11/03/97- Updated 05:43 PM ET
Folkl carries No. 4 Stanford past USC
STANFORD, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Kristin Folkl had a career-high 33 kills to lead Stanford to a 15-3, 15-7, 11-15, 15-2 win over No. 7 USC. The Cardinal remained undefeated in Pac-10 play and have a four-match lead over Arizona, USC, Washington and Washington State with five matches to play. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Clark added 10 kills for Stanford, which hit .288 as a team. Freshman outside hitter Antoinette Polk had 15 kills to lead the Trojans. USC became just the second conference team to win a game vs. the Cardinal, which fought off eight game points before losing game three. Stanford can clinch a share of its fourth-straight title with a win at Arizona State Friday.
Long Beach State shuts down Hawaii
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State (20-1) made its case for earning the No. 1 ranking Saturday night with a 15-8, 15-5, 15-0 win over No. 14 Hawaii in front of 5,015 fans, the largest crowd in school history. Junior setter Misty May had 11 kills, 11 digs and 32 assists for her second triple-double of the season and set the 49ers to a season-high .505 hitting percentage. The 49ers had 52 kills in 95 attacks with just four hitting errors. Senior outside hitter Therese Crawford had 11 kills and 10 digs to lead the Rainbow Wahine (18-5), who were held scoreless in a game for the first time since the 1988 season. Hawaii's total of two blocks was a season low.
Colorado State shocks No. 5 BYU
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Senior outside hitter Rainie Rogers led a balanced attack with 17 kills as Colorado State defeated BYU 15-8, 3-15, 15-11, 15-6 Saturday. The win was the first for the Rams against the Cougars since 1987 and left the two teams tied atop the WAC's Mountain Division standings. Colorado State (21-3) hit .209 as a team and had four players reach double-figure kills. Senior middle blocker Judy Rexroth added 15 kills for the Rams, while both Janie Penfield and Catie Vagneur added 14. BYU (20-5) was led by Amy Steele Gant's match-high 24 kills, but junior right-side hitter Korie Rogers was the only other Cougar in double figures with 12.
Wisconsin upsets No. 1 Penn State
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin knocked Penn State from the ranks of the unbeaten and into a race for the Big 10 title with a 15-11, 15-7, 6-15, 15-5 win over the Nittany Lions Friday night. Senior outside hitter Amy Lee had a career-high 29 kills to lead the Badgers, who defeated Penn State for the first time in 17 tries. Sophomore middle blocker Kelly Kennedy added 16 kills and nine blocks for Wisconsin (19-2). The two teams are now tied atop the Big 10 standings with 10-1 conference records. The Badgers hit .226 as a team, and held the Nittany Lions to a season-low .125 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Terri Zemaitis led Penn State (21-1) with 16 kills.
No. 6 UCSB hangs on to beat Pacific
STOCKTON, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Roberta Gehlke had 29 kills and sophomore middle blocker had 22 as the Gauchos beat Pacific 15-4, 14-16, 10-15, 15-3, 15-11 to complete their first sweep of the Tigers since 1993. With the match tied at 8-8 in the fifth game, Gehlke and Bown each had a kill and combined on a block to ignite a four-point run which put the Gauchos (22-2) ahead to stay. The difference in the match was UCSB's 21-kill and 12-dig advantage. Sophomore outside hitter Jennica Smith led four Tigers (15-6) in double-figures with 18 kills.
Texas sets Big 12 record with win over Missouri
AUSTIN, Tex. - Senior middle blocker Jane Winkel had nine kills on just 11 swings en route to a Longhorn season-best .818 hitting percentage to lead No. 9 Texas to a 3-0 (15-11, 15-3, 15-7) win against Missouri on Friday. The Longhorns have won 12 straight matches, including a Big 12 record 11 straight in conference play. The 'Horns needed just over an hour to dispose of the Tigers, thanks in part to a season-high .432 team hitting percentage as well as a season-best 12 service aces. Senior setter Tammy Juergens led the serving attack with three aces as Texas scored 12 points on her 14 total serves. Senior setter Pavlina Steffkova also had three aces while Meggan Kohnen and Lakisha Bledsoe had two each. "We served the ball very tough, and that's going to be one of the keys to our success for the rest of the season," said Texas coach Jim Moore.
MSU Spartans survive Halloween scare
EAST LANSING, Mich.- No. 25 Michigan State beat Northwestern 17-15, 15-7, 8-15, 13-15, 16-14 in a Halloween thriller on Friday. The Wildcats started fast, going up 7-0 in game one before MSU scored 13 straight points to go up 14-7. Northwestern came back with a run of eight points to go up 15-14. The Spartans tied the game and then Jenna Wrobel hit two kills to end it. MSU won game No. 2 in decisive fashion as did Northwestern in game No. 3. In game No. 4, MSU was down 7-14 but managed another comeback to 13-14 before Northwestern closed out the game. Game 5 saw six ties. At 14-14, Wrobel hit a kill to put MSU up 15-14 and then had the assist to Tammy Vonderheide to end the match. MSU's Veronica Morales had a match-high 22 kills with 15 digs. Wrobel had 21 kills, 13 digs and seven blocks. Northwestern had four players hit double-figure kills, including 18 by Melissa Doan, who also had 18 digs.
Colorado makes history with sweep
BOULDER, Colo. - No. 23 Colorado defeated No. 11 Nebraska 15-4, 15-13, 15-12 Wednesday night for its second win over the Cornhuskers this season. The victory marked the first ever season sweep over Nebraska, the first 3-0 win over the Cornhuskers, and the first home win in the series since 1993. Five Colorado players recorded double-digit kills, including sophomore Kristin Dorsch, who also had a career high 15 digs. The Buffaloes outhit Nebraska, .231-.150.
BYU breaks into the top five
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Brigham Young's 14-match winning streak and USC's loss to Washington combined to put the Cougars into the top five for the first time this season. BYU's 18-4 record includes wins over No. 9 Texas, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 18 Washington, while its four losses were to No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Long Beach State, No. 3 Florida and No. 6 UC Santa Barbara. No. 18 Washington made the biggest jump, climbing three places after beating both USC and UCLA on the road for the first time in school history. No. 17 Pacific suffered the biggest fall after being swept at unranked Sacramento State.
Washington's Desilets named player of the week
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Makare Desilets, a senior quick hitter from Washington, was named the AVCA Division I national player of the week after leading the Huskies to two key Pac-10 victories against then-No. 5 USC and No. 23 UCLA. For the week, she hit .350 with 56 kills, 24 blocks, 19 digs. She averaged 6.22 kills, 2.67 blocks, and 2.10 digs per game in nine games played. Desilets Washington had a career-high 37 kills, 13 blocks, 12 digs and a .387 hitting percentage in the Huskies 3-2 win over the Trojans. In a four-game win over the Bruins, she had 19 kills, 11 blocks and seven digs. The victories were the Huskies' first-ever sweep of the Los Angeles schools. For the season, Desilets leads the Pac-10 and the country in blocks per game (2.01) and ranks No. 6 in the conference in kills per game (4.41).
Big West volleyball broadcasts available online
IRVINE, Calif. - The Big West Conference and The Cable Radio Network are teaming up to make Big West volleyball broadcasts available on the internet. 10 regular-season matches, the Big West tournament championship, the NCAA West Regional and the 1997 NCAA Division I final four will be available free of charge. "We are very excited about the exposure this will give to women's volleyball," said Donna Noonan, NCAA Director of Championships. "(It) will certainly enhance our efforts to promote the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball." Olympic sportscaster Jeff Ruffolo will handle the play-by-play, with Mitch Lehman providing the color commentary.
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