On Wednesday at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball will take on the California Golden Bears on the road in Berkeley. Stanford comes in at 14-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC while Cal comes in at 10-10 overall and 2-6 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford is coming off a difficult match at No. 1 Pittsburgh in which they got swept 3-0.
RECAP: No. 5 Stanford WVB gets swept at No. 1 Pittsburgh
On Cal: The Golden Bears have a first year head coach in Jen Malcolm, so it’s a new era in Berkeley. So far, they’re having a better season than they have in the past, though they’re about on the same pace as they were last year with Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd, who was interim head coach and now is an assistant coach at Minnesota.
The Bears continued to be led by sophomore outside hitter Maggie Li, who is coming off a strong freshman season. Li is averaging 3.70 kills and 1.85 digs per set, doing a great job of giving the Bears an offensive attack. Junior outside hitter Peyton DeJardin (2.74 kills), junior middle blocker Mikayla Hayden (2.04 kills), and freshman middle blocker Kate Mansfield (2.00 kills) are also averaging 2+ kills per set, doing a nice job of giving Li some help.
As a team, the Bears average 11.97 kills, 11.32 assists, 1.30 service aces, 14.91 digs, and 2.14 blocks per set on a .185 hitting percentage. Their opponents average 13.24 kills, 12.38 service aces, 1.49 service aces, 14.42 digs, and 2.64 blocks per set on a .230 hitting percentage.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Maggie Li. She’s the top player on this Cal team by far. If Stanford doesn’t allow her to have a big match, they should be fine.
Secondly, Stanford needs to stay in system and dictate the points. On paper, Stanford is the better team and should be controlling the points. This is one where they should look to stay in system for much of the night and have Cal working hard to stay in points.
Finally, Stanford needs to play a clean match. Make sure they aren’t committing silly service errors and taking bad swings. As long as Stanford plays clean, they’ll be in a good spot.
Prediction: I got Stanford sweeping Cal 3-0. Cal I think will play hard and have some close sets, but in the end Stanford will do what is needed to get the sweep.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
