Stanford Cardinal lose to California University girls in season finale - Volleyball
The Stanford ladies won the opening set against the Golden Bears of California University but failed to carry the momentum into the following sets and dropped the season-ending match 1-3. Cardinals featured as the host team but were unable to use the home court to their advantage. The Golden Bears, on the other hand, stole the show as they posted a 3-1 (24-26, 29-27, 25-23, 25-14) win over Stanford on Friday, November 25, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford University.
The match was opened with a display of aggressive shots from both sides. California used Kat Brown for heavy hitting as she registered two kills in the first few minutes and put Bears in the lead. Meanwhile, Cardinal tried to catch up and rallied a 5-1 run, which helped Stanford to earn two-point advantage at 9-7. Bears attacked with Christina Higgins and knotted the score at 9-9. Cardinal retook the lead but Bears didn’t let them go far. Kat Brown's kill and an Elly Barrett ace created the seventh tie at 13 all. The game of hit and run continued and both sides struggled to overcome the other. The crucial tie of the scores at 22-all gave a big boom to suspense and anxiety. However, Cardinal sealed first-set win with narrow margin of two points, 26-24.
Bears made a quick start in the following set and jumped to 5-1 lead via combined points from Shannon Hawari and Tarah Murrey. The resilient Cardinals hit the spot with a flurry of consecutive points and evened the score at 8-all. Bears added two points to break the tie but Stanford promptly tied the score at 10-10 with mighty swings. The second set had strong similarity with the previous set as both teams frequently traded lead and staged hot action on the centre court. Bears rallied hard and managed to push 29-27 win over Cardinal in the second set.
Cal started out well in the third set and picked up a 6-3 lead. Tarah Murrey played an effective role and added four points on a successful attack attempts. As it was expected, Cardinal brought things level and tied the score at 8-all. Bears’ Shannon Hawari counter attacked and added two points to make 10-8. Explosive long rallies were exchanged from that point onward. Score tied at 21-all before an attack error Cardinal helped Bears to take lead. They continued with success and finished off third set 25-23.
Fourth set was closely contested but Bears managed to dismiss hosts with a better display of game tactics. Cardinal suffered 14-25 and ended up on the losing side.
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