On Sunday, #7 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated USC 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-16). Kendall Kipp (14 kills & 4 blocks), Elia Rubin (12 kills), and Elena Oglivie (16 digs, 1 assist, & 1 service ace) led the way for the Cardinal. Skylar Fields (12 kills) was the top performer for the Trojans. Stanford improves to 14-4 overall and 9-1 in the Pac-12 while USC falls to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12. With the win, Stanford takes sole possession of first place in the Pac-12.
“Yeah, I think we executed at a really high level,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “We had a good plan. My staff put together a good plan. Most importantly my athletes, the athletes executed at a really high level and we kept them off the net all night and we did the things we needed to win the match and we stayed very very steady. Especially offensively. We hit .600. I don’t think we do that again against these guys the next time around, but I do think we just played great. Kami distributed the ball well, we passed well, we did all the things we needed to. So, it was a nice start.”
In the first set, USC got out to a 6-4 lead before Stanford tied it up thanks to back-to-back kills from Sami Francis and McKenna Vicini. It would continue to be a back and forth set as it was tied 13-13 after a kill by Fields. She was keeping the Trojans in the set.
It was after this point that Stanford started to really heat up, going on an 8-0 run to lead 21-13. Three of those points came off kills from Caitie Baird while two of those points came from service aces by Kelly Belardi. From there, Stanford would finish the set strong to win 25-15 with the final point being an error by USC.
In the second set, Stanford came out guns blazing, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Three of those points came off USC errors while one came off a kill by Vicini. USC would get within two points as Stanford led 5-3, but that was followed by another 4-0 run for the Cardinal making it a 9-3 lead after a service ace by Oglivie. USC called for time, hoping to calm the waters.
To USC’s credit, they would fight back to make it a 10-8 lead for Stanford. But once again, the Cardinal turned on the jets, winning three points in a row to go up 13-8. After another service ace from Belardi it was a 15-10 lead for Stanford. From there, Stanford cruised to an 18-11 lead before finishing off the set 25-15 after a kill by Rubin. All things were going the Cardinal’s way.
In the third set, Stanford jumped out to a 5-1 lead, including a 3-0 run featuring kills from Vicini, Kipp, and Rubin. After a kill by Fields, Stanford led 10-7 as it looked like USC might make the set interesting. But then, Stanford went on a 4-0 run to lead 14-7. Two of those four points came from back-to-back kills from Kipp.
After a kill by Francis, Stanford led 20-10 as the set and match was starting to get very lopsided. From there, Stanford cruised to a 25-16 set victory, making it a 3-0 match victory over the Trojans.
“Yeah, well I think it started off with our serving, really,” Oglivie said of the key to the dominant victory. “We got them out of system and our blocking put up good blocks, good spots, and it was easy to defend around our block and they made it a lot easier for us as defenders to get some digs. But yeah, I think overall it was a really good team effort on the defensive part.”
USC came in with high hopes to make this match competitive. They had more votes than any team not ranked in the AVCA Top 25 and yet they didn’t get a single set. Even worse, none of the sets were even competitive. They got steamrolled.
As for Stanford, they sent a message to the Trojans and played fantastic. As a team, Stanford had a .605 hitting percentage, which is just absurd. They were hitting everything out there and despite adjustments made by USC, they just kept rolling.
“They changed, they looked for a different matchup in the third and we took advantage of the matchup,” Hambly said. “Kipp got loose and they had Fields in the back row and, because we had Kipp versus Fields and they wanted, I think we both wanted that, but after that, it got a different matchup and that’s why Fields’ numbers kind of elevated in that third.”
“Yeah, I think that’s something that we really strive for in our team, it’s something we’re working on currently,” Oglivie said of keeping the foot on the gas. “And I think that it was, everyone knew that we had to do that and I think it was a team consensus and I think we all felt it. We all were talking about it, felt it, and I think we just went out, executed, and kept the energy up. Kept our errors down, which made it really easy to be consistent.”
In addition to playing great offense, Stanford defended really well, holding Fields to 12 kills, well below her average. Oglivie set the tone with her 16 digs and everyone fed off of that. She always plays well, but in this match she was especially on her game.
“I mean, she’s a great defensive player and we funnel things to her at times and force them to hit balls to her. At least we try to and she did great,” Hambly said. “She’s been doing great, though. This is Elena all the time.
“Well, we had a plan. I think what mostly that we did is like we took care of everybody else and then managed Fields as best we could. We had a favorable matchup in the first two sets and then after that, it was a little bit of a struggle. So, we’ll see.”
“Yeah, I think our blocks got some good reads on her,” Oglivie said. “I thought our defenders really read well and like I said, I think our serving got the setter off the net a little bit more and it was easier to make some reads based on that. But I think we were just giving a lot of effort, too and really going out there with our whole body.”
When asked if this was a statement win for his team, Hambly had a more measured view. He was happy his team executed the game plan and delivered, but he didn’t want to make this win to be bigger than what it was. He knows when they see USC at the Galen Center later this season, it’s not going to be easy to replicate the kind of success they had today.
“I think that’s maybe being too meta about the whole thing,” Hambly said. “We had a good match. We were on. They had a match and they were a little bit off on. And that’s about it. I wouldn’t make it bigger than that.”
“Every game we treat very important,” Oglivie added. “This was also a very important game. I think they were tied with us at the top of the Pac, so we were very motivated to get this win like any other game, but it did give a little bit of motivation for sure, I think.”
Up next for Stanford is a road trip to the Pacific Northwest to face the Washington schools. Up first will be Washington State on Friday. That will begin at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
“It’s the toughest road trip, I think,” Hambly said. “Washington State’s a very good team and Washington’s been playing great. They lost one to Arizona State, so they’ll be motivated. But I think in general, it’s the toughest road trip. So we got a lot, our hands full.”
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