The No. 3 Stanford women’s volleyball team bounced back from a lackluster performance to sweep Arizona State in dominating fashion on Friday. The Cardinal had its best offensive match of the season and held the Sun Devils to only 14 points in the final game of the match.

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Sammy Abusrur

Senior setter Bryn Kehoe (left) and junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo (right) were as solid as ever in the Cardinal’s domination of the Arizona schools this past weekend. Stanford is currently No. 3 in the nation as it enters the second half of Pac-10 play.

After sweeping Arizona in three close games the night before, Stanford was back on its game in Tempe, and Arizona State — missing its leading hitter Sarah Reaves, who had a sprained ankle — had no answer for the Cardinal onslaught.

“She had played really well the night before until she got hurt,” head coach John Dunning said of Reaves. “She had been their most effective hitter this season, and I know it made a difference for them. You always feel bad when that happens to a team. When we scouted them, I really enjoyed watching their match against Arizona. They played with a lot of energy, and I think she probably had something to do with that.”

With Reaves out, the Cardinal dominated on offense and stifled the Sun Devils’ attack. Junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza had a match-high 15 kills and was one of eight Stanford players to hit over .400 in the match. As a team, the Cardinal hit at a .491 clip and held the Sun Devils to only .139 hitting.

Stanford was also bitten by the injury bug this weekend, as junior defensive specialist Jessica Fishburn sprained an ankle against Arizona on Thursday night and did not play Friday.

“I think that it was really important for our team what happened on Friday night,” Dunning said. “We talked a lot on the floor, celebrated and just had fun — and that was big with Jess off the court. She is such a fun and excited player, and we missed her presence on the court. But to have her out and have us really step up and do a great job was a good thing for our team to be able to do.”

Stanford took the first three points of the match and stretched its lead as the game continued. Stanford led by double digits for the first time at 24-14 and reached game point at 29-18 on a kill by junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo. Arizona State strung together a run, but it was not enough, and the Cardinal finished the game, 30-21, with a kill from senior middle blocker Franci Girard.

The teams traded points to start the second game until Stanford used a five-point run to go up 9-6. The Sun Devils battled back to get within one, but Stanford again pushed out in front. Girard capped a four-point run with another game-winning kill, ending the frame 30-19.

ASU scored first in the third game, but Stanford charged back in front and then ran away with the game. Leading 4-2, Stanford reeled off 10 of the next 12 points for a 14-4 lead. The Sun Devils would not come within six points down the stretch, and Akinradewo served out the match with three points in a row. A Barboza kill from the back row ended it 30-14.

Klineman and Akinradewo each chipped in 13 kills on offense, with Waller and Girard adding seven apiece. Girard tallied a kill on every attack, posting a perfect hitting percentage.

Stanford finished the match with 10 blocks, including five solos — Klineman had a pair of solo stuffs, and Barboza, Kehoe and Akinradewo each had one, as well. Akinradewo and Kehoe finished tied with a team-high four blocks total.

Ailes led all players with 12 digs, while Arizona State libero Sydney Donahue had 10. Donahue came into the match with a conference-leading average of over six per game.

The only area in which the Cardinal struggled was serving, with nine errors, eight of them in the first two games. In two sweeps on the weekend, Stanford missed 22 serves.

Staci Smith had 10 kills to lead the Sun Devils on offense, and Alison Lund tied with Donahue with 10 digs.

Stanford has now played each team in the Pac-10 once and amassed an 8-1 conference record, with the only loss coming in a five-game battle with No. 5 Washington. The No. 3 Cardinal and the Huskies are tied for the lead in the conference, with three teams right behind — No. 7 UCLA and No. 9 Cal are both 6-3 in Pac-10 play, and No. 4 USC is 5-4. No. 19 Oregon is next at 4-5.

“I think the credentials of the Pac-10 pretty much speak for themselves at this point,” Dunning said. “There have been a lot of highly contested matches, and the conference also had an amazing record in the preseason against teams outside the Pac-10. It is always very competitive and to have five teams in the top 10 and all five still in the hunt for the conference championship is pretty amazing.”