Over the weekend, #2 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated UCLA 3-2 (23-25, 25-11, 25-23, 27-29, 15-7) and #24 USC 3-1 (26-28, 25-14, 25-15, 32-30) on the road.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at UCLA-Friday, November 17th
BOX SCORE: Stanford at USC-Sunday, November 19th
At UCLA, Stanford fifth year opposite Kendall Kipp (21 kills, 6 digs, & 5 blocks) and sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin (18 kills & 5 digs) led the way for the Cardinal. At USC, Kipp led the way for the Cardinal with a double-double consisting of 18 kills & 12 digs while Elia Rubin (12 kills) and redshirt senior outside hitter Caitie Baird (11 kills) finished in double figures as well.
Stanford improves to 24-3 overall and 17-1 in the Pac-12, clinching the Pac-12 regular season title for the second straight season. It is Stanford’s 21st Pac-12 championship in program history. In the Pac-12 weekly awards, Kendall Kipp was named Offensive Player of the Week while senior libero Elena Oglivie was named Defensive Player of the Week.
Touching quickly on both matches, Stanford showed a lot of toughness and grit to pull these matches out:
To be taken five by UCLA on the road, they could have easily let that one slip. But instead, they found a way to dig deep and pull it out. Actually, the fifth set against UCLA wasn’t even close. Stanford jumped out to a ridiculous 9-0 lead. Talk about shutting the door on an opponent. During that run, Stanford junior setter Kami Miner had three service aces, really coming alive with her serve. UCLA would finally win a few points in the set, but it was Cardinal all the way.
As for the win at USC, they bounced back from a touch opening deuce set in which they lost 26-28. To win three straight sets after that is mighty impressive. Especially to close it out on a deuce set that ended in a 32-30 victory. To not allow that match to go to a fifth set was impressive, showing the resolve that this team has.
For Stanford, to end the final season of the Pac-12 as we know it with a league title is really special. As one who covers the team closer than anybody, I know this means a great deal to them. They value the history of the conference and their place in it. To be remembered as the team that won the final Pac-12 women’s volleyball championship is something that they’ll always cherish.
At the same time, this program is focused on bigger things than just a league title. They have their sights set on a national championship and the opportunity to have home court advantage through the Final Four. In order to get that home court clinched, they do need to finish strong this upcoming week with both Utah and Cal coming to town. The match against Utah will be on Wednesday, November 22nd at 2:00 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream. The match against Cal will be on Friday, November 24th at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
