On Wednesday at 8:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks, #5 Stanford women’s volleyball will head up to Berkeley to take on their rival California Golden Bears in the Big Spike. Stanford comes in at 5-3 overall while Cal comes in at 7-3. This will be the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
Last time out: On Saturday, Stanford fell to #3 Louisville 3-1 (26-24, 27-25, 14-25, 25-13) at home. Kendall Kipp led Stanford with 15 kills and 2 service aces.
RECAP: #9 Stanford WVB falls to #3 Louisville at home
On Cal: The Bears are coming off a rough season in which they went 7-24 overall and 0-20 in Pac-12 play. This season, they are hoping to turn a new leaf and get back to being the kind of program that they believe they can become. So far, they are off to a solid start, picking up two straight wins at St. Mary’s (3-0) and vs. UC Davis at home (3-2). Cal is yet to face a ranked opponent this season, so this match against Stanford will be at another level from the competition they’ve been playing up to this point.
The Bears are led by junior outside hitter Lydia Grote, who is averaging 4.16 kills and 2.05 digs per set. She is off to a fantastic start. Their other top outside hitter Leah Schmidt, also a junior, is averaging 2.82 kills and 2.13 digs per set. The Bears also have a strong libero in junior Tara Desa, who is averaging 4.37 digs per set.
While Cal had a bad season last year, they’re pretty young with their top players only juniors. They should be improved and tougher than what they were last year. They should also be plenty fired up tonight at Haas Pavilion as they welcome in their archrival and #5 team in the nation.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is match the energy and intensity that Cal brings at the beginning. Cal is eager to have an improved 2022 season and if they start off with a win over Stanford, that would do wonders for their confidence and give them a huge boost. They’re sure to come out swinging and guns blazing, making that first set really interesting. If Stanford can take the first set, that should deflate Cal a bit and send a message.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is take Grote out of the match. If she has a big performance, Cal will have a shot to make things interesting. If she’s unable to get into a rhythm and Stanford is keeping shots away from her while also doing a good job of defending the attacks that she does make, Stanford should win with little trouble.
Finally, Stanford needs to serve well. Stanford has made matches closer than they otherwise would have been had they simply served better. Service errors are just free points that you give to the other team without them having to do anything. Stanford averages 3.19 service errors per set while their opponents average 2.26. Cal averages 1.76 service errors per set, so even lower than their average opponent. If Stanford can keep the service errors down, they should be fine. If not, this could get more interesting than they would like it to be.
Prediction: Stanford being #5 in the nation should win this match with little trouble considering the kind of season Cal is coming off of. They’ve also played a really tough schedule while Cal has played a cupcake schedule up to this point. That said, I do think Cal will find a way to take a set off Stanford being at home and everything. So, I’ve got Stanford winning rather comfortably, but I think it’ll be in four sets and not three.
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