On Sunday at 12:00 PM PT on ESPN, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball will face No. 1 Pittsburgh on the road. Stanford comes in at 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC while Pittsburgh comes in at 16-1 overall and 6-1 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford got a 3-0 sweep at No. 12 SMU on Wednesday.
RECAP: No. 5 Stanford WVB sweeps No. 12 SMU
On Pittsburgh: The Panthers have had a fantastic season so far with their lone loss coming on the road at SMU last week. Aside from that hiccup, it’s been pretty close to smooth sailing for them as they routinely dominate their competition. They’ve clearly earned the right to be ranked number one.
The Panthers are led by sophomore right side/opposite hitter Olivia Babcock, who is averaging 4.31 kills, 1.78 digs, and 1.20 blocks per set. She has been crushing balls this season and been very difficult to contain at the net. Sophomore outside hitter Torrey Stafford is the other leader of this Panthers attack, averaging 4.13 kills and 2.16 digs per set. The Panthers have a really nice one-two punch in Babcock and Stafford. They also have a terrific setter in senior Rachel Fairbanks, who is averaging 10.44 assists per set.
As a team, the Panthers average 13.91 kills, 12.96 assists, 2.28 service aces, 12.44 digs, and 2.83 blocks per set while hitting .348. Their opponents average 9.31 kills, 8.80 assists, 0.78 service aces, 9.13 digs, and 1.93 blocks per set while hitting .099.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is be the team that is more in system. Whichever team is in system for more of the match will have the edge. Both teams will be fighting hard to get the other team out of system. If Stanford can stay in system better than Pittsburgh, that will give them a huge edge in this match.
Secondly, Stanford needs to serve better. While I understand they aren’t worried about service errors so long as they are aggressive and not missing balls into the net, Stanford still needs to serve much better than they did against SMU. If they can have a higher service percentage without sacrificing service pressure, Stanford will have an opportunity to win this match.
Finally, this is a match where outside hitter Elia Rubin needs to ball out. If she has a strong outing and plays up to her max level, Stanford will have someone who is just as effective as anyone that Pitt has. If not, Pittsburgh likely wins this match.
Prediction: This match I think is a toss-up. Given that Pittsburgh is at home, I’ll give them a slight edge to win the match in five sets. This should be a really good battle.
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