On Sunday, No. 3 Stanford women’s volleyball fell to No. 5 Louisville on the road by a final score of 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-22). Louisville senior outside hitter Charitie Luper was the top performer for the Cardinals with 18 kills and 13 digs while graduate student outside hitter Anna DeBeer also had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Stanford junior outside hitter Elia Rubin was the top performer for the Cardinal with nine kills.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Louisville-Sunday, September 29th
The first set was tight early on as Stanford led 3-0 before Louisville was able to quickly tie it up 5-5. It would remain back and forth as it was tied 10-10. Louisville then turned on the jets winning four of the next five points to lead 14-11 as Charitie Luper and Reese Robins had kills during that stretch. Stanford was able to stay within striking distance for a bit as it was a 19-16 lead for Louisville after Ipar Kurt got a kill for Stanford. However, Louisville then went on a 6-0 run to take the set 25-16.
In the second set, Stanford jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a kill by Kami Miner. Louisville then called for time hoping to get momentum back on their side. After an attack error by Louisville, Stanford led 10-4. Things continued to look good for the Cardinal. After back-to-back kills by Jordyn Harvey, Stanford led 12-5. At this point, Louisville woke up as they went on a 5-0 run to make it 12-10.
After Rubin got a kill for Stanford to make it 13-10, Louisville went on a 5-0 run to make it 15-13. Stanford would come back and keep it even as it was 21-21. After a service error by Louisville, Stanford led 22-21. Louisville then went on a 3-0 run to lead 24-22 as Luper got a kill during that run. Louisville would win the set 25-23 as a kill by Sofia Maldonado Diaz ended the set.
In the third set, Louisville got off to an early 5-2 lead after kills by Charitie Luper and Hannah Sherman. After Louisville led 6-3, Stanford went on a 4-0 run to lead 7-6. It would remain a tight set as it was tied 10-10 and then 15-15. After it was tied 17-17, Louisville went on a 3-0 run to lead 20-17 as Stanford had three straight attack errors. From there, Louisville pulled out the set 25-22 as a kill by Anna DeBeer finished the job.
Stanford had their opportunities to win this match, but Louisville played better and was sharper. It just didn’t look like Stanford was quite on their game. Louisville in contrast found ways to elevate play in key moments whether it was Charitie Luper getting a clutch block or Louisville forcing Stanford to commit an error. Louisville simply played the better match.
The silver lining for Stanford is they’ll get a chance to face Louisville at home later in the final match of the regular season, so I’m sure they’ll be fired up for that one. But until then, Stanford just needs to move on and make sure they bounce back in their next match.
Speaking of their next match, Stanford will welcome NC State to The Farm on Friday, October 4th at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
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