On Black Friday, #2 Stanford women’s volleyball swept Cal 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-19) on The Farm to finish up Pac-12 play. Stanford fifth year opposite Kendall Kipp led the way for the Cardinal with 16 kills, seven digs, and four blocks while sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin had 14 kills and five digs. Cal freshman middle blocker Sawyer Thomsen led the way for the Golden Bears with 10 kills while freshman outside hitter Maggie Li had nine kills. Stanford improves to 26-3 overall and 19-1 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 16-15 overall and 5-15 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford-Friday, November 24th
“Well I mean, I thought we came out and took it to them early,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “Like, we really played great defense. We were very aggressive. It looked like a team that was on a mission to take care of business.”
Stanford got off to a strong start in the first set. After a kill by Li got the Bears within two points of the Cardinal at 4-2, the Cardinal ripped off a 5-0 run to lead 9-2. After another kill by Li, it was a 10-4 lead for the Cardinal. Li and the Bears were fighting hard, but the Cardinal had the momentum. After a kill by Kami Miner, a Cal attack error, and a kill by Caitie Baird, Stanford led 13-4.
A kill by Thomsen gave Cal their eighth point of the set. The problem was Stanford had 17 points. Stanford then went on a 4-0 run to lead 21-8 as Kipp got back-to-back service aces. Stanford would go on to take the opening set 25-13 as a Cal service error ended the set.
“It’s fun to see them playing at the peak of their potential and to be around a group that’s doing that,” Hambly said of his team. “I think there’s times tonight we were playing to our potential, which is really exciting to see. Especially getting ready for the tournament.”
The second set was a bit tighter. After Rubin and Thomsen traded kills, it was tied up 4-4. Paige Morningstar also had a service ace for Cal. The Bears were starting to settle in a bit. A kill by Rubin gave Stanford a 6-4 lead, but then Mikayla Hayden got a kill for Cal to make it 6-5.
Stanford then went on 6-0 run to lead 12-5 thanks to three kills from Kipp. It was close to a back and forth set from there as a kill by Thomsen got the Bears to double digits as they trailed Stanford 18-10. Stanford would go on to take the opening set 25-17 as a kill by Rubin off an assist from Miner clinched the set.
“All of them hit an incredible efficiency,” Hambly said of their offense. “I thought Kami did a nice job distributing. I thought Kipp was as good as I’ve seen her and Elia was absolutely going for it and Caitie was doing what Caitie does. Not flashy, but it’s efficient.”
Stanford got off to a hot start in the third set, leading 7-2 as they were on a 4-0 run that included another service ace by Kipp. To Cal’s credit, they went on a 5-0 run to tie things up 7-7. After Stanford led 9-7, Cal went on a 3-0 run to lead 10-9 as Sophia Johnson got a nice service ace for the Bears. This was shaping up to be a competitive set. It continued to be back and forth as both teams were tied 15-15 after a kill by Li and an attack error by Stanford. It was at this point that Stanford finally gained some separation as they went on to win four of the next five points thanks to a pair of kills by Kipp. Stanford now led 19-16.
To Cal’s credit, they didn’t give up at this point. After a kill by Annalea Maeder, Cal now trailed by just two points at 21-19. Stanford responded strongly with a 4-0 run to take the set 25-19 and the match 3-0. The match-clinching run consisted of a kill by Kipp, a service ace by Miner, and back-to-back attack errors by Cal. Cal battled hard all night, but in the end the Cardinal showed why they are Pac-12 champions.
“They served a little bit more, a little tougher,” Hambly said of Cal’s third set. “We got a little sloppy with some of our ball control stuff and they took some good swings. They made some good plays. But we turned it around in the end. We got back to the service pressure, which made a big difference.”
“Yeah, I mean one of our big things was we’re gonna have a lot of distractions, but also the fact that this is our last Pac-12 match ever is a big deal,” Rubin added. “We already have the title, but we wanted to really end with a bang and make a statement and I think we did a pretty good job of that. It got a little bit like messy a little bit, but our main focus was just kind of making a statement. This is our last regular season match. We want to go into the tournament feeling really good about how we’re playing and our flow. And so I think we did a good job of that and yeah, that was the main thing. We just wanted to make a statement and show our dominance and bring that into the tournament.”
Touching quickly on Cal, they had a much improved season this year. They won five matches in league and had a winning record overall. Considering that they had back-to-back winless seasons in the Pac-12 before this season, they should feel really good about the direction of their program. Maggie Li had a fantastic season as she ran away with the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award. She’s got a very bright future and will be a nice piece for Cal to build around in the coming seasons. Their head coach Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd did a wonderful job this season in her first year at the helm.
As for Stanford, what a fantastic way to end the regular season. A home win over Cal on Senior Night with a Pac-12 title already in the bag. It can’t get any better than that.
“I mean awesome,” Rubin said of winning the final Pac-12 title ever. “That was one of our goals we set for ourselves in the beginning of the season and preseason. We said it’s the last one, we’re not gonna let these distractions get to us and instead let’s just focus on the title in front of us and that’s what we did. It got messy at times, but we got the title and I think that means a lot to us. It was one of many goals that we’re still looking to complete, but yeah, I mean it’s amazing. We gotta be grateful for that and I think we put in the work for that title, but there’s another title that we’re looking for and there’s still work to be done.”
In case you missed the match preview the following seniors were honored after the match: Malia Tufuga, McKenna Vicini, Kendall Kipp, Caitie Baird, and Annabelle Smith. All five of them have made real contributions to the program: Smith has missed the entire season due to injury, but last year did a nice job of filling in at middle blocker while Sami Francis was out. Tufuga has had to take on a similar role this year, being the one to fill in during the time that Francis missed. And then Vicini, Kipp, and Baird are such anchors of this entire team. Vicini is fantastic in the middle while Kipp and Baird are arguably the top outside hitting duo in the nation. It was fun to watch them get honored and learn more about their Stanford experiences.
“I mean, I don’t know if I’ve been through more with a class,” Hambly said of the seniors. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had harder time from the COVID years on. I don’t know if I’m closer with a class just from all the stuff we’ve been through and you know, like Kendall talked about it in her speech, we had to rebuild the whole program and get it back to being elite. And we’re elite now and that’s a major credit to these seniors and their leadership and what they were able to accomplish in their time not just on the court, but off the court.”
“Oh my gosh, they are the most amazing group of people,” Rubin said of the seniors. “I was really bummed last year when the seniors left, but these five seniors impact my life every single day. They are just the most amazing people. They’ve been the best mentors, they’ve guided me, they’ve been such a good influence on me. And then above all, just really good friends, and good people. Like, I could count on all of them for anything and I know that for a fact. So yeah, they’re just an amazing group of people and I know that we’re gonna be lifelong friends, but it’s still really sad to see it all come to an end.”
While Maggie Li took home Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, Kami Miner was named Pac-12 Setter of the Year, Elena Oglivie was named Pac-12 Libero of the Year, and Kendall Kipp was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. Between the two ACC bound schools, they took four of the five Pac-12 end of season honors. That’s pretty impressive.
READ: Pac-12 announces 2023 women’s volleyball postseason honors
As far as the 2023 All-Pac-12 Women’s Volleyball Team is concerned, Maggie Li made the cut for that as well while the following Stanford players: Caitie Baird, Sami Francis, Kendall Kipp, Kami Miner, Elena Oglivie, and Elia Rubin. The Pac-12 Coach of the Year was Arizona State’s J.J. Van Niel. Not gonna fight Van Niel getting that honor, but I actually think Kevin Hambly deserves strong consideration for that award. To only drop one match in league play is pretty phenomenal. I don’t care how good the players are. That takes some seriously good coaching.
Looking ahead to the post season, Stanford got one of the four number one seeds in the 64 team NCAA tournament. This means they get home court advantage all the way until the Final Four, which will be played in Tampa, Florida this year. (2) Texas, (3) Tennessee, and (4) BYU round out the top four seeds in Stanford’s region.
“Everyone right now is trying to do their best to make a case to get the best seed to get the best whatever and I think we did what we can,” Hambly said of getting a top seed. “I think we did a good job. We did put together a pretty good resume and it’ll be up to the committee. You never know with the committee, but I think the committee, I think if they’re gonna look at what we’ve done, there’s a very good chance we’ll have an opportunity to host through the regional if we continue to advance.”
Stanford will get things started on Friday, December 1st at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN+ against Fresno State for their opening round match at Maples Pavilion.
“I mean it’s tough, one of our main things is just getting prepared to end people’s seasons,” Rubin said. “And that’s not an easy thing to do. It’s something we talk about a lot. Every game could be our last game. Every game could be someone else’s last game. So just bringing everything we have to the table for every single game. You can’t underestimate any team in the tournament. Every team is fighting for their lives and fighting for the same goal. So, it’s something we’ve been preparing and talking about for the past couple of weeks. Obviously, it’s one step at a time, but yeah, just having that right mindset of coming in and bringing your all to the table at all points is really important.”
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