The Stanford women’s volleyball team is on roll and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Heading into the NCAA tournament, where it is the No. 4 overall seed, Stanford (21-7, 14-4 Pacific-10) has won its last six matches, including a thrilling five-set win over Cal on Friday in the “Big Spike.”
Playing in front of a home crowd of more than 5,000 people on Friday in Maples Pavilion, the Card engineered an amazing come-from-behind victory to beat the Golden Bears (18-10, 11-7 Pac-10) in five sets, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-4. The win gave Stanford its fourth consecutive Pac-10 championship and boosted the team’s momentum heading into the NCAA tournament.
“I think it was extra special winning it this year just because nobody expected it from us,” said junior outside hitter Alix Klineman. “However, making it to the Final Four and winning a national championship is our ultimate goal and we knew that, to be really feeling confident going into the playoffs, we needed to win this match.”
Klineman led the team in kills in the match, setting a new career high with 33. The team also got strong contributions from junior Cassidy Lichtman, who recorded her ninth triple double of the year with 13 kills, 18 assists and 10 digs and senior Janet Okogbaa, who had 12 kills on Senior Night.
“Winning the Pac-10 for the fourth time in a row was huge for us,” said senior outside hitter Alex Fisher. “In the beginning of the preseason, we made a list of team goals. It’s nice to be able to check this one off the list.” Fisher also added that she was voting “Klineman for Heisman” after her performance on Friday.
Although the Cardinal got the final result it wanted, the start of the match was a different story. Stanford came out on top backed by the raucous Maples crowd and took a 4-1 lead. Cal cut the lead to one with a quick run, but the Card responded and stayed on top, 9-5. Stanford continued to maintain its lead before a 4-0 run by the Bears cut the Stanford lead to one, 19-18 and resulted in a timeout by Stanford head coach John Dunning. Another 4-0 run by Cal would give the Bears the set, 23-25 and put a damper on the excitement of the Cardinal fans.
In the second set, Cal used its momentum to take an early 4-1 lead. The Card went on a run, including a kill by Fisher, which tied the score at eight all, but found itself down again after a 6-1 run by the Bears. After Stanford cut the lead to one on a kill by Lichtman and an ace by freshman Karissa Cook, Cal posted seven straight points to take a 21-13 lead. The Bears took the second set 18-25, leaving the Card in a tough position in its last game of the season.
“Coming back into the locker room after losing the first two sets was tough,” Fisher said. “Rather than talking about technical elements of the fix, we talked about what this match meant to us. [Sophomore] Katherine Sebastian said it best: ‘We are not going to let Cal stop us from winning the Pac-10. Not Cal. And not in three [games].’”
Additionally, the Card shifted its lineup slightly heading into the third set, putting sophomore Stephanie Browne in as a middle. The third set started with back and forth play, as the teams traded points on the way to a seven all tie. The Bears pulled ahead on a 4-0 run, but two kills by Okogbaa and a block by Klineman and Browne reduced Cal’s lead to two. Following a run by the Bears, which put them up 16-21, the match was almost out of reach. However, feeding off the energy of the crowd, the Card went on a 5-1 run, including a kill by Browne, cutting the lead to one and forcing Cal to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, a kill by Klineman led to a set point for Stanford and Cook served another ace to give the Card the set, 25-23, to avoid the sweep.
“I think the comeback at the end of the third game is what turned it around for us,” Lichtman said. “We just kept fighting in that game and the adrenaline and momentum from it carried over into the rest of the match.”
Using the third set win as the turning point, the Card took a 7-4 lead to open the fourth set. Following a Cal run, the lead switched back and forth until a 6-3 Bears run gave them a 16-19 lead. However, three kills by Klineman and one apiece by Lichtman and freshman Hayley Spelman, put Stanford back on top 21-19. Behind two more Lichtman kills, the Cardinal would even the match at two sets apiece, taking the fourth 25-20.
In the fifth set, Stanford carried its momentum to an early 5-2 lead and never relinquished it. Klineman recorded seven kills in the set and Stanford won the set, 15-4 and the match, capturing its fourth Pac-10 championship.
“I think each of our last six wins are really important because we got them in different ways,” Klineman said. “Some matches we dominated, others we struggled and in all of them we won. We really learned to fight no matter what the circumstances were and find a way to win, which will be really important come tournament time.”
Now the Cardinal heads into the NCAA tournament where the team will be playing at home for the first and second rounds as the No. 1 seed in the Stanford regional. Stanford will head to the tournament for the 29th straight time, joining Penn State as the only two teams to have made it to all 29 NCAA Women’s Volleyball tournaments.
“The NCAA tournament is do or die so we just want to keep winning,” Lichtman said. “I think we are hitting our stride at the right time and we just need to play each match as it comes. At this point there are not many easy wins so we are going to have to fight for everyone.”
The Cardinal will face Long Island (21-13) on Friday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion, with the winner of that match facing the winner of a match between Saint Mary’s (22-4) and UC Santa Barbara (22-7) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. Stanford will be looking to claim its seventh NCAA title and 15th appearance in the national title match when play begins on Friday.