Nov. 16, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Stanford All-American outside hitter Logan Tom recorded a match-best 25 kills and added 11 digs to lead the third-ranked Cardinal to a 30-28, 30-23, 25-33 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday night in Pac-10 volleyball action at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Cardinal recorded their 10th straight win in the 3-0 defeat of ASU to improve to 24-2 overall and 15-1 in Pac-10 play. Stanford last lost over a month ago (10/12) to then No. 3 USC on the road. Arizona State fought hard in the defeat, falling to 8-15 overall and 3-12 in Pac-10 play.
Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah), who starred on the 2000 USA Olympic team and is a two-time all-Pac-10 selection, hit .396 to add to her 25-kill effort, a season high for the junior in three games. Tom entered the match averaging a Pac-10 best 4.87 kills per game. Coming off her selection as the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week, Tom also added three total blocks and contributed 27.0 total points. Freshman standout Ogonna Nnamani added 14 kills to help put away the Devils.
"The combination of Tom and Nnamani is by far the best left-side combination in the country," said ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park. "They are just that strong and add a third punch with Tara (Conrad). I don't think we played terrible tonight, but when you are facing players like that, it makes it hard to get ahead. Whenever they were down, they knew who to call on."
Despite dropping the match in three games, ASU played well, nearly gaining the win in the opening frame (28-30) and pushing the third game to 33-35. Sophomore outside hitter Kim Mehlhorn (Tempe, Ariz.) picked up her 12th consecutive match with double-digits in kills, leading the Sun Devils with 15. She just missed her 13th double-double of the year by logging nine digs. Senior outside hitter Jami Coughlin, who will play the last home match of her career tomorrow night vs. Cal, logged seven kills and a team-best 13 digs.
"We played good defense, but broke down at just the wrong time to give Stanford the advantage," said Snyder-Park, who is seeking her 200th career victory. "I think if we added a little more net presence we would have really put some pressure on them."
Sophomore middle blocker Jodi Smith (St. Johns, Ariz.) had eight kills, while Coughlin, freshman Alicia Akporiaye (Tucson, Ariz.) and junior Julia Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) all added seven apiece.
Arizona State will be back in action tomorrow night in a 7:30 Pac-10 showdown with the University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears. The 7:30 match will cap off a rare triple-header in ASU athletics, with the Men's Basketball team tipping off against Stephen F. Austin at 11:30 a.m., and the defending Pac-10 Champion Women's Basketball team opening the 2001 campaign at 2:30 p.m. against St. Peters.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--