After dropping a pair of tight matches in Los Angeles, the No. 7 Stanford women’s volleyball team returned to the friendly confines of Maples Pavilion this past weekend with resounding success. Paced by the dynamic sophomore duo of outside hitter Rachel Williams and middle blocker Carly Wopat, who was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, the Cardinal swept the Arizona schools to move back above .500 in conference play.
Stanford (10-3, 4-3 Pac-12) began the weekend with a dominating straight-sets win Friday night against an overmatched Arizona State squad (4-11, 0-6), winning 25-17, 25-19, 25-18. Particularly notable was the play of Stanford’s middle blockers, featuring Wopat and junior Jessica Walker. Wopat finished the evening with a match-high 12 kills to go along with five blocks and just one error. She had a stellar .524 hitting percentage for the match. Walker was equally impressive, registering nine kills on 18 error-free attempts in addition to a career-high eight blocks, which led all players. Their dominance highlighted Stanford’s advantage at the net, as the Cardinal finished the evening with a 13-4 advantage in blocks, holding ASU to a paltry .097 hitting percentage.
Wopat helped the Cardinal get off to a quick start, registering four kills and two blocks in the opening set. The Cardinal also received strong contributions from junior outside hitter Hayley Spelman and freshman libero Kyle Gilbert during the opener. Spelman tallied three kills and two blocks while Gilbert had eight digs.
The Cardinal was paced by strong defense in the second set, coming up with 18 digs and five blocks as a team. Williams and Walker each had four kills.
Stanford finished off the sweep in the third set with more dominating play from Wopat, who registered five kills in the set, and a sloppy attack from ASU, which as a team had eight errors in the final set.
The tougher task over the weekend would prove to be Sunday’s contest versus Arizona (10-5, 2-4), which resulted in a hard-fought, four-set Cardinal win, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18. The difference was Stanford’s improved offensive attack, as the team hit a season-best .392.
The prowess of the Cardinal’s sophomores was on full display, as Williams led the team with 19 kills and 12 digs, her eighth double-double of the season, and Wopat tied career highs with 14 kills and nine blocks. They highlighted an all-around terrific effort, with important contributions also coming from junior setter Karissa Cook and senior middle blocker Stephanie Browne. Cook finished with 48 assists and 11 digs to go with seven kills and a career-best .545 hitting percentage, while Browne registered seven kills on eight attempts in addition to a career-high seven blocks.
Head coach John Dunning certainly appreciated the total team effort.
“This was a great week for us,” he said. “Everyone knew we had to work hard and improve after the L.A. weekend, and we did. Great effort and great focus carried over to the matches; we took a big step forward offensively.”
The five-time defending conference champions are back in action this Friday night at Oregon State.