University Southern California Trojans
Women's Volleyball Upsets Stanford
June 21, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
November 22, 1998
LOS ANGELES - The No. 11 USC women's volleyball team, behind 23 kills apiece from senior outside hitter Jennifer Kessy and senior middle blocker Jasmina Marinkovic, beat No. 4 Stanford, 13-15, 15-7, 15-4, 15-4, in both team's Pacific-10 Conference finale in front of 1,009 on Senior Day at the North Gym on Sunday.
USC improved to 21-4 overall and 16-2 in the Pac-10, finishing in second place with its best Pac-10 record ever. Stanford falls to 24-3, 17-1, in first. With the win, the Women of Troy snapped a 14-match losing streak to the Cardinal dating back to 1993 and also snapped Stanford's 44-match Pac-10 winning streak.
"First of all, I am happy not only with the win but with the way we played the match. Stanford was our mental Mt. Everest to climb and we did it," USC Coach Lisa Love said. "There is no way I can emphasize enough what it means for this team to get over that hurdle in terms of faith and confidence in themselves."
USC hit a stellar .378 for the match and held Stanford to .204. The Women of Troy also outblocked the Cardinal, 9.0-8.0. USC senior setter Janice Mounts had 76 assists and sophomore outside hitter Janae Henry added 17 kills and 12 digs.
Stanford was led by junior Kerri Walsh's 22 kills and sophomore Jennifer Detmer's 14 kills.
Stanford jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 12-5 in Game 1, but USC responded and pulled to within 14-13 before Detmer ended the game with a kill.
USC opened the second game up 8-2, but Stanford used a 5-1 run to close the gap to 9-7. The Women of Troy, however, rattled off six consecutive points to take the game and even the match.
The Women of Troy turned a 2-2 tie into a rout in the third game with an 8-0 run and then turned a 2-2 tie in the fourth game into a runaway with a 12-1 run. USC did not hit lower than .341 in any game.
USC finishes the regular season next weekend in Stockton, Calif., at the Banker's Classic.
