On Tuesday at 4:00 PM PT on the SEC Network, #12 Stanford women’s volleyball will take on #13 Florida on the road in Gainesville. Stanford comes in at 2-0 overall while Florida comes in at 3-0.
Last time out: On Saturday, Stanford defeated Tennessee State 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, and 25-18) in straight sets on the road in Nashville. Stanford senior Kendall Kipp led the way for the Cardinal with 14 kills, 2 aces, and 6 blocks while sophomore Sami Francis had 7 kills and 5 blocks.
RECAP: #14 Stanford WVB takes care of business at Tennessee State
On Florida: Like Stanford, Florida has one of the best programs in the nation. Despite losing 3-1 to Stanford last season on The Farm, they actually did better in the NCAA tournament, winning their first two matches before falling to top seeded Louisville in the regional semifinals. This season, they’re looking to get a little payback as they’ll be playing the Cardinal at home.
The Gators are led by sophomore right side/outside hitter Merritt Beason, who leads the team with 41 kills and 3.73 kills per set and senior outside hitter Marina Markova who is number two on the team with 33 kills and 3.3 kills per set. The Gators also have a strong setter of their own freshman Alexis Stucky, who has 99 assists on the year (11.00 per set).
The Gators took care of business in their first three matches, defeating North Florida 3-1, East Tennessee State 3-1, and Virginia 3-0. Like Stanford, this is their first major test of the season, so this match will tell us a lot about both teams.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is keep Kendall Kipp rolling. In the two matches played, she leads the team with 22 kills and 3.67 kills per set. She’s off to a really strong start this season and if Stanford is going to get the win on the road, they’re going to need their best player to come up big.
As an extension of that, they also need to see if they can get more out of Caitie Baird. Baird averaged a team-high 4.24 kills per set last season. This season she is averaging 2.80. If Baird can wake up and look more like what she did last season, that would be huge. Part of her dip might in part be due to Sami Francis stepping up with 3.00 kills per set, but she should still be averaging well above her current average. She needs to get going.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is take Beason out of the match as best as they can. She’s really the engine that makes this Gator team go. If they can ensure she has a quieter match, I like Stanford’s chances to win this match.
Finally, Stanford needs to buckle up for an intense first set. That first set is going to set the tone for the entire match. The Gators are going to be fired up and fully expect to win. If Stanford can find a way to hang on in that first set, that will deflate the Gators and give them the confidence they need to win this match.
Prediction: I’m new to predicting volleyball matches, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Stanford is ranked higher and they did beat Florida rather convincingly a season ago when they played on The Farm. I’m going to predict Stanford wins this match, but it’ll go the distance and be an intense five set match. This one should be fun.
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