Stanford Closes WSU’s Season Cougars Put Up Good Fight

Sarah Silvernail fell to the floor, hiding her face in her folded legs.

Within seconds, the only senior starter on the Washington State volleyball team joined her teammates on the other side of the net to form the obligatory high-five reception line. One by one, the dejected Cougars congratulated Stanford for making it into the Final Four. They did it by beating Washington State 15-12, 15-13, 15-9 in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Pacific Regional before 2,615 spectators at Maples Pavilion.

No. 2 Stanford (29-2) will play East champ and defending national champ No. 4 Nebraska (30-3) while No. 1 Florida (37-1) of the Central region will play No. 5 Hawaii (34-2) of the Mountain region in Thursday’s semifinal in Cleveland. Stanford has gone to the Final Four 10 of 16 times and won it in 1992 and 1994.

The No. 9 Cougars finished their season at 27-6 and still must carry the stigma of never beating the Cardinal at Stanford in 11 years.

“I think it’s kind of a shock,” said Silvernail, the Pac-10 player of the year. “I can’t really say much about it. It was amazing being here.

“Maybe when I get home and my mom can rub my feet and I can get some presents for Christmas everything will kick in.”

The Cougars were in a gift-giving mood against Stanford, relinquishing leads in the first and second games. They also outhit Stanford in the first games (29-25) but trailed Stanford 70-63 in kills for the entire match.

“I can at least say we lost to a very good team,” Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick said. “That doesn’t help losing any, but it would hurt worse if they weren’t a real good team.

“Great defense on their part, it was the best defense I’ve ever seen them play.”

Stanford’s leading blocker was Eilleen Murfee with five, while WSU’s Keren Oigman also accounted for a team-high five blocks.

Oigman’s most exciting display of defense came in the second game. With WSU trailing 9-8, Oigman was involved in four consecutive team blocks that gave the Cougars a 12-9 lead. It was the last time WSU led in the match.

Stanford tied the game at 12-12 on one of Kristin Folkl’s 21 kills (.439 hitting percentage). WSU scored its last point of the game on a Jennifer Canevari kill, but it was Barbara Ifejika’s kill that gave the Cardinal a 2-0 cushion.

Freshman player of the year Kerri Walsh had 22 kills (.444) for Stanford while Silvernail had a match-high 26 (.365 hitting) and accounted for 10 digs.

“We expected a battle and we got one,” said Stanford coach Don Shaw. “The final phase of each game paid off for us. That was an unbelievable display by Sarah Silvernail. I haven’t seen anyone play like that in a long, long time.”

In the opening game, the score was tied at 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11. Washington State took an 12-11 lead when Jennifer Stinson and Oigman scored on a team block.

But after a Stanford timeout, the Cardinal scored three straight points, beginning with Eileen Murfee’s block on Oigman, to tie the game at 12-12.

The Cardinal took the lead on the first of two huge WSU mental errors, occurring on Stanford’s 13th point in the first game and 14th point in the pivotal second game.

In both cases, the Cougars watched Stanford serves land inside the backrow line.

“I teach them that,” said Fredrick, still managing to lace her answer with playful sarcasm. “But nothing crushes this team. This team always comes back.”

The Cardinal took a 14-12 lead in the opening game when Walsh dropped a dink over Washington State’s entire front row. That prompted Fredrick to call a timeout, but Stanford put the game away on the next point when Murfee and Walsh blocked Stinson.

The second game proved to be more frustrating for the Cougs. After erasing an 8-4 Stanford lead, WSU managed to take a three-point lead before falling to Stanford’s big kills and bigger blocks.

In the final game, Stanford jumped ahead 10-3, but the Cougars extended their season by chipping away at the deficit.

“If Stanford doesn’t win (the national title), I’m going to have to hurt them,” were Fredrick’s final words. “We’re going Pac-10 all the way.”

, DataTimes