On Tuesday, #12 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated #13 Florida 3-2 (31-29, 25-22, 16-25, 22-25, 15-10) on the road in Gainesville. Kendall Kipp led the way for Stanford with 23.0 points, 19 kills, and 6 digs. Caitie Baird (15 kills) and Sami Francis (12 kills) each had 17.0 points for Stanford while Kami Miner had 47 assists to go along with her 3 kills and 5.5 points. Merritt Beason was the top performer for Florida with 16.5 points, 13 kills, and 9 digs while Marina Markova had 14.0 points and 12 kills. Stanford improves to 3-0 on the season while Florida falls to 3-1.

Stanford got off to a strong start in the first set, going on a 7-0 run to lead 10-6. Florida called for time, hoping to get things to swing in their direction. The timeout seemed to work for Florida as they went on to lead 16-14, forcing Stanford to call for time. Florida had 10 kills and 1 service error while Stanford had 7 kills and 2 service errors.

The timeout helped Stanford regain their footing as they were able to knot things up 22-22. The opening set had become a real battle as both teams were playing extremely hard. Neither team wanted to drop the set knowing how crucial it was to get out to an early set lead. Florida had plenty of chances to get the opening set as they had seven set points, but Stanford found a way to win 31-29. The Cardinal really had to dig deep to fend off so many set points. Baird got the assist to Kipp for the set-clinching kill after a strong serve from Miner. With a 1-0 lead, Stanford was feeling confident.

Stanford would ride the momentum of that strong first set to lead 18-14 in the second set, forcing Florida to call for time. The Cardinal truly had the Gators on their heels. It was tied 12-12 earlier in the set, but Stanford found a way to win six of the next eight points to get some breathing room.

Stanford would go on to win the set 25-22 to take a commanding 2-0 set lead. Elia Rubin secured the set-clinching kill for the Cardinal. Florida was battling hard, but Stanford was finding a way to take things up a notch when they really needed to. Kipp was leading the way with 13 kills while Miner had 27 assists and two kills of her own.

In the third set, Florida started to get things going as they led 14-9. Stanford called for time, hoping to get back on track and not allow Florida to have any life. That timeout didn’t deliver for the Cardinal as the Gators remained up by five points (20-15) later on in the set. Florida looked poised to win the set as Stanford was really struggling.

Florida would take the third set decisively by a score of 25-16. The Gators really stepped up their defense. Stanford needed to find a way to adjust as they were looking to close out the match in the fourth set.

Stanford got off to a better start in the fourth set as they led 13-12. Florida called for time, hoping to find the same mojo they had in the third set. Stanford had a couple of clutch service aces from Elena Oglivie and Elia Rubin. This set was looking like it was going to go down to the wire.

To Florida’s credit, they found a way to retake the lead and win the fourth set 25-22. Stanford actually had a 20-19 lead but wasn’t able to close out the match in four sets as Florida’s determination came through in the clutch.

In the fifth set, Florida got out to a 5-1 lead as Emily Canaan went wild for the Gators with four aces in a row. After her third ace, Stanford called for time, but that didn’t stop her from getting her fourth ace coming out of the time out. Stanford found a way to battle back as Florida led 6-5 before calling for time. After the time out, Florida got two straight points to lead 8-5. Stanford was looking like they were in real trouble.

Rather than falling apart, Stanford once again found a way to dig deep as they went on a 5-0 run to lead 10-8. Baird got a couple of kills, Kipp added a kill of her own, and Sofia Victoria had a couple of attack errors on the Florida side.

Stanford would stay in front to lead 12-10 before getting three points in a row to win the match-decisive set 15-10. Florida had a couple of attack errors followed by the match-winning kill from Sami Francis. Things really turned in the middle of the set after a review went Stanford’s way to give them a 9-8 lead. Florida thought they won the point only for the tape to show that the ball actually hit a part of the net, giving the point to Stanford. That’s really the moment that seemed to shift things in Stanford’s favor.

For Stanford, this is a big-time win. They found a way to get key blocks and stops when they needed to and didn’t give up. They didn’t play a very clean match as they had 21 service errors, but as Brad Gilbert would say, winning ugly is still winning. This one was truly an all-around team victory.

Up next for Stanford is a home match against #1 Texas on Sunday. That will begin at 1:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.

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