On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball will welcome Cal to Maples Pavilion for round two of Big Spike. Stanford comes in at 15-3 overall and 7-2 in the ACC while Cal comes in at 10-11 overall and 2-7 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford swept Cal in Berkeley on Wednesday by a final score of 25-15, 25-17, 25-14.
RECAP: No. 5 Stanford WVB sweeps Cal in Berkeley
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. Going into this Big Spike series, 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.
Going into Bike Spike, 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 continue their quality ball movement and get multiple players going. As we saw on Wednesday, Cal had a hard time with all the different options that Stanford had to go to: Elia Rubin, Ipar Kurt, Sami Francis, Taylor Yu, etc. So long as Stanford keeps up their quality ball movement, I like their chances to win this match with ease.
Secondly, Stanford needs to keep up their quality service pressure. They had eight service aces against Cal, five of which came from Yu. If Stanford can keep up their strong serving, they should be in a good position to win.
Finally, Stanford needs to maintain a high level of play. Cal is going to come out swinging and fired up to get some revenge on The Farm. The energy that Cal will bring with it being a rivalry Stanford needs to match as well. Stanford did a great job of this on Wednesday and if that continues tonight, they should be fine.
Prediction: I expected a Stanford sweep in Berkeley and I once again expect a Stanford sweep tonight. Cal is struggling right now and didn’t play well in Berkeley. I have a hard time seeing the Golden Bears winning a set on The Farm.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
- PRO
- DT
- WDE
- TE
- WR
- OLB
- SDE
- OG
- S
- OG
