No. 15 Stanford women’s volleyball (12-6, 7-3 Pac-12) fell to No. 10 Washington (15-3, 8-2 Pac-12) in straight sets in Seattle on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal are now 7-3 in Pac-12 play and are tied for third in the conference standings.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Caitie Baird led the offense with 11 kills. Although she recorded the most kills, her hitting percentage of .119 was well below her season average of .273. She also recorded six attack errors. Freshman outside hitter Sami Francis chipped in nine kills for the Cardinal. For the match, Stanford registered one of its lower hitting percentages of the season with .194.
Junior opposite Kendall Kipp showed out on both the offensive and defensive sides. The 6’5” hitter swung for eight kills for a hitting percentage of .300 to complement six digs and two blocks. She also tallied two service aces.
On defense, redshirt sophomore middle blocker McKenna Vicini led the Cardinal with four blocks while Francis and senior middle blocker Holly Campbell jumped for three blocks apiece. Sophomore libero Elena Oglivie and freshman setter Kami Miner each collected eight digs while sophomore defensive specialist Alex Lougeay had four.
The beginning of the first set saw the Cardinal and Huskies trading blows, with Stanford staying a couple points ahead. At 10-all, a Washington kill briefly stole the lead, but a 4-0 run from the Cardinal that included two kills by Baird and one by Kipp quickly gave them the lead once again.
The Huskies were quick to counterattack with a 6-0 run to secure an 18-14 lead. The Cardinal trailed for the remainder of the set until the Huskies won 25-22 after two set points.
The second set was even more neck-and-neck than the first as the two teams alternated between 1- and 2-point leads until the score was tied at 17. Washington then won 4 straight points to bring it to 17-21, but a Stanford run and a kill by Baird tied the set at 21.
After Washington took a 23-22 lead, Francis hammered down a kill to tie it again. But despite the Cardinal’s attempts to overcome the Huskies’ lead, Washington was able to hit two kills to clinch the second set 25-23.
Down two sets, the third set told a different story for the Cardinal. Washington jumped out to an early lead and Stanford trailed for the rest of the set. The Cardinal never won more than two consecutive points.
The defense recorded just three digs as it struggled to reign in the Huskies, who hit .440 for the set. The Stanford offense also posted its lowest hitting percentage of the match: .103. In the end, Washington completed its three-set sweep, taking the final set 25-17.
The Cardinal return from the Pacific Northwest roadtrip with a 1-1 record against the Washington teams. In the Pac-12 standings, Stanford is now tied for third with No. 22 Washington State and is now one game behind No. 7 UCLA and Washington.
The team will look to bounce back during next weekend’s roadtrip in Arizona. The Cardinal will face Arizona first on Friday at 7 p.m. PT before taking on Arizona State on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.