On Sunday, #9 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated Washington State 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-15, 25-23). Kendall Kipp led the way for Stanford with 13 kills, 6 service aces, and 4 digs while Sami Francis had 9 kills and 3 digs in her return. Laura Jansen was the top performer for Washington State with 15 kills and 7 digs. Stanford improves to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12 while Washington State falls to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-12.
“Yeah, they’re a very competitive team, they have some great players,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “And I thought we with the exception of the second set, things got a little bit away from us there, we struggled at passing, but we played well, we competed hard, we gave ourself an opportunity to win and I thought first and third we played really well defensively and blocked great. Kinda struggled to keep them out of system and to control them a little bit in both two and four, but we figure it out and they’re a good team. That’s gonna happen from time to time.”
The first set was tight early on as both teams were tied 5-5 at the start. After a kill from Elia Rubin, Stanford led 9-6, looking like they might gain some separation. But then, Washington State came back to win three points in a row to tie it up 9-9 after Magda Jehlarova got a nice kill off an assist from Argentina Ung.
At the media timeout, Washington State led 15-14 after a kill by Pia Timmer. Coming out of the time out, McKenna Vicini tied it up for Stanford with a kill of her own off an assist from Kami Miner. It was now 15-15. Washington State would take a 19-18 lead after another kill from Timmer before Kipp got a kill for Stanford to tie it up 19-19. Stanford would then win three more points in a row to lead 22-19 as part of a 4-0 run. Two of the four points came from Kipp as she also had a service ace to go along with her kill. Washington State then called for time, hoping to get back on track, but Stanford would turn their 4-0 run into a 7-0 run, winning the set 25-19 after a set-clinching kill from Francis.
Washington State got off to a strong start in the second set, leading 4-0 following a kill by Jehlarova, her second of the set already. Washington State continued to dominate the set as they led 8-1 following an attack error by Kipp.
After a kill by Katy Ryan, Washington State led 13-7. It looked like they were going to cruise to a set victory for sure. But then, Stanford rallied off four straight points to make it 13-11 thanks to a couple attack errors by Washington State, a kill from Elia Rubin, and a service ace from Elena Oglivie.
Stanford would not be able to get any closer the rest of the set as Washington State steadily grew their lead, eventually winning the set 25-16 following a set-clinching kill from Timmer. It was now a 1-1 match.
The third set was the opposite of the second set as it was Stanford who got off to the early lead. After it was tied 2-2, Stanford won three points in a row to lead 5-2 after a kill from Rubin. Washington State would call for time after Stanford led 11-6 following a kill by Kipp off a Miner assist. From there, Stanford cruised to a 25-15 set victory as another kill from Kipp sealed the deal. Stanford was now just one set away from winning the match in four sets.
“I think we all just started focusing on the details,” Kipp said of what went right in the third set. “We were executing our individual rules, we were picking up tips, we were defending or scrapping and then like when the set wasn’t there, we were keeping balls in play. Just all around, we played a lot cleaner volleyball.”
Washington State got off to a strong start in the fourth set, leading 7-4 after a kill from Ryan. Stanford would then close the gap as Washington State led 10-9 after they committed a service error. Washington State would then win three points in a row to lead 13-9 after a kill from Jehlarova and two attack errors by Rubin. Stanford called for time. Out of the timeout, Washington State won three more points in a row to lead 16-9. It looked like this was heading for a fifth set.
To Stanford’s credit, they chipped into the Washington State lead, getting within one point (19-18) after back-to-back kills from Caitie Baird and Kendall Kipp. Washington State then won two straight points off a kill by Timmer and an attack error by Kipp. It was now a 21-18 Washington State lead, forcing Stanford to call for time again.
“It was about fighting and executing,” Hambly said of what his message to the team was. “They didn’t need any magic. Like we were scoring points in the rotations that were coming up. So, we had a feeling that if we started to play the way we needed to that we’d be in good shape.”
After they traded points, making it 22-19, Stanford won five points in a row to lead 24-22. Kipp got two service aces to make it 22-22 and then 23-22 before a kill from Francis made it 24-22 and match point. With Kipp still on serve, Stanford was hoping to finish out with an ace. Instead, Kipp committed a service error making it 24-23. Still having match point, Stanford did not allow Washington State to tie it up as a kill by Francis off an assist from Miner clinched the match for the Cardinal in four sets with a 25-23 victory.
“The whole night she was doing a nice job serving,” Hambly said of Kipp. “She scored points. I think she scored over 60 percent on her serve. So, which means 60 percent of the time she serves, she scored. That’s a pretty big numbers you know and we come to expect that from Kipp. That’s what she does.”
“I think fifth sets are just, everyone who watches volleyball knows like anything can happen,” Kipp added. “So we just wanted to put the pressure on ourselves to finish that in four. We didn’t wanna have to deal with the stress of going to a fifth set.
“I think we have people who have enough confidence to go after it in those tight situations. I think we honestly struggle more when it’s not super, a ton of pressure if it’s early on. We talk about putting pressure on our opponents and pushing ourselves to not just coast through the easy times. So I think we can really use that pressure at the end of sets and people just step up and make great plays.”
For Washington State, this is a bit of a tough pill to swallow as they nearly took a top ten team to a fifth set on the road. They battled really hard, but in the end, Stanford found another gear that they weren’t able to match.
“I think they were just scrapping really hard on defense and executing their game plan,” Kipp said of the Cougars. “Everything that had been working for us on Friday’s match and in the past they were right on it. And they were digging balls and they were scrapping. So we kinda had to talk about switching up our offense, our shots, and just our game plan to kinda figure out ways to score against them.”
As for Stanford, this was a really nice win. They’ve now won two matches in a row and on top of that, they now have Sami Francis back. Stanford really missed her and was absolutely thrilled to have her back in the lineup. Her return gave Stanford a real shot in the arm and helped them ensure that this match didn’t go to a fifth set.
“The last two kills she put away,” Hambly said of getting Francis back. “Put up a big block and no, we’re better with Sami out there. Belle did a great, but Sami’s a pretty special middle and what did she hit tonight? She hit .381 on 21 swings. I mean, she gives us a lot better balance and it was great to see us use her a lot. Especially down the stretch.”
“Yeah, she came out with great energy and was taking huge swings,” Kipp said of Francis’ return. “It was really great to have her back out there. We missed her.”
Up next for Stanford is a road match at Colorado on Friday, October 7th. That will begin at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
“Yeah, feels good to have a little bit of momentum,” Kipp said. “Especially two home games after a little bit of a rough start at home in the preseason. But, I think we just need to carry this momentum with us and obviously keep working and getting better, but feels really good.”
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