qwest Center in the AVCA Showcase Aug. 31.
There were six first-team All-Americans, three from each team, on the floor Thursday. But it was a former one, who didn't even earn honorable mention this year, who controlled the early going.
Texas sophomore Juliann Faucette, the 2007 national freshman of the year, registered 12 of her season-high 19 kills in the first two sets as the confident Longhorns eased to the intermission with a two-set lead. Four of those kills, and an ace block, came during a 9-1 run in the first set that put UT in control after Stanford scored the match's first three points.
The Cardinal, meanwhile, hit just .152 in the first two sets and Barboza, a three-time first-team All-American, didn't have a kill during the first 63 rallies of the match. Middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo was similarly quiet early after recording two kills and getting her hands on three Longhorn attacks in the first four points.
Alix Klineman, who led Stanford with 20 kills, was the only offensive option working for the Cardinal in the first two sets. But that changed when Akinradewo and Barboza found their grooves in set three. They combined for 31 kills in the final three sets to push Stanford over the top.
"The last three games, I think we just were being aggressive, no matter who the blocker was in front of us," Dunning said. "We just had to get after it, and stop what we were doing the first two games."
The biggest moment of the match for Stanford came in game three, when a kill by Erin Waller stopped a 7-1 Texas run that pulled the Longhorns to within one at 14-13 after they had fallen behind 9-3. The Cardinal went on to score eight of the next nine points to pull away in the set and get themselves back in the match.
The final set went back and forth. There were five ties and three lead changes in that set alone.
Stanford moved in front for good on consecutive kills by Klineman that made it 11-9. Texas kept pulling within a point from then on, yet it couldn't pull even.
With the Cardinal up 13-12, the Longhorns had a chance to tie a final time when Ashley Engle sent a pass to the front row for an attack. Her pass sailed above the net, however, and Stanford setter Cassidy Lichtman put it away to make it a two-point game.
Lauren Paolini's kill pulled Texas back within one, but Lichtman's set to Barboza on the left side was perfectly placed for the senior to use the Longhorn block to cap the comeback.
"If you don't have confidence in what you're doing, then you're not a good competitor," Barboza said. "I fully believe in every single one of my teammates, and they came through. We played one of the best matches, together, that we've ever played."
After its sluggish start, Stanford hit .387, .439 and .500, respectively, over the final three sets. Barboza had a double-double with 19 kills and 16 digs while Akinradewo finished with 17 kills and six blocks. Lichtman tallied 57 set assists and libero Gabi Ailes, a Bellevue West graduate, added a team-high 18 digs.
Destinee Hooker tallied 14 of her match-high 23 kills in the final three sets as she tried to will Texas to victory - at points almost single-handedly. The Longhorns virtually played the Cardinal even statistically in the final two sets, yet couldn't finish the job they started.
"Our game plan coming out we executed very well, and we had a great mentality coming out," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "Then we kind of got hit in the mouth in game three. We didn't execute, made a lot of mistakes and kind of gave them some life.
"In this game, when you play a team like Stanford with so much tradition, you can't give a team like that life when you have them down 2-0."
• Contact the writer: 402-444-1201, sports@owh.com
Statistics
Texas (29-4) 25 25 15 22 13
Stanford (31-3) 20 18 25 25 15
Texas (kills-aces-blocks): Faucette 19-0-1, Paolini 16-0-3, Kocher 3-0-1, Doris 4-0-3, Engle 11-2-1, Hooker 23-2-1, Adams 1-0-0, Hall 0-0-0, Yogi 0-0-0, Kisner 0-0-0.
Team 77-4-6.
Stanford (kills-aces-blocks): Barboza 19-0-0, Okogbaa 1-0-2, Lichtman 3-0-3, Klineman 3-0-3, Waller 7-2-3, Akinradewo 17-2-6, Ailes 0-1-0, Fishburn 0-0-0.
Team 67-6-9.
Set assists: Texas 68 (Kocher 52, Engle 8, Hall 4, Faucette 1, Hooker 1, Yogi 1, Kisner 1), Stanford 62 (Lichtman 57, Ailes 3, Fishburn 2).
NCAA Final Four: Barboza inspires Stanford to rally
BY JEFF SHELDON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
http://www.omaha.com/
Published Thursday December 18, 2008
Stanford's Cynthia Barboza answers questions during a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008, at the NCAA volleyball Final Four in Omaha, Neb.
(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)
As far as volleyball veterans go, Cynthia Barboza is about as battle-scarred as they come.
So there wasn't panic when the Cardinal came within one set of another final four loss that would deny Stanford's decorated class a national title for the third straight year.
There was frustration, but also confidence.
"We've been in a lot of tough situations before and we've come back in a lot of tough situations," Barboza said.
Barboza struggled early in Stanford's 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 win over Texas - the 119th career victory for Stanford seniors Barboza, Foluke Akinradewo, Erin Waller and Jessica Fishburne. The senior from Long Beach, Calif., didn't record a kill until midway through the second set.
But this was not the Barboza of two weeks ago, she said. She credited Stanford coach John Dunning for taking her aside and preaching a point-by-point mentality, not only for his star senior, but for the entire team.
"Cynthia's a perfectionist a little bit," Dunning said. "She's one of the most organized people I've ever met. If there's something going wrong she wants to fix it. There are times when it isn't going right that she gets angry. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."
Apparently, it worked.
Barboza never stopped swinging and finished with a team-high 19 kills and 16 digs, including the winner on Stanford's second match point.
But that moment might not have come if not for Barboza's off-court performance once the Cardinal lost the second set.
"Going down 2-0 of course is like 'What did we get ourselves into?'" said Akinradewo, the two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year who added 17 kills. "It was Cynthia going around and telling everyone we are the best in the country and believing that."
The two teamed to lead the Stanford comeback in set five. After Texas took a 3-0 lead, Akinradewo got Stanford on the board with a kill. The two combined for seven kills and an ace in the fifth.
After fighting off one match point, Texas pulled within 14-13, prompting a Stanford timeout. But on the next serve, setter Cassidy Lichtman went right to Barboza for the clincher.
There was no doubt. That had been weeded out by a career's worth of big swings.
"If you don't have confidence in what you're doing," Barboza said, "then you're not a good competitor."
• Contact the writer: 444-1201, sports@owh.com
Cynthia is very hot
ReplyDelete