The No. 4 Stanford women’s volleyball team (16-2, 7-2 Pac-10) has relinquished its lead of the Pac-10 after falling to Cal in four sets in Maples Pavilion last Friday night. A relentless Pac-10 schedule limits recovery time, however, as this weekend the second-place Card will hit the road to take on No. 18 Oregon (16-5, 4-5) and Oregon State (8-15, 1-8).
The pressure of playing on the road, especially on the notoriously nerve-racking McArthur Court at Oregon, magnifies concerns stemming from Stanford’s most recent loss.
Although Stanford swept both Oregon teams, 3-0, at home during their first meetings this season, recent precedent indicates that past matches are no indication of the turnout the second time around. In the 2009 season, the Card was upset by Oregon in a five-set thriller in Eugene. The loss marked one of three ever recorded by Stanford in a 51-match history with the Ducks.
For the past few years, Oregon’s strategy has centered on both the versatility of its offense and the success of its serving game.
Earlier this month, the Ducks established senior outside hitter Heather Meyers and sophomores Kat Fischer and Alaina Bergsma as their primary attackers against the Cardinal. Despite equal set distribution between the hitters, Meyers was the only Oregon player to post a successful hitting percentage (.440). The rest were held in check as Stanford senior libero Gabi Ailes picked up 18 digs to keep the Duck offense at bay.
The Ducks lead the Pac-10 in aces, while Stanford continues to struggle in this realm, as it rounds out the conference in 10th place. While Meyers tops the conference in aces and Fischer ranks third, neither was able to capitalize on this strength during the last meeting with Stanford, a testament to the polished serve-receive and side-out offense by the Cardinal.
Stanford was dominant on offense, averaging a .443 hitting percentage across the three sets to the .225 tallied by Oregon. Senior outside hitter Alix Klineman racked up 17 kills as the match’s kill leader, while pin hitters Hayley Spelman and Rachel Williams posted nine kills apiece. Without activating their successful serving game, the Ducks had little defense against the aggressive and effectively spread Cardinal offense, as orchestrated by senior setter Cassidy Lichtman.
Klineman and Spelman both post hitting percentages in the top 10 in conference rankings, while no Oregon or OSU players are currently ranked. The Ducks and Beavers are also tied for eighth in the Pac-10 for opponent hitting percentage (.219), while Stanford sits in first place for the inverse of that statistic—the team’s hitting percentage is .327.
In their last battle with Stanford this season, the Beavers fared similarly to the Ducks. However, unlike its rival, unranked Oregon State has yet to take a match from the Cardinal in the teams’ 51-match history in conference competition.
Beaver senior Jill Sawatzky leads her team in kills per set and points per set, yet the outside hitter was unable to post double digits in either category during Oregon State’s trip to Maples.
Besides the 25 combined digs picked up by defensive specialists Alyssa O’Neil and Becky Defoe, the Cardinal held every OSU player to single digits in all dimensions of the match. The Beavers bottom out the Pac-10 in digs per set while Stanford falls in second, with libero Gabi Ailes ranking fourth in the conference individually.
Not even OSU’s current second-place ranking in the Pac-10 in blocks per game proved effective in hindering Stanford’s offense—the Card was able to dispatch double digits from all three pins, as Williams, Spelman and Klineman combined for 38 kills in three short sets. Nonetheless, the Beaver middle blockers—freshman Mona Kressl and sophomore Ashley Eneliko—have both earned current top-10 blocking stats as underclassmen.
Both opponents should logically place a lot of emphasis on the block after reviewing Stanford’s film. Either team could give the Card a shock if it finds a way to slow down the pin hitters at the net. Nonetheless, an acutely functioning serve-receive game should position Stanford to better utilize its middles. A well-spread offense would allow Stanford to put pressure onto Duck and Beaver middles in a way that makes such defensive success extremely difficult.
“We are now going back to fundamentals and working on the little things in order to improve our whole game,” Williams said.
The Card will face Oregon at 7 p.m. in Eugene, Ore., this Friday before taking on Oregon State in an orange-and-black Halloween special set for 1 p.m. this Sunday in Corvallis, Ore.