To beat No. 4 Washington in Seattle, the No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball team needed to give everything it had and then some. But after two and a half hours of play, that’s just what happened. The Cardinal won in five games to hand the Huskies their second loss of the year, snapping Washington’s 38-match home winning streak in the process.

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Alvin Chow

Senior setter Bryn Kehoe and the Cardinal pulled off a huge upset victory over Washington last night in Seattle. Kehoe tied her career-best with an astounding 70 assists to help topple the Huskies in 5 games.

“It was really neat to see how excited the players were for the match and how focused they were,” head coach John Dunning said. “Washington hadn’t lost there in three years and [seniors] Bryn Kehoe and Franci Girard had never won there. This was definitely a breakthrough match — there were some long rallies during the match that we won, the kind of rallies that can be a turning point in your season.”

Stanford (23-2, 12-2) had dropped a five-gamer to the Huskies (22-2, 11-2) at home a month ago — the Cardinal’s first loss of the season — but got its revenge last night. The teams are now tied for the lead in the Pac-10 with two losses each. No. 6 Southern California and No. 7 Cal are two games behind, with four conference losses each. The Golden Bears beat Washington State last night while the Trojans lost on the road at No. 20 Oregon.

Behind 21 kills from freshman outside hitter Alix Klineman and a career-high-tying 70 assists for senior setter Bryn Kehoe, the Cardinal won last night by the scores of 30-23, 24-30, 30-25, 21-30 and 15-10.

The Cardinal jumped out to a lead to start the match and did not relinquish it in the first game. The last tie was at four-all and Stanford led by double digits at 27-17. The Cardinal eventually got the points it needed, winning the game 30-23 on a kill by junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza.

“One thing Washington does is serve really tough and put pressure on your passers,” Dunning said. “We passed great in the first game and that’s why it went the way it did, and when we struggled a bit, we had a harder time.”

Stanford again started strong in the second, but Washington fought back to win the game and tie the match. Stanford led at 14-13 after Kehoe won a joust at the net, but Washington regained the lead and used a five-point run, including back-to-back blocks of Klineman, to put the game away. A Washington ace ended it 30-24.

In the third game it was Washington leaving Stanford behind, leading 5-1 early on. The Cardinal battled for a six-six tie, but Washington again pulled away. Stanford caught up at 19-all and pulled ahead when Washington hitters committed three errors in four points. The game ended 30-25 in Stanford’s favor on two more Husky errors.

After a close beginning to the fourth game, Washington gradually built a lead, up 15-12 at the official timeout. Stanford tied at 18, but Washington reeled off eight of the next nine points to put the game out of reach. A Stanford service error followed by a hitting error gave the Huskies the 30-21 win.

The last time these teams played — at Maples in October — the final score was 15-10 in the fifth game. It was the same score last night, but it was the Cardinal gutting out the victory this time. Stanford went ahead 4-3 and would not trail again, finishing off the match on a kill by junior right side hitter Erin Waller.

Klineman led the Cardinal with 21 kills and Akinradewo added 17. Barboza and Waller chipped in 14 each and Girard tallied seven. Jessica Swarbrick led the Huskies with 14.

Freshman libero Gabi Ailes dug 29 balls while her Washington counterpart Tamari Miayshiro had a match-high 30.

Both teams got the majority of their blocks early in the match, and Stanford finished with six to Washington’s nine. Akinradewo had three total, two solo, to lead the Cardinal, while Swarbrick notched eight, including three solos.

The one area where the Huskies dramatically outperformed the Cardinal was from the service line — Washington had eight aces and missed only 10 serves, while the Cardinal managed only two aces and missed 20.

“What happened with us was that we were trying to serve more aggressive than we did last time we played them,” Dunning said. “So we made a lot of service errors, but that was because we’re not backing off and taking risks.”

Stanford will be back in action tomorrow in Pullman, Wash., visiting Washington State, a team still winless in the Pac-10 after being swept by No. 7 Cal last night.

“The players are all really tired,” Dunning said. “We use the road to catch up on sleep because everyone is so busy during the week. We have a lot of families up here who knew it would be a great match. But we are just going to sleep, because we need to get on the bus at seven in the morning to go to Spokane and then to Pullman.”

Because of a conflict with basketball, the match will start late, at 8:30 p.m.