On Sunday, #5 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated Washington 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-11, 25-19) on The Farm. Stanford opposite Kendall Kipp and middle blocker Sami Francis each had 15 kills for the Cardinal while outside hitter Elia Rubin had 14 kills. Washington middle blocker/opposite May Pertofsky was the top performer for the Huskies with 12 kills. Stanford improves to 20-3 overall and 13-1 in the Pac-12 while Washington falls to 14-11 overall and 5-9 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Washington at Stanford-Sunday, November 5th
“I thought we started out a little bit slow,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “It took us a while to get into it and then we played really steady in that first set and I even thought we were playing steady in the second set. We just weren’t able to separate and then they made a couple plays at the end and we didn’t and they won that set and then it was nice to see us totally turn it after that and just play great defense. After that we felt like we were in complete control and the match was gonna be ours.”
Washington got off to a nice start, leading 9-6 in the opening set after a kill by Pertofsky. Washington continued to stay in front, leading 15-11 after a service ace by Grace Zilbert. Stanford would eventually tie things up 17-17 after a kill by Kipp and an attack error by Washington. After an attack error by Stanford gave Washington an 18-17 lead, Stanford went on a 4-0 run punctuated by a service ace by Caitie Baird. It was now a 21-18 lead for the Cardinal as the Huskies called for time.
After a service ace by Kipp, Stanford led 24-20. It looked like the Cardinal would cruise to an opening set victory. To Washington’s credit, they made the Cardinal put them away as they went on a 3-0 run to make it 24-23. Stanford would take the set 25-23 as Washington committed an attack error to end the set. The Cardinal led 1-0.
“I think reps, we also in practice, we work on starting, we have these games where it’s like 13 to six or seven or something like that and we’re under pressure to perform before the other side can,” Francis said of the key to winning tight sets. “So, we work on starting behind and just pushing for what we can get.”
Washington came out on fire in the opening set winning five of the first six points to lead 5-1. The fifth point for the Huskies came off a service ace by Audra Wilmes. Later on in the set after a kill by Katy Wessels and a service ace by Lauren Bays, Washington led 12-7. Following a kill by Kierstyn Barton, Washington led 17-13. It looked like it was going to be their set.
Stanford then responded with a 5-0 run to lead 18-17 as Kipp had back-to-back kills during that run. It would remain back and forth all the way through it being tied 23-23. Washington then won two points in a row to win the set 25-23 as Pertofsky and Barton had back-to-back kills. It was now all knotted up at 1-1.
“They were scoring, they came out with a good game plan,” Hambly said of Washington’s first two sets. “They hit a lot of off speed stuff. They got us in some trouble. They weren’t blasting. They were doing stuff that was different. And they did. They played a totally different lineup. Took us a while to adjust to it.”
Stanford responded strong in the third set. After it was tied 3-3, the Cardinal won eight of the next nine points to lead 11-4. Francis, Rubin, Kipp, and Baird all caught fire. After a kill by Madi Endsley, Washington found themselves down 19-11. From there, Stanford won the set 25-11 as they closed it out on a 6-0 run. Three of those points came off service aces by Kipp. The Cardinal now led 2-1.
“Defense,” Hambly said of the key to the third set. “Just defense. Blocking, defense, and service pressure. Like I felt like we weren’t putting enough pressure on them from a service standpoint and I thought we did a good job of getting them off the net and affecting their passing.”
“I heard a couple people say to me they got angry and I feel like we just got a little more fired up,” Francis said of the strong third set. “You could tell in our attitude we were wanting to win a little bit more and just assert ourselves and I think we did that from the start in the third set. Which was the difference that we weren’t behind and we were able to gain a lead early. So, I feel like we gotta come out fired up in the beginning.”
Washington got out to an early 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but Stanford quickly responded with a 4-0 run to lead 5-3 as Francis got a couple of kills. After back-to-back kills from Francis and Baird, Stanford led 15-12. Washington responded to make it 15-14 before Stanford was able to get back up by three points (18-15). Washington was trying hard to force a fifth set, but Stanford kept fending them off. After a kill by Pertofsky, Washington found themselves down by four points (23-19). They were hoping to perhaps even things up. Stanford instead shut the door by winning back-to-back points as Washington had an attack error followed by a kill from Francis. The Cardinal took the set 25-19 and won the match in four sets.
For Stanford, this was a nice win. After splitting the first two sets, they responded the way elite teams do and put Washington away. They got nice balance from Kipp, Francis, and Rubin and didn’t allow anyone from Washington to really heat up. The Cardinal served well, defended well, and got the ball to their best players. When they do those three things, it’s going to be tough to stop them.
“Getting her going a little bit, which is nice,” Hambly said of Francis. “She had some big swings. We got two days in a row, but she’s just getting back to where she was, right? She was there before she was injured. So we’re hoping to keep her healthy.”
“I think it was a lot of trusting myself and my ability to get back into it,” Francis said of getting back to full strength. “I think Kevin and the trainers were just, they knew I could do it. Everyone knew I could do it, but it was just more so like me pushing myself to achieve that and I think it was about getting that connection with Kami back to where it was and so I think we, me and Kami worked a lot on that and making it feel comfortable.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against #7 Oregon on Thursday. That will begin at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Insider.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a battle,” Hambly said looking ahead to the Ducks. “It’s gonna be like Washington State. It’s gonna be an absolute battle. We’re gonna have to fight and they’re a very good team that’s playing really well. So, I think we’re gonna have to play better than we did tonight.”
“I think they pose the same threats that these past few teams have,” Francis said of Oregon. “We’ve been saying we’re in the second half of the Pac-12s now and everybody wants to vie for a spot in the tournament and like good seeding. So, I think everyone is expecting good games from here on out and I think defensively they’re as good as anyone we’ve played so far if not even better. So, just staying consistent and putting the pressure on them early, too.”
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