On Wednesday, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated No. 12 SMU 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 35-33) on the road in Dallas, Texas. Stanford junior outside hitter Elia Rubin led the way for the Cardinal with 18 kills and five digs while redshirt freshman outside hitter Ipar Kurt had 16 kills. SMU outside hitter Maya Tabron was the top performer for the Mustangs with 11 kills. Stanford improves to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC while SMU falls to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at SMU-Thursday, October 17th
In the first set, Stanford got off to an early 4-2 lead after a kill by Kurt. SMU then went on a 4-0 run to lead 6-4 as Stanford had four errors including a service error. Their second of what would be 22 service errors for the match. It would then be tied 6-6 after a service error and attack error by SMU. After Elia Rubin got a kill and Natalie Foster responded with a kill for SMU, it was tied 12-12. It would then be tied 18-18 after Kurt and Foster traded kills.
Stanford would lead 20-18 after a kill by Jordyn Harvey and an attack error by SMU only to commit a service error and attack error to make it 20-20. Stanford’s service errors were keeping SMU afloat. To Stanford’s credit, they responded with a 3-0 run as Rubin had back-to-back kills along with an attack error by SMU. Tabron then responded with back-to-back kills for SMU to make it 23-22. Stanford then closed out the set 25-22 as Rubin got a kill followed by a service ace by Malyssa Cawa. There was a key reversal on a net violation down the stretch that helped Stanford pull it out as well. A fierce opening set, but the Cardinal found a way to come out on top.
The second set was tied 5-5 after Jamison Wheeler got a kill for SMU and Lizzy Andrew responded with a kill for Stanford. It would then be tied 10-10 after an attack error by Stanford followed by a kill by Rubin. After it was tied 11-11, Stanford went on a 2-0 run to lead 13-11 after a kill by Sami Francis and an attack error by SMU. Later on in the set, SMU would go on a 2-0 run of their own to tie it up 17-17 after a service error by Stanford and a kill by Naya Shime.
A kill by Francis would put Stanford up 18-17 only for SMU to go on a 3-0 run to make it 20-18 as Tabron and Shime got kills along with an attack error by Stanford. Stanford then went on a 4-0 run that included a kill by Francis and two kills by Kurt plus an attack error by SMU. Stanford now was up 22-20. From there, Stanford would not give up the lead as a kill by Jordyn Harvey off an assist from Kami Miner ended the set 25-23. Stanford was now up 2-0.
The third set would be tied 5-5 after both teams traded service errors, an issue that plagued Stanford all match long. SMU would lead 11-7 as they were on a 3-0 run after another service error by Stanford along with kills from Shime and Tabron. After a kill by Foster and a service ace by Tabron, SMU led 14-9. After SMU was up 16-11, it looked like the Mustangs would finally take a set.
Stanford had a different idea however as they went on a 4-0 run to make it 16-15 as Kurt got a pair of kills during the run. SMU would later on lead 19-16 after a service error by Stanford and a kill by Foster only for Stanford to go on a 3-0 run to make it 19-19 as Kurt, Rubin, and Andrew each got a kill. SMU then went on a mini 2-0 run to lead 21-19 after back-to-back kills by Foster and Tabron. After SMU was up 23-21, Stanford went on a 3-0 run to lead 24-23 as Rubin had a kill along with back-to-back kills from Kurt. Wheeler then had a kill for SMU to make it 24-24.
For the next little while it remained a back and forth affair. SMU had multiple set points but couldn’t convert as Stanford kept digging deep to stay alive in the set. Every time SMU thought they were going to force a fourth set, Stanford had an answer. After it was tied up 33-33, SMU committed a service error after which Ipar Kurt got a kill off an assist from Elena Oglivie. 35-33 Stanford took the third set and got the sweep.
For Stanford, this was overall a good win given the end result. Anytime you get a 3-0 sweep on the road, especially against a ranked opponent, it’s a good day. That said, Stanford committed far too many service errors (22) and had only three service aces to show for it. If you’re going to be high in service errors, you should at least be getting a decent amount of service aces. If they want to beat No. 1 Pittsburgh on Sunday, they’re going to need to play a lot better.
To touch quickly on SMU, they should feel frustrated by this result given that they were at home and had a huge crowd out to show support. There’s no shame in losing a tight match to Stanford, but if you are SMU, you have to at least win a set and make it interesting. Granted that third set was incredible, but even so. They should not be happy with how this match went. That being said, they’ve overall had a strong season up to this point and need to make sure this loss doesn’t snowball into a losing streak. Fortunately for them, they have Cal coming to town, which should allow them to get back on track.
Up next for Stanford is a road match at No. 1 Pittsburgh on Sunday. That will be at 12:00 PM PT on ESPN. Stanford will be going for their sixth straight victory.
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