Nov. 24, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. -- Behind 15 kills from 2001 Pac-10 Player of the Year Logan Tom, the third-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team swept Arizona State, 3-0, Saturday night in Maples Pavilion to clinch their ninth Pac-10 title. Game scores were 30-21, 30-24, 30-25.
The Cardinal improve to 27-2, 17-1 in the Pac-10 while the Sun Devils fall to 9-16, 4-13 in league play. The victory runs Stanford's winning streak to 13 consecutive matches and 17 at home. Arizona State now trails the all-time series with Stanford 39-4.
ASU jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in game one on a Julia Leddy service ace. Stanford came back to tie up the game at 14-all on a kill by Ogonna Nnamani and pushed the score to 17-15 on a service ace by Sara Sandrik. A kill by Sara McGee got the Cardinal to 21-17. The Sun Devils closed to within three at 21-24 and forced a Stanford timeout. The Cardinal scored the next seven points to win the game, 30-21 on a block by Logan Tom and Jennifer Harvey.
Stanford jumped out to a 13-3 lead in game two but the Sun Devils fought back to close the gap to 13-15, then take the lead at 17-15 on a kill by Kim Mehlhorn. The Cardinal regrouped and scored nine of the next ten points to take a 24-18 lead on a service ace by Logan Tom. Stanford continued to press on and won the game, 30-24, on a Sun Devil service error.
Game three remained close between the two squads for most of the match. ASU took a slim 15-13 lead but a Michelle Chambers service ace gave Stanford the 18-17 edge. With the Sun Devils leading 22-21, the Cardinal rallied off four consecutive points to go up 25-22. ASU closed to within one at 24-25 but Stanford scored the next three points to reach match point at 29-24. A Sara McGee kill gave the Cardinal a 30-25 win.
The Sun Devils were led by the nine kills from sophomore outside hitter Kim Mehlhorn (Tempe, Ariz.) Mehlhorn also added four digs, but had her strong of consecutive matches with 10 or more kills snapped at 13. Senior outside hitter Jami Coughlin recorded eight kills and tallied a match-best 15 digs. The senior now has 1,506 career digs to move into fifth place in Pac-10 history. Coughlin is already second in ASU history in career digs.
Stanford was led by Logan Tom's match-high 15 kills and four service aces. Ashley Ivy contributed seven kills and a team-high 10 digs on the afternoon. Middle blocker Jennifer Harvey led the match with four blocks while Sara McGee added six kills and two blocks.
Arizona State closes out the 2001 season tomorrow with a 3 p.m. match against the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--