Sports
Don Feria/isiphotos.com
Don Feria/isiphotos.com
Stanford freshman Inky Ajanaku (right), who had 11 kills and eight blocks in the NCAA Berkeley Regional final, is an honorable mention All-American.
Stanford junior Carly Wopat, who had 13 kills and six blocks in the Berkeley Regional finale, was named a first-team AVCA All-American this week.
All-America honors wrap up Stanford’s season W
Cardinal volleyball misses trip to NCAA Final Four after suffering another upset at the hands of Michigan in Berkeley Regional title match count to 70 honors spread over 29 players. Wopat was an honorable mention pick in 2011. Ajanaku is the ninth Cardinal freshman to earn All-America honors. Wopat, a middle blocker from Santa Barbara, was an All-Pac-12 pick and finished the season in the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage (.399) and blocks per set (1.45). She registered double-digit kills in 18 matches and hit .400 or better in 16 this season.
In four NCAA Tournament matches, she hit .397 and averaged 3.31 points and 1.46 blocks per set. Ajanaku, a native of Tulsa, Okla., was an All-Pac-12 Conference selection and a member of the AllPac-12 Freshman Team. She registered a .374 hitting percentage and 1.23 blocks per set, ranking in the top-10 in the conference in both categories. Stanford finished the season with a 30-4 overall record and advanced
Stanford hoops
Griner’s effectiveness and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. “I was so nervous before that game my heart was pounding,” Ruef said. “I knew I wasn’t going to start her by myself and I just did the best I could. It was a team effort. I’m not the greatest shooter at my position but I can still go out and do the little things and work as hard as I can.” Did VanDerveer have an inkling of how well Ruef would play against the Bears? “I didn’t. I just said I didn’t want Chiney getting into foul trouble or Joslyn getting into foul trouble,” VanDerveer said. “Mikaela’s got the next big body. The other person that was going to come in was Tess, and Mikaela has more confidence and is more versatile. Mikaela took advantage of it, she did a really good job. She focused, she did what we asked her to do. She made little plays. She had an assist here and there, she had a rebound here and there, she had a lot of hustle plays.” Ruef credits King Borchardt for helping keep her in shape last year and the team for keeping her involved. “I made an effort to stay in shape and Susan was a big part of that,” Ruef said. “I was included in drills when the team needed a passer and the coaches asked for my opinion on things. It felt good that they respected what I thought.” Pacific brings a 7-1 record into Saturday’s game along with Pinewood grad Hallie Eackles, who returns to her hometown area for
the first time as player. Her season lasted all of nine minutes last year before suffering an ankle injury that required surgery. Eackles averages 2.3 points and 4.2 minutes a game this year for the Tigers, who are coming off their first loss of the season. She’ll have plenty of support in the crowd. Her sister Chloe is a freshman at Pinewood, and the Panthers plan to attend the game in force.
(continued from previous page)
stride and it would be good going into the next year. Unfortunately I had the foot problem.” Ruef tried to work through the pain and would practice when she could. She felt herself falling further and further behind her teammates and ultimately decided to sit out the whole year. “I had the surgery in March and the recovery time was supposed to be 10 weeks but it turned into 12 weeks,” Ruef said. “The first day back on the court I was playing a pick-up game and I was so excited to be running up and down the court, I didn’t want to stop. I usually get bored in a pick-up game but this time I was actually playing defense.” Her enthusiasm for the game caught the attention of her teammates. “She loves playing,” Ogwumike said. “It’s tough to be on the sideline and I know she struggled last year but she was always in the gym with us, doing whatever she could to help. Now she’s stealing rebounds from me. I never thought she would be a rebound stealer. She’s tenacious and she’s focused. All those intangibles you don’t see in a box score is what makes her so good.” Ruef never has scored more than nine points in a game, but she doesn’t need to score to make an impact on the game. Against Griner, she more than held her own, helping to limit
Page 34ÊUÊ iVi LiÀÊ£{]ÊÓä£ÓÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊÜÜÜ°*> Ì " i°V
Men’s basketball Stanford team went into the break with a convincing 71-58 victory over Denver. The Cardinal hopes to restart its season the same way when UC Davis visits Saturday for a nonconference contest at 2 p.m. While sophomore guard Chasson Randle leads Stanford (6-3) in scoring with his 14.7 average, he’s doing so with a .364 percentage from the field, including .238 from 3-point range. Randle and fellow guard Aaron Bright both hope to step up their games as the Cardinal moves forward. Bright, who missed four games with an ankle sprain, is shooting .270 from the field, and is 1 of 14 from long range. Dwight Powell has been playing large lately. He’s averaging 14.2 points a game after scoring a career high 29 in the win over the Pioneers. Powell and Josh Huestis proved Stanford with solid post play too. Huestis leads Stanford in rebounding and has become one of top defenders in the Pac-12. N
to the Berkeley Regional Final, where it fell to Michigan, 25-20, 20-2, 20-25, 20-25, last Saturday. The Cardinal won the 2012 Pac-12 championship, made its 32nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and reached a regional final for the seventh time under head coach John Dunning. Wopat, Ajanaku, and Burgess were selected to the Berkeley Regional’s All-Tournament team. Stanford associate head coach
Denise Corlett, meanwhile, was named the Division I National Assistant Coach of the Year, the AVCA announced Thursday. Corlett is a two-time recipient of the award, also receiving the honor in 2010. Corlett, now in her 24th season with the Cardinal and her 17th as the associate head coach, helped lead Stanford to another successful season. The Cardinal captured its 15th Pac-12 title. N
Don Feria/stanfordphoto.com
hile the season ends without that elusive NCAA championship, the Stanford women’s volleyball team isn’t exiting empty-handed. Stanford junior Carly Wopat was a first-team pick and freshman Inky Ajanaku was an honorable-mention honoree on the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-American selections announced Tuesday. The selections bring Stanford’s total AVCA All-America award
Stanford redshirt junior Mikaela Ruef has helped the No. 1-ranked Cardinal to an 8-0 record heading into Saturday’s game with Pacific.