On Friday, #9 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated #17 Washington 3-1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-20, and 25-21). Kendall Kipp led the way for Stanford with 19 kills, 7 digs, and 4 blocks while Elia Rubin and Caitie Baird each had 17 kills. Claire Hoffman was the top performer for Washington with 20 kills. Stanford improves to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12 while Washington falls to 10-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12.
“I think the thing that I like most is we fought really hard the whole time. We competed,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “We feel like we didn’t do that against Oregon the way that we wanted to and we were affected by Sami being out, I think and then we were affected just by the crowd and all that stuff and we talked about after that it was really hard to look each other in the eye after the match and feel good about what we did and that’s what we talked about before the match is like, ok let’s just make a pact that at the end of the match we’re gonna feel good that we came out and fought our hardest and if we don’t execute or we do execute, at least we fought, ya know, and so I think for us it was important to kinda see us kinda scrap and claw and fight tonight…But I think the crowd helped us tonight, it was a great crowd tonight, and I feel like we had good energy at our court.”
“I think it was just our mentality coming out and taking it from them,” Rubin added. “Playing with a lot of urgency and yeah, we did not want to go to five, we did not want it to be a long night, so just coming together as a team working together, I think we all did a really good job of relying on each other, leaning on each other, playing as one cohesive unit. So, I think our energy was great and we were able to focus up and finish the fourth set, which is pretty awesome.”
Stanford got off to a hot start in the first set, leading 9-5 after a kill by Kipp that was preceded by a service ace. Washington called for time, hoping to get back on track. Coming out of the timeout, Kipp got another kill, making it a 10-5 Stanford lead. Washington would soon get back in the set as it was an 11-10 Stanford lead following an attack error by Baird. Kami Miner would then get an assist by setting Baird up for a kill, making it a 12-10 Stanford lead. Following a kill by Kipp, it would be a 17-14 Stanford lead as the Cardinal still maintained a lead. Washington would tie it up 19-19 as they would win five of the next seven points.
It would remain a back and forth affair as both teams were tied 23-23. Sophie Summers then got a kill for Washington to make it a 24-23 lead for the Huskies before Emoni Bush had a service error to make it 24-24. Washington would finish the set with back-to-back kills from Hoffman, making it a 26-24 opening set victory.
In the second set, it was a real battle early on as both teams were tied 6-6 after Rubin got a kill. Stanford would then win three straight points off a kill by Miner, a kill by Rubin, and a service ace by Kipp. This forced Washington to call for time as it was a 9-6 lead for Stanford. Another 3-0 Stanford run would force a Washington timeout as Stanford led 16-10 following two kills from Baird and a kill by McKenna Vicini.
“First set we had a lead pretty much the whole game and then Endsley went down and we got that little break and then we kinda lost focus,” Rubin said. “Obviously tough to watch and so I think we just weren’t able to finish that out and we came back together and we were neck and neck the whole game, we just have to be able to close it and focus on our side of the net. So, it was all us and getting a little bit more momentum and power was important for us.”
Later on in the set, Stanford would have another 3-0 run courtesy of a kill by Kipp, a service ace by Rubin, and a kill by Baird. This made it a 21-13 lead for Stanford. In the end, Stanford would take the set rather easily 25-17. A kill by Vicini gave Stanford set point after which an attack error by Marin Grote gave them the set. It was now tied at one set apiece.
“We were in control in the first set for most of it,” Hambly said when asked about what changed in the second set. “We made too many errors than we needed to. I think some of our players were thinking too much about what was open for them and trying, but pressing a little instead of just kinda playing free.
"And then we make those errors, I think we gave them like five, six points that we kinda kept them in it a little bit, and then they made plays at the end and Hoffman made a couple great swings, ya know. And she’s a great player and she was good all night, I thought. They came around and they had a good matchup and they made the plays at the end and we knew that if we could kinda get stuff straightened out we wouldn’t maybe let them get in that situation again where they could get really good at the end.”
In the third set, Stanford got off to a strong 9-5 lead after an attack error by Hoffman. Washington would creep back into the set as it would be a 12-10 Stanford lead following a kill and service ace by Hoffman. Stanford would win two points in a row to make it a 14-10 lead, forcing Washington to call for time. Stanford would continue to grow their lead, going up 20-15 following a service error and attack error by the Huskies. Washington once again called for time.
In the end, Stanford would win the set 25-20 as a kill by Kipp secured the set for Stanford. The Cardinal now had a 2-1 set lead and were in the driver’s seat. Now it was just about finishing strong and not allowing the match to go to a fifth set.
The fourth set would start off tight 6-6 after an attack error by Rubin followed by a kill by Kipp. After a kill by Baird and a service ace by Kelly Belardi, Stanford led 10-9. However, it would get tied up 10-10 after Hoffman got a kill.
After a service error from Kipp made it 14-14, Stanford won three points in a row to lead 17-14 after a kill by Kipp, a kill by Baird, and a Washington attack error. Stanford would go on to win the set 25-21 as Washington never was able to tie up the set despite getting within one point a couple of times. The last time it was within one point was at 20-19 and from there, Stanford won five of the next seven points to close out the match in four sets.
“We passed well and I think offensively we were in a really nice rhythm,” Hambly said. “Kami did a nice job, but I also think we made much better choices attacking. You saw us maybe tip more and throw more and hit space. Like we were aware of what they were doing defensively and I thought we took advantage of the things that they were giving us instead of just blasting away and hoping. I think we had a better plan tonight about how we wanted to attack.”
For Stanford, this is a big win. After losing at Oregon in straight sets last week, they bounced back with a strong performance, winning three sets in a row after narrowly dropping the first set. Sami Francis was still out, but Stanford did a better job of playing without her, not letting her absence bog them down like it did at Oregon.
“Just competing,” Hambly said of the key to flipping the script after the Oregon loss. “Just like getting over it and let’s go fight, ya know? I think we were hanging on a little bit too long. I don’t know for sure because it’s not something we address because Belle’s a good volleyball player. So, I wasn’t going to disparage Belle. Sami’s a, she’s pretty special, but Belle’s a good volleyball player and I think we were just feeling sorry for ourselves that she was still out or something. I mean it’s hard to say, but there’s more like hey let’s just compete. Forget, whoever’s out there, let’s go compete. Whatever we do, let’s go compete and I think we did a good job of that.”
“Yeah, it feels really good,” Rubin added. “We put in a lot of work this week. We weren’t happy obviously with the outcome of the Oregon game and we thought we could have done better with things that were in our control. So just focusing on that. We feel really good that we were able to come back and prove ourselves this weekend…Sami’s obviously a huge part on the court, but after the game off the court, she gave us a big speech, a good hype up speech, and regardless of whether she’s on the court or not she contributes a lot and after the Oregon game, she gave us a great talk, kinda got our heads right, and so not having her on the court today, I mean she’s still there on the sideline and providing just as much. Obviously on the court it's nice to have her, but she’s doing just as much off the court. So, it’s really nice.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against Washington State on Sunday. That will begin at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area. Sami Francis’ status is not known as Hambly declined to comment on that, though the fact that she was dressed for the Washington match indicates that a return is getting closer.
On Washington State: Touching quickly on Washington State, the Cougars are 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12, coming off a straight set victory in Berkeley on Friday at Cal. Fifth year outside hitter Laura Jansen (3.31 kills per set) and senior outside hitter Pia Timmer (3.00 kills per set) are the leaders of this Cougars team. They are playing fantastic and providing sound veteran leadership.
“They got some great players,” Hambly said of Washington State. “They have one of the best middles in the country, Magda, and I can’t pronounce her last name so I’m not gonna try, it starts with a J [Jehlarova], Jera something and she’s, she’s pretty special and they fight really really hard, they serve really really aggressive, and we know that they’ll battle with us. So we talked a lot about competition and about this match and it’s going to be important for us to do the same.”
If Stanford is to beat Washington State, it’s going to start with containing Jansen and Timmer and having Baird and Kipp getting the better of them. Whichever outside hitters perform better will be giving their team the inside track to win.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is keep playing with intensity and not letting their foot off the gas. Hambly seems to feel that’s what cost them the first set against Washington. They have to make sure they keep their intensity up and not allowing Washington State to get any points for free.
Finally, if Francis is back, Stanford needs to feed off her energy as she’ll be pumped up to be back. And if she’s not back, Stanford will need to find a way to create their own energy without her being on the floor. She’ll at a minimum be there on the bench cheering them on and so if they can even just feed off that energy, that will be better than being frustrated or sad that she’s still out.
Prediction: My prediction is a straight set victory for the Cardinal. Stanford got back on track against Washington and I expect that momentum to carry over into their match against Washington State.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
