On Friday, No. 3 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated Notre Dame 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20). Stanford junior outside hitter Elia Rubin led the way for the Cardinal with 17 kills, seven digs, and five blocks on a .325 hitting percentage while senior middle blocker Sami Francis had 10 kills. Notre Dame junior outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo was the top performer for the Irish with 10 kills. Stanford improves to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC while Notre Dame falls to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Notre Dame-Friday, September 27th
Stanford got off to a strong start in the first set, leading 4-1 as Elia Rubin and Jordyn Harvey had kills while Elena Oglivie had a service ace. Notre Dame would come back to take a 6-5 lead after back-to-back kills by Sydney Palazzolo and Phyona Schrader. Stanford then went on a 6-0 run that included a pair of service aces by Taylor Yu. Stanford didn’t look back from there as they led 17-10 after a kill by Harvey. Stanford would take the set 25-17 as a service error by Notre Dame ended the set.
Stanford got off to a hot start in the second set as they led 6-1 thanks to a pair of kills from Rubin and a service ace from Oglivie along with some Notre Dame errors. The Irish then called for time and that flipped everything around in the set. The Irish would claw back into the set making it 10-6 after a kill by Lucy Trump before tying it up 13-13 after a kill by Anna Bjork. Lizzy Andrew and Sami Francis then had back-to-back kills for Stanford to give the Cardinal a 15-13 lead, but Notre Dame then won three straight points to lead 16-15.
After a service ace by Taylor Yu, Stanford led 20-18, but then Notre Dame won three of the next four points to tie it up 21-21. From there, Notre Dame won four of the next six points to take the set 25-23. A service error by Stanford ended the set.
Stanford would get back on track in the third set as they led 6-2 as they forced Notre Dame to commit five errors. After a service ace by Kami Miner, Stanford led 13-6 as the Cardinal were on a 5-0 run. After a kill by Palazzolo, Notre Dame was down 14-10, but then Stanford won four straight points to lead 18-10. Stanford ended up taking the set 25-18 as the final two points the Cardinal got were via kills by Rubin.
The fourth set was tight, but Stanford had control the entire way as they never trailed. After a kill by Sami Francis, Stanford led 5-2. Notre Dame then won three straight points to even it up 5-5 before Stanford won four of the next five points to lead 9-6. It would remain tight as Stanford led 16-14 following a service error. But then, Lizzy Andrew had back-to-back kills to make it 18-14. After a kill by Anna Bjork, it was 21-17 as the Irish were down by four points. The Irish were trying to stay alive, but they were running out of opportunities.
Stanford would win three points in a row to make it 24-17 as the Irish were down to their last point. The Irish would win three points in a row to make it 24-20 before the Cardinal finally put them away as they forced an attack error. Stanford took the fourth set 25-20 to win the match.
For Stanford, this is a match they were supposed to win given their ranking, but even so, they should still feel happy to win their ACC opener. Especially with it being on the road. Aside from a hiccup in the second set, this one was pretty much one-way traffic for the Cardinal. They were clearly the better team in this match. Elia Rubin was fantastic with her 17 kills and then she got good support from her teammates as everyone did their job.
Up next for Stanford is a road match at No. 5 Louisville on Sunday. That will begin at 12:00 PM PT on ESPN.
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