On Saturday, #11 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated #3 Minnesota on the road by a final score of 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-12). Kendall Kipp led the way for the Cardinal with 17 kills, 6 digs, and 3 blocks while Elia Rubin and Caitie Baird each had 12 kills. Taylor Landfair was the top performer for the Gophers with 15 kills, 10 digs, and 1 block.
In the first set, things were tight as it was tied 12-12 midway through. Over the next 10 points, neither team could pull ahead as it was tied 17-17. It was a real battle as both teams were trading points and jockeying for position. However, from that point on, Stanford took control of the set, winning three straight points to go up 20-17 thanks to a service ace from Kami Miner, a kill by Kendall Kipp off an assist from Elena Oglivie, and a kill by Kipp off an assist from Miner. At 19-17, Minnesota called for time and Stanford responded with that kill from Kipp off the Miner assist.
Minnesota would close the gap 20-19 and stay within two points 22-20 before Stanford went on another 3-0 run to win the set 25-20. The final three points were a kill by Kipp and two kills from Rubin. Stanford did a nice job of closing it out.
In the second set, Stanford came out strong, winning six of the first seven points to lead 6-1 after Minnesota scored the first point. Oglivie got the fifth and sixth points with back-to-back service aces. After a kill by Baird off an assist from Miner, Stanford led 10-5. After back-to-back kills from Sami Francis and Caitie Baird, Stanford led 20-13. From there, it was a back and forth set, which was fine for Stanford as it resulted in a 25-18 set victory.
In the third set, Stanford got off to an early 5-2 lead after a kill from Francis. After a solo block from McKenna Vicini, it was an 11-6 lead for the Cardinal. They were looking primed to get a sweep. However, thanks to three straight attack errors from Stanford it became 11-9. Stanford would maintain the lead, going up 17-14 before Minnesota went on a 7-0 run to lead 21-17. There were a couple of errors by Stanford during that stretch, but four of the points were off kills while one was a service ace. Minnesota was heating up.
To Stanford’s credit, they didn’t let Minnesota run away with it from there, getting within two points of the lead twice at 22-20 and 24-22. They made Minnesota earn the set, even though the set clinching point for Minnesota was off a service error from Kipp. 25-22 Minnesota took the set.
Up 2-1, Stanford knew they didn’t want this to go to a fifth set and so they came out with a lot of aggression at the start of the fourth set as they jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. After Minnesota closed the gap 6-4, Stanford went off on a 6-0 run to lead 12-4. Stanford would continue to dominate, leading 20-12. From there, Stanford closed the match out on a 5-0 run with a kill by Kipp to seal the deal. 25-12 Stanford won the fourth set, making it a 3-1 victory.
After a tough loss to Penn State the day before, it was hard to see Stanford bouncing back against an even higher ranked Minnesota team and yet that’s exactly what they did. And they did so in commanding fashion on the road. This is a big win for Stanford, who really needed this after not only losing to Penn State but also getting waxed at home by #1 Texas.
When looking at the stats, what really stands out is that Stanford had 54 kills and only 19 attack errors while Minnesota had 39 kills and 26 attack errors. Stanford played the much cleaner match and won handily as a result. Kipp was fantastic and she got the help she needed. This is a win that should give Stanford a lot of confidence going forward.
Up next for Stanford is a road match at #2 Nebraska on Tuesday. That will begin at 5:00 PM PT on Big Ten Network.
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