On Saturday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPNU, #1 Stanford will face #2 San Diego in the regional final (Elite Eight) of the NCAA tournament. The match will be played on The Farm at Maples Pavilion. Stanford comes in as the top seed in their region and the number four overall seed in the tournament while San Diego comes in as the number two seed in the region.
On San Diego: The Toreros come in at 30-1 overall having gone a perfect 18-0 in conference play. They are one of the top teams in the nation and are on an impressive 27 match winning streak. Their lone loss was at then-No. 3 Louisville in September, but they have wins over then-No. 6 Pitt in August, then-No. 8 Ohio State in September, not to mention their perfect record in WCC play, which included wins over ranked programs like BYU and Pepperdine. In NCAA tournament play, they have dominant wins over Washington State and Kentucky, both top-25 programs.
The Toreros are led by redshirt senior outside hitter Kaitie Lukes, who is averaging 3.71 kills per set. Graduate student outside hitter Breana Edwards is averaging 3.36 kills per set as number two in that category while opposite/setter Grace Frohling is averaging 3.06 kills per set. Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow is averaging 3.68 digs per set, doing a good job in the back end.
As a team, the Toreros average 13.75 kills, 13.00 assists, 1.64 service aces, 13.33 digs, and 2.76 blocks per set while having a .293 hitting percentage. Their opponents average 11.21 kills, 10.57 assists, 0.99 service aces, 12.56 digs, and 1.83 blocks per set while having a .153 hitting percentage.
What the teams are saying: Both teams had a press conference on Friday to discuss the matchup. Below are some key quotes.
“Obviously, I’m super proud of the performance and the outcome from last night’s match. This season has been really, very magical for us and it’s not like we’re counting wins, we are more in the moment and it’s been really great to take each step of this process and this journey this season. For it’s singular match and singular opponent and it’s gotten us pretty far, which is pretty outstanding.”-San Diego head coach Jennifer Petrie
“It’s just such an amazing feeling and USD was my dream school, so for me this is just like, has made my life, this is just, I’m so grateful to be in this position and we just have such a great coaching staff that prepares us and I just think it’s a reflection of all our hard work, a team full of eighteen people who just love each other and really wanna come in the gym every day ready to work hard and are really motivated. So, this means everything. It feels surreal and I can’t even describe, I feel like there’s not even enough words I can describe just how much this means to put our school on this type of radar to the rest of the world or nation.”-San Diego redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow
“As a San Diego native, I also can’t put into words how much pride that we take in this and how exciting this is to represent not only our school, but also the city and the volleyball community and stuff. I mean, it’s just super exciting and it’s just, I dunno, it means a lot to us to create this sort of legacy and continue what Jenn has worked on for twenty four years now and it’s just so exciting. Such an exciting time.”-San Diego junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell
“I think it’s gonna be such an epic battle and a lot of fun because there’s large arms on the pins on both sides of the net and certainly we have to continue to win that serve and pass battle. They are a tough serving team and we need to make sure that we hit our zones. That we’re looking at to try to get them as off the net as we can, but who’s got the bigger arm and who’s willing to stay brave out of system and take the bigger risk and I think you’ll see a lot of that tomorrow night because I think both squads have some kids that are very physical and are gonna go after it.”-Jennifer Petrie
“Luckily our schedule has really prepared us for this moment, we played in some really tough environments. Louisville was a crazy electric environment just preseason, Texas A&M, we’ve had just so many opportunities so BYU, obviously. They pack that gym, so I think we’re very well prepared for this moment and I almost feel like sometimes we play better on the road. That’s just my opinion, but we’re more than ready and a lot of mental work goes into that that our coaches prepare us for. So, really excited and I think mentally we’ll be ready to go.”-Annie Benbow
“I mean clearly she [Sami Francis] is a very imposing and big space taker. Big block. She’s dynamic in front with the setter, she can go off one foot, she played club volleyball with my daughter, so I’ve seen her play for many many years. So although she’s been out for a little while, I know what she’s fully capable of and she’s a big addition for them. I’m excited that she’s back.”-Jennifer Petrie
“Yeah, she [Kendall Kipp] is playing phenomenal. She’s excellent and the fact that we have said that our defenders can line up in certain spaces, but she will hit where you’re not. So we have to be able to be out of our range, make sure we are set in our defense and playing a little more perimeter and hope that we can do a good job of containing, getting out of those rotations when she’s front row, serve tough, but she’s gonna get hers, she’s so high, she can hit over people, she finds open spaces on the court, she’s a great player and it’s gonna provide a really great challenge for our blockers and our defenders.”-Jennifer Petrie
“They [San Diego] are really well balanced. They’re big, they’re physical, they have good arms, they, Gabby will fling it around from all over the place, she’ll fire, like she’ll play with tempo from fifteen feet and she’s not afraid to force a quick in from off the net, she’ll set it twenty feet back to opposite, she’ll fire a go from the sideline, I mean, she does a nice job running the offense. They know who they are, they know how they can win, they know, well, they’re just a really well-composed team and they are, they don’t really have holes. We just have to really execute and see if we can slow them down.” -Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly
“I think just understanding my role has been the most important thing for me. I’m focusing on myself and just being there for my teammates. I feel like that just, I dunno, I’ve been learning a lot throughout this season and the improvement in the gym, like practice obviously helped a lot. We’ve been putting in a lot of work.”-Stanford freshman outside hitter Elia Rubin
“Yeah, I mean it’s awesome to be practicing against like the best of the best every day and just seeing like what the expectation is and then trying to match that.”-Elia Rubin on practicing against Kipp and Baird
“Yeah, I think it all boils down to not hesitating and that’s something I’ve been working on for a while and just making plays and Kevin knows since he tells that to me all the time. Just go make plays and so I just have to not hesitate and go for everything.”-Stanford junior libero Elena Oglivie
“It [libero] is a very important role. I have played it for two years, now? Three years? Three years. I can’t even count that, two and a half, but I definitely grew into loving it. It was a new role for me in college, but it’s a very important that I’ve learned and I have to control the back court, the serve and receive and go out and just make plays that can change the game. And contribute to the team any way possible.”-Elena Oglivie
“I mean, I think it’s been said, they [San Diego] play really good volleyball. But I think we do as well. So, it’ll be a pretty good matchup, I think if we both come out playing our volleyball, then I think it’s going to be a really good game. So I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited.”-Elia Rubin
“Yeah, I agree. I’m excited. I think they have big hitters, we have big hitters, they have playmakers, we have playmakers. It’s very well balanced and so, it’s definitely going to be a good game for sure.”-Elena Oglivie
“Yeah, I think it [home court advantage] is pretty huge. I think Maples has been getting a lot of good crowds recently and so we can definitely hear them on the court. They definitely bring some energy to us, too and we can feed off of that for sure. So it’s, I would say it’s a pretty big part of it, but also we’re just focusing on our side of the net and doing what we gotta do to win the game.”-Elena Oglivie
“I feel like we’ve gotten a pretty good showing [of support from Stanford athletes]. After the game last night I went into the athlete library and everyone came in and was cheering for us. So it was so cool to see other athletes supporting us and I think we’ve had good a good crowd at the games, too. The student section of athletes especially has been really strong. They’re cheering loud. You can hear them. It feels good to have that.”-Elia Rubin
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is match the firepower that San Diego has. Kendall Kipp (4.50 kills per set), Caitie Baird (3.38 kills per set), and Elia Rubin (3.17 kills per set) all need to ball out. If they are able to have the better offensive night, Stanford should be in good shape.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is win the defensive battle in the back row. Both teams have fantastic liberos. San Diego has Annie Benbow as mentioned earlier while Stanford has Elena Oglivie (4.42 digs per set). Whichever team has the better defensive outing I like to win this match.
Finally, Stanford needs to feed off the home crowd energy. This is a match where being at home makes a difference. This is why you played for a top four overall seed, to get the chance to be the top seed in a region and host a regional final. If Stanford can feed off their home crowd energy accordingly, they should win.
Prediction: Stanford is at home and they’re the higher seed. San Diego is really good and I expect a fierce battle, but I do think Stanford will find a way to come out on top. I have Stanford winning in five sets.
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