Stanford women’s volleyball is ranked #5 in the nation and eying a national championship run after coming up short against San Diego in the Elite Eight. With all of their key pieces back from a season ago and a talented recruiting class coming in, the expectations are sky high. Prior to the start of the season, head coach Kevin Hambly shared his thoughts, how he’s keeping the group focused, and why he thinks they’re a different team from last season.
Hambly likes how the team is coming together and just the raw amount of talent that they have. He feels like they are very competitive and that it’s bringing out the best in everyone.
“Yeah, feeling really good,” Hambly said. “I think for this early, I like the way we’re playing right now. I really like the amount of talent we have in the gym. The players we have, all those returning players we had from last year and then our four freshmen are really nice additions. So, it’s definitely a very competitive gym with a lot of great athletes running around. So, it’s beautiful out there.”
While it may seem more beneficial for the freshmen to have such a stacked group, Hambly believes it’s good for the entire team. Everyone is getting better. It’s like the old adage says, iron sharpens iron.
“I think it’s good for everybody,” Hambly said. “Like, I think it’s good for the seniors and our juniors whenever to be pushed, you know? To have these guys coming and see that they’re talented. They see that they’re athletic. I think it’s good for the freshmen to have the modeling of how we want to play and those guys had a couple springs with us and understand skills, techniques, the systems, and how we want to play. I think all of that is positive.
“I do think it’s hard for freshmen to think it’s going to be an easy jump and it’s a hard jump. Harder than they think. I think like this little block of three days was eye opening to them about how much they have to learn, but also the upperclassmen were going hey, we went through the exact same thing. It was just as hard for us and like, we get it. So, I think all of that it’s really good.
“It’s good energy to bring and the freshmen are fired up and bringing energy. Kipp and McKenna and Caitie have been here for five years, you know? They’re kinda like, they know what they’re doing and they’re in charge. But I think they’ve been kinda energized by these young guys.”
Earlier this summer, the team had a chance to take a trip to Europe, which Hambly feels really benefited the team. It went far beyond playing volleyball. It really gave the team a chance to bond and get to know each other a lot better
“It’s like when you travel together you really know each other,” Hambly explained. “Like I didn’t really know my wife until we went on our first trip. You know what I mean? Like, now I feel like I know her. My best friends that I travel with, sometimes that goes well and sometimes it goes horrible. You don’t know. And with us, we get to go through all that together and I think that just helped our bonding a lot.”
While Stanford fans will look at this year’s roster and be excited, Hambly feels like he has moved past that phase. It’s all about making his team better and maximizing the talent that they have. He knows this is one of the most talented teams he’ll ever have and he wants to make sure they leave it all out there on the court this season.
“We’ve known this was coming, right? For a while,” Hambly said. “So, like the last few years have been trying to catch us up because of COVID and then this feels like finally, it’s the culmination of three years of a lot of work but trying to get back to where we want to be. And then bringing these athletes and bringing the talent, it’s exciting. It was exciting when we thought about it three years ago. I think it’s more like this is real and I’m less excited and more focused on making sure we get the most out of it because it’s not very often you get a team that has this many great players, that has this much depth, and that is this committed to playing and trying to be the best they can be. And it has also been a culture that is this strong.
“Excitement has kinda gone away from me and it’s more like and there’s times in practice where I’m like this is pretty fun to watch, but it’s much more like how do I keep pushing this group forward to get the most out of it to hopefully try to pull off a title at the end of the year.”
As far as managing the expectations that come with a team like this, Hambly doesn’t feel like that part is going to be hard. Everyone is super motivated and determined to get better. As a result, he feels like his team is totally different from what they were last season.
“It’s not that hard,” Hambly said. “They were upset about last year’s finish. We weren’t excited about that at all. That was really disappointing. From the first practice in January, they were very motivated to do what they need to be playing the next season at a higher level and we’re a totally different team I’d say. We’re playing a different style, we’ve progressed. Like, we don’t even look like the same team.
“I watched us play from last year. I would say we look like a completely different team this year all for the better. We’ve taken another jump, which is really a credit to how hard they’ve worked. How much they’ve bought in to some of the things that we’re trying to do. So yeah, I mean, last year was motivation. Not something that really build off of. More like really upset. We thought we should have done more.”
With regard to what’s different, Hambly said it’s tough to explain in words. But more than anything, it’s a case where they are a lot more versatile and able to do a lot more things on the court than they previously were able to do.
“It’s really tough to talk about it. Like it’s hard to explain,” Hambly admitted. “It’s a lot easier to show you. But just more nuance to the offense, a little bit more flexibility in the way that we play, more aggressive serving, we’re a better passing team, understanding the way we want to play defense better, just taking like everything and just kinda ramping it up a little bit and then adding more flexibility so that it’s really difficult for teams to prepare for. I don’t know if that makes sense. It’s really hard to describe…We’re like planning to do things that I’ve never had a team try and we’re pulling it out.”
Looking back on the loss to San Diego in the Elite Eight, Hambly feels like the effort was there and they had their chances. It’s just that now, they’re even better positioned to make a run all while having learned their lessons from that match. The progress they’ve made has him feeling optimistic about the season.
“No, I don’t think, we were trying to do a lot of the right things and we had swings to give ourselves a chance,” Hambly said. “It’s just, making sure that we’ve developed the skills and continue to progress so that when we get in that moment, we’re even better equipped. I think we were a work in progress that year.
“It’s the first spring we really have it back because before that, I mean, I don’t know, people that have come to watch, they can see the difference in what we are compared to, we’re just more physical, we move better, we just understand how we want to play the game even further, it feels like this is a bunch of, like even for our seniors it’s really, this is a, it was only their second spring last year. They feel like juniors. Which is kinda disappointing for them, but I’m pretty happy with the progress we’ve made and we’re continuing to get better every single day and learn more. They’re really eager to learn and really eager to grow. It’s been really fun teaching.”
With regard to who in particular has taken a leap, Hambly feels like everyone has, though he did mention a couple of names: Sami Francis, Caitie Baird, Kami Miner, and Kendall Kipp.
“I’d say several, but Sami’s the one that stands out the most,” Hambly said. “Like, Sami first year playing middle in college was last year and she missed over half the season. This spring she was healthy, we got her going, and she’s a whole different player than she was. In every way. Stronger, more physical, moves better, she’s absolutely crushing balls, she’s great on the slide, I’d say Kami got better. I’d say Caitie Baird actually made a lot of improvement actually as well. Which is surprising like for a senior, but we’ve cleaned some things up. Like if you go down the line, I’d say all of them have elevated their game.
“Kipp’s better actually, too. Kipp being a First Team All-American, it’s funny to say that, but she’s better. They’ve all elevated. So, we’re hoping that means we have a shot and we hope that we’re definitely not done. We have more to go and I’m still watching video. Keep working. I don’t know that we’ve ever, the team’s ever been done working I’ve ever coached and I don’t think we will by the end of the year, but I’d like to get as far along as we can.”
When talking about the freshmen specifically, Hambly had glowing things to say. He thinks it’s a group that has an opportunity to make an impact this season. They don’t have to wait.
“Yeah, I mean they’re all gonna be really really nice players for us at some point,” Hambly said with confidence. “That some point could be this year. They all could be, they all have the potential to be All-Americans to be honest. All three of them. Like, they’re all pretty special. That’s a fair statement, don’t you think?
“Ipar [Kurt] brings a lot of experience because she’s been at the highest levels professionally. She understands the game at a different level than most kids, like she’s played against better players than most people have ever played against. Like her team finished second in the world last year at the world championships. Like she’s in that gym every single day. The Turkish national team won the national championships. She played at the national Russian team, like she’s playing with all those guys. She brings that.
“Julia Blyashov is one of the best young players in USA. She’s playing on the USA team, she’s playing on the Under 19 team, she’s the captain of that team and one of the best outsides and she jumps well, she moves well, she’s gotta get stronger and all that, but she’s got all the skills. One of the top outsides in the country.
“And Jordyn Harvey is just an absolute freak of an athlete. And technically has work to do which she’s working hard at, but has the ability, like she’s similar to Kipp. Like, the thing I’d say is she’s most similar to Kipp. You watch Kipp jump and you watch Kipp run and you watch her and you’re like this is a different animal out there. And Jordyn’s like that.
“So all those guys are and I think Koko [Kirsch] is a really accomplished DS (Defensive Specialist) libero. People, you have to really watch DS/liberos. Most peoples’ eyes don’t go to them, because it’s not that exciting to watch people pass and play defense per se. Especially if they’re really good they make it look really simple. But she’s a nice addition as well.”
While some programs might be afraid to address national championship aspirations, this Stanford team embraces them and openly talks about them. Hambly made it crystal clear that they talk about it and that it’s just expected if you come to The Farm.
“Oh yeah. Yes. That’s assumed when you come to Stanford,” Hambly said of the aspirations. “I think it’s assumed you join the women’s volleyball program; we have more titles than anyone else. We’re recruiting athletes right now for the ‘25 class. They’re coming in with the assumption, we don’t even have to talk about it. We’re coming to try to win a national title.
“It’s like yeah, you’re right. And the team, we’re very open about it, we’re very honest about it, you take it and you put it aside and you get to work on what’s in front of you, but we absolutely talk about that all the time and that’s been the goal since COVID. Like, let’s get back to this level. And we thought we were close and I mean, we were. We were probably close last year. We feel like we are closer this year than we were last year because they’ve put the work in.”
When looking ahead to the season, the most notable thing to take from what Hambly said is the fact that he feels they are completely different from what they were last year. If that’s really true, that means this team should not only make the Final Four, but they should be playing in the national championship match. It’ll be interesting to see if they can live up to those expectations and have the kind of season that they strongly believe they are destined to have.
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