Sept. 29, 2004
Box Score
Moraga, CA - For the second time this season the Saint Mary's volleyball team beat the Stanford Cardinal. On Tuesday night, the Gaels took an early one game lead and won an important Game 3 36-34 en route to a 3-1 victory over the No. 11-ranked Cardinal at McKeon Pavilion. With the win the No. 24-ranked Gaels improve to 11-1 on the season as they concluded non-conference play.
"I was impressed. I didn't realize how good our team is," head coach Jon Stevenson said. "Tonight they were phenomenal."
Saint Mary's was coming off a 3-2 victory earlier this season over the then No. 6-ranked Cardinal during the Nevada Tournament on September 4. The two victories this season improve the Gaels' overall record against Stanford to 2-3 and the win on Tuesday night marks the first victory at McKeon Pavilion. With the loss the Cardinal dropped to 9-3.
Saint Mary's looked strong in Game 1 against the Cardinal and continued the solid play throughout the game. The Gaels finished with scores of 30-24, 26-30, 36-34, and 30-27. The Gaels were led by Lindsey Bogason and Kaui Salzman, who each had 17 kills. Salzman added 17 digs and Bogason had 12 and four aces.
For the second time against Stanford, the Gaels had five players in double-digits in kills and had three players record double-doubles. Salzman and Bogason had double-doubles and freshman Missie Stidham had 11 kills and 15 digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Mariko Coverdale had 16 kills and five blocks and senior middle blocker Stacey O'Connor had 13 kills and seven blocks. Sophomore setter Mandy Bible led the way with a game-high 71 assists and sophomore Cassandra Kolkka had a career-high 32 digs.
As a team the Gaels had 81 kills compared to Stanford's 72. Saint Mary's also recorded 92 digs and had 43.5 blocks.
"It should get us ready for conference as well as any match could," Stevenson said. "It's a good test before conference."
Saint Mary's returns to action on Friday, October 1 when they open West Coast Conference against Loyola Marymount at 7:05 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion.
