Recap: #7 Stanford WVB sweeps UCLA on The Farm
On Friday, #7 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated UCLA 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20). Caitie Baird led the way for the Cardinal with 18 kills, 10 digs, and 3 blocks while Kendall Kipp and Elia Rubin each had 11 kills. Iman Ndiaye was the top performer for the Bruins with 15 kills. Stanford improves to 13-4 overall and 8-1 in the Pac-12 while UCLA falls to 9-9 overall and 3-6 in the Pac-12.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re happy to get the W obviously,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “I think we were a little sloppy at times. I didn’t like the way we competed in the second set at the beginning and then I loved the way at the end. We were down pretty big and a lot of that was about us just not playing the way we normally [play]. But, we worked through it, we made some errors early, and then we worked through it. Especially in the first and second set. And then the third set just felt pretty comfortable. We were starting to play a little bit more at a higher level and we hit over .300 for the match. We were pretty good offensively, but we don’t like that they hit .241. We have to be better defensively.”
Early on in the first set, it was tied 7-7 as both teams were trading points after an early 3-0 UCLA lead. Following a kill by McKenna Vicini to bring Stanford back within one point (9-8), UCLA went on a 4-0 run to lead 13-8 before furthering their lead 16-10 after a kill by Charitie Luper.
Stanford would respond with three straight points to make it 16-13 after two kills from Rubin and an attack error by UCLA. A kill by Kipp would tie it up 19-19 after which an attack error by UCLA would give Stanford a 20-19 lead. UCLA would then call for time after which Stanford won two more points off a UCLA error and kill by Kipp, making it a 22-19 lead for Stanford. UCLA called for time again.
In the end, Stanford would hang on to win the set 25-23 after a set-clinching kill from Kipp. UCLA had given Stanford a real run, but the Cardinal found a way to pull it out.
UCLA would get out to a hot start in the second set, leading 6-1 after back-to-back service aces from Mokihana Tufono. Stanford would once again claw back, winning seven of the next nine points to tie it up 8-8. Four of those points were due to kills by Baird as she was really heating up.
“It was just our side,” Baird said of the slow starts. “Our errors and stuff. We weren’t doing the things we are better at. Just controlling the ball, keeping it in, extending the rallies, just playing our game. We kinda, just hitting some shots we weren’t usually hitting that we were missing by a little bit. Just figuring out, fixing things, and going through it.”
After fighting their way back, Stanford dug themselves another hole as UCLA would go up 17-12 after a kill by Luper. Stanford called for time, hoping to get momentum going in their direction once more. UCLA would stay in front 20-15 before Stanford won seven points in a row to go up 22-20. Baird got a couple of kills and then UCLA started to commit some errors as well. UCLA would get one more point after an attack error from Baird, but Stanford would finish the set with three straight points thanks to two kills from Baird and one kill by Kipp. 25-21 Stanford took the second set.
“I think it’s the same thing, just knowing that, I think it was our side that we were making the errors and we can correct those easily," Baird said. "Just by a few things here and there and just really focusing in and connecting again.”
In the third set, UCLA got out to an early 5-2 lead, but Stanford found a way to respond to make it 7-7 after a kill by Rubin. Things would continue to be back and forth as it was tied 15-15 after a kill for UCLA by élan McCall. Stanford would then go on a 3-0 run to lead 18-15 and after UCLA cut it to two points at 22-20, Stanford won three straight points in a row to win the set 25-20, making it a 3-0 match victory.
For Stanford, each set was closer than they would have wanted it to be, but you have to give them credit for finding a way to dig deep and win the match in straight sets. They could have easily given in and allowed UCLA to take a set off of them, but they instead got the job done. Even after digging themselves into multiple holes.
“We gotta be more focused on passing,” Hambly said about the slow starts in multiple sets. “We didn’t pass the way we want to pass, exactly and then made some errors because of it…I think for us we just need a little bit higher level focus…Well the second set it was serving. We got them off the net and then we started to defend a little bit and I thought Elena started us off with the defense and then McKenna started us off with some blocks. She did a nice job blocking. But then in the second set, Belardi went back to her serve, a nice run and made some good plays, and then Caitie was really really solid offensively when she put up great numbers, what did she have? What, .485 and that’s a pretty good night. And so she was really really solid, kinda steadied us out and then played at a high level and things got more comfortable for us.”
“Just staying locked in as a team and staying connected,” Baird said of the key to getting the sweep. “We came out slow at the start and pretty much most of the sets but knowing that we have all the tools to like get back in there and just if we stay with each other we’ll be fine.”
Caitie Baird came up big and delivered the goods in a major way. It was her time to step up and she did so when her team needed her the most. Without her performance, this match likely would have gotten a lot more interesting.
“I think just playing kinda free and carefree, yeah, loose,” Baird said of her performance. “Just knowing that my team’s behind me. If I’m taking big swings I know they got my back behind there and just kinda trusting it and getting some sick sets from like Kami and other people out in the system. So, everything was kinda clicking today.”
Stanford also was back home for the first time in four matches. There was a good crowd on hand at Maples and that seemed to make an impact as well. The team was definitely happy to be back on their home court.
“It was nice, we could get above .500 at home, it’s nice,” Hambly said. “You know, it’s only five matches. So, like I think for us it’s, I don’t know. I don’t know how comfortable we are at home yet. But it’s nice to, we had a great crowd, it was loud in there, it’s nice to hear Maples loud, you know? I really credit everyone coming out and over four thousand, which is awesome. And I think for us, we just haven’t had a lot of those opportunities to kinda get used to that. So I’m looking forward to being home. Sunday, I expect another great crowd, and hopefully we can kinda get more used to being at home because we really would like to host the first couple rounds as we, first four rounds if possible. Because we get NCAA tournament and this needs to feel like a place where we get the crowd behind us and we’re comfortable and we can compete at the highest level.”
“Oh, it was awesome, Maples was electric today,” Baird added. “It was the loudest I’ve probably heard it in a while. So, it was really contagious energy. It was super fun to play in.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against USC on Sunday. That will begin at 1:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Insider.
“They’re more than just Fields,” Hambly said of USC. “She’s a great athlete and she’s a great player and she’s a really dynamic scorer. They have great players all-around. They have a setter that can dish, and they got a just a really good team. There’s a reason why they’re 8-1 right now as well and we’re fighting for first place and they seem to be playing like the second best team in the conference right now.”
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.