On Wednesday at 5:00 PM PT on Big Ten Network, No. 2 Stanford women’s volleyball will face No. 5 Nebraska on the road. Stanford comes in at 7-0 overall while Nebraska comes in at 8-1. Nebraska’s lone loss came on the road at SMU. It was a 3-0 sweep.
Last time out: On Sunday, Stanford defeated Texas in a 3-0 sweep. The Cardinal dominated the Longhorns.
RECAP: No. 2 Stanford WVB sweeps No. 6 Texas
On Nebraska: The Cornhuskers are one of the top programs in the country year in year out. While they did have that loss to SMU, SMU has since cracked the Top 25, so they are looking like a legit team. The Cornhuskers also have wins over No. 9 Creighton and No. 14 Arizona State, so on the whole they have backed up their ranking.
Sophomore outside hitter Harper Murray leads the way for the Cornhuskers with her 3.30 kills per set. She’s playing fantastic this season. Senior outside hitter Merritt Beason is number two on the team with her 2.84 kills per set. And then four additional players are averaging north of 2.0 kills per set as well, so the Cornhuskers have a lot of depth. Sophomore setter Bergen Reilly is playing well with her 11.48 assists and 3.19 digs per set.
On the whole, Nebraska is playing really well right now. Their one loss to SMU, they wish they could have back, but aside from that they are playing great. They have a terrific home court advantage and will command the very best from Stanford if the Cardinal are to win.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is keep the quality ball movement going. Kami Miner is doing a great job setting people up for easy kills with her 10.65 assists per set and then there is a nice distribution of kills with Elia Rubin (4.23 kills per set), Ipar Kurt (3.15 kills), Jordyn Harvey (2.73 kills), and Sami Francis (2.30 kills) leading the way. If Stanford keeps the quality ball movement going, I like their odds of winning this match.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is come out strong in the first set. They don’t have to win the first set, but it needs to at least be competitive. Nebraska is going to come out fired up and look to have a strong opening set. If Stanford wins the opening set, that would be fantastic as it would really frustrate Nebraska and make them doubt themselves. If Stanford loses a tight set, they’ll at least be sending a message that this is going to be a tough match. The one thing Stanford can’t have is a lopsided loss in the opening set. At a minimum it needs to be competitive to set the tone.
Finally, Stanford needs to keep up their quality service pressure. That’s been a strength of theirs all season long and that needs to continue against Nebraska. Stanford averages 1.85 service aces per set to their opponents’ 1.27. If Stanford keeps that up, they should be in good shape.
Prediction: I gotta roll with Stanford in five sets. The way they are playing, I have to give them the edge in this match, but given it’s on the road, I think this is a match that goes the distance. Should be a fun one in Lincoln!
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