Recap: #9 Stanford WVB upsets #2 Nebraska on the road
On Tuesday, #9 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated #2 Nebraska on the road by a final score of 3-1 (27-25, 25-22, 19-25, 27-25). Kendall Kipp (15 kills, 7 digs, and 4 blocks) led the way for the Cardinal while Elia Rubin had 13 kills and 7 digs. Madi Kubik was the top performer for Nebraska with 13 kills and 15 digs. Stanford improves to 5-2 overall while Nebraska falls to 7-1.
As expected, this match was close from the very beginning. 12 points into the first set, it was tied 6-6 after a service ace from Stanford setter Kami Miner. Neither team was able to pull away from the other as each team did a nice job of responding to whatever punch was thrown their way. Nebraska would soon pull ahead to lead 11-7, winning five of the next six points. Four of those points came off kills (three from Kaitlyn Hord) and one came off a service ace by Kenzie Knuckles. Rubin would then get back-to-back kills for Stanford to make it 11-9 before Nebraska started to pull ahead again, leading 14-10 after a service error from Kipp. Nebraska would then win four of the next six points to lead 18-12 after an attack error by Kipp. It was at this point that Stanford called for time.
Coming out of the timeout, Stanford started to chip away at Nebraska’s lead, winning three points in a row to make it 18-15 after an attack error by Maggie Mendelson. This resulted in Nebraska calling for time, hoping to regain control. After two errors by Nebraska and a kill by Kipp, it was now 19-18 as Nebraska led by just one point. Stanford would eventually tie things up 23-23 after a kill by Caitie Baird, forcing Nebraska to burn another timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Rubin picked up a service ace to give Stanford a 24-23 lead and set point. Nebraska would then even things up 24-24 after an attack error by Baird. Sami Francis then got a kill to give Stanford a 25-24 lead before a service error from Anna Pringle tied it up 25-25. Stanford would pull ahead 26-25 after Bekka Allick hit a service error of her own. On the next point, Stanford secured the set 27-25 after an attack error from Hord. Stanford had a 1-0 set lead.
In the second set, Stanford got off to a strong 3-0 lead as McKenna Vicini got things started with a kill before back-to-back attack errors by Whitney Lauenstein. Stanford would stay in front until Lauenstein got a kill to make it 11-11. Following an attack error by Mendelson, it was a 15-13 Stanford lead as the match headed into a media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, things remained tight as Stanford led 16-15. However, the Cardinal would then win three points in a row thanks to a kill from Kipp and back-to-back attack errors by Lauenstein. With Stanford up 19-15, Nebraska called for time, hoping to swing things back in their favor.
The timeout worked as Nebraska won three points in a row to make it 19-18. Two kills by Nebraska plus an attack error from Stanford. This time it was Stanford calling for time.
Coming out of the Stanford timeout, Francis got a kill for the Cardinal to make it 20-18 before Nebraska responded to tie it up 20-20 after attack errors from Rubin and a Francis.
Stanford would then win two straight points to go up 22-20 as Rubin and Francis redeemed themselves with back-to-back kills. After Stanford led 23-21, Nebraska called for time again, but it didn’t work. Baird got a kill to make it 24-21 and after Nebraska got one point to stay alive, an attack error by Lindsay Krause made it a 25-22 set win for Stanford. It was now a 2-0 set lead for the Cardinal.
The third set started off tight as it was tied 7-7 after a kill by Krause to even it up for Nebraska. Down by one point, Nebraska would tie it up 13-13 again after another kill by Krause. Nebraska was playing with their backs against the wall and so far were making Stanford really earn every point. If Stanford was to sweep them, they weren’t going to go down without a fight.
It would remain tied 17-17 after a kill from Vicini knotted things up for Stanford after they trailed by one point. This set was continuing to be a battle. Nebraska would then lead 21-18 after a kill by Lauenstein before Kipp made it 21-19 after a kill of her own. It was looking like things would once again go down to the wire.
However, Nebraska found an extra gear and went on to win four points in a row to win the set 25-19 following back-to-back service aces from Lauenstein. The Cornhuskers were now on the board as it was a 2-1 set lead for the Cardinal.
Just like the third set, the fourth set started off tight as it was tied 7-7 after an attack error by Allick. Nebraska was of course fighting for their lives while Stanford knew if it went to a fifth set, Nebraska would have the edge. The crowd was fired up and eager to see their Cornhuskers even things up.
At the media time out, it was a 15-13 Stanford lead following back-to-back kills from Baird and Rubin. It would then get tied 17-17 after back-to-back errors from Stanford: A service error from Miner and a kill by Krause.
The set continued to remain tied up as it would become 23-23 following a kill from Krause. Stanford would then take a 24-23 lead and get their first match point after a kill from Baird. This forced Nebraska to call for time. The timeout worked as Krause came out with back-to-back kills to make it 25-24. Now Nebraska had set point.
On the next point, Kipp got a really pretty tip/drop shot that fell short to make it 25-25. It was her 14th kill of the match. Rubin would then get a nice kill of her own to make it 26-25 and match point number two for Stanford. With Baird still on serve, Stanford would then win the match off Kipp’s 15th kill of the match. 27-25 Stanford won the fourth set, defeating Nebraska 3-1.
For Stanford, this is a huge win as it completes their Big Ten road swing with a 2-1 record. After shocking #3 Minnesota on the road on Saturday, Stanford backed it up by knocking off #2 Nebraska in a hostile road atmosphere that had more than 8,000 fans. After getting swept by Texas, there were questions of as to how Stanford would respond and I think they’ve answered those questions loud and clear.
The most impressive part of this match was the fact that Stanford just found a way to win points when they really needed to. Had the first and fourth set gone differently, it could have been a 3-1 victory for Nebraska. Stanford found a way to dig deep and win crucial points under pressure. That’s a testament to their mental strength and resiliency.
Up next for Stanford is a home match against #3 Louisville on Saturday. That will begin at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Insider.
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