Welcome to “This Week in Sports.” We are Kenneth King and Charis Charitsis from The Daily’s sports section, and we will be walking you through the major games, events and stories from the past week.
Men’s basketball
Stanford (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) started the season strongly. Last Monday, men’s basketball picked up its 13th consecutive season opener win, beating CSUN (1-1, 0-0 Big West), 88-79 at Maples Pavilion.
Maxime Raynaud, who led France to gold in the FIBA U20 championship this past summer, dominated on both ends of the floor. The junior power forward from Paris posted a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds, while also tallying three assists, three blocks and two steals. Graduate student shooting guard Michael Jones contributed 20 points, while senior forward Brandon Angel had 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. In his Cardinal debut, graduate transfer point guard Jared Bynum scored 13 points and dished out seven assists with no turnovers.
On Friday, the team faced Sacramento State (0-2, 0-0 Big Sky) at home. The Cardinal regained the lead three minutes into the game and never relinquished it, cruising to a 91-73 victory. Angel and Raynaud starred again, scoring 18 and 14 points respectively. Fifth-year forward Spencer Jones added 15 points and freshman guard Andrej Stojakovic scored 12 points. The two combined for five-for-eight from behind the three-point arc.
Women’s basketball
On Wednesday, No. 15 Stanford (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) rolled past Hawai’i (0-2, 0-0 Big West), 87-47, extending the Cardinal’s home opener win streak to 25.
Junior forward Kiki Iriafen led the team with 23 points (10-for-14 from the field) and 13 rebounds. Freshman forward Nunu Agara registered 18 points and six rebounds, shooting five-for-seven from the field in her collegiate debut. Junior forward Brooke Demetre was very productive, registering 12 points (two-for-three from behind the arc), eight rebounds, an assist and a steal in 25 minutes. Similarly, junior guard Elena Bosgana, in her first career start, posted 10 points, eight rebounds, an assist, a block, a steal and no turnovers in 17 minutes. Senior forward Cameron Brink had eight points, eight rebounds and a game-high five assists.
On Sunday, Stanford beat No. 9 Indiana (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten), 96-64. The Cardinal outscored the Hoosiers 44-24 in the paint, and went 11-of-29 from three-point territory.
Brink and Iriafen led the offense, scoring 20 points each. Brink, who was two-for-three behind the arc, added 20 rebounds, four blocks and a steal, while Iriafen, who shot nine-for-12 from the field, tallied 11 rebounds and a block. Agara, Bosgana and graduate student Hannah Jump each finished the game in double figures, scoring 13, 10 and 12 points respectively.
Women’s soccer
On Friday’s senior night, No. 2-seeded Stanford (16-0-4, 8-0-3 Pac-12) opened the NCAA Tournament at Cagan with a 3-0 shutout victory over Pepperdine (9-5-5, 6-2 WCC).
In the 32nd minute, freshman midfielder Joelle Jung fed sophomore midfielder Jasmine Aikey, whose magnificent shot from just outside the box ended in the top right corner of the Waves’ goal. The Cardinal retained the 1-0 lead going into the halftime break. In the second half, they scored twice: first, in the 52nd minute, when graduate student defender Kennedy Wesley’s shot found the back of the net off a corner kick and again in the 75th minute when redshirt sophomore forward Andrea Kitahata powered a shot just inside the near post for the third Stanford goal of the night.
This Friday, the Cardinal will host No. 16 South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.
Men’s soccer
Men’s soccer (9-3-5, 3-2-5 Pac-12) completed a remarkable comeback on Saturday’s senior day to claim a 2-1 victory over Cal (7-6-5, 3-4-3 Pac-12).
The Bears scored first in the 36th minute and protected their lead going into halftime. In the second half, however, the Cardinal dictated the pace of the game, launching 13 shots compared to Cal’s six. Their resilient effort paid dividends in the 66th minute when redshirt freshman Dylan Hooper blasted a shot from inside midfield, just outside of reach of the Cal goalkeeper, finding the top left corner of the net.
With the score tied at 1-1, Stanford pushed for the winning goal. Right before the final whistle, in the 89th minute, redshirt senior midfielder Mark Fisher executed a brilliant bicycle kick to send the ball into the back of the net and seal the Cardinal victory.
Cross country
On Friday, the No. 10 men’s and No. 7 women’s cross country teams swept the NCAA West Regional team titles for a third straight year and punched a ticket to the NCAA Championships for the 30th consecutive season.
In the men’s 10-kilometer (6-mile) race, senior Ky Robinson, the reigning Pac-12 cross country champion and a two-time 2023 NCAA track champion (5k and 10k), cruised to victory in 28:55.6. Fellow senior Cole Sprout finished fourth in 29:07.0, while junior Robert DiDonato took seventh in 29:16.2. The remaining runners in scoring positions were freshman Leo Young and fifth-year Evan Burke, who completed the course in 29:49.1 and 29:57.8 respectively. The Cardinal placed first with 73 points, ahead of Gonzaga who finished with 98 points.
In the women’s 6-kilometer (3.93-mile) race, the team executed their coaches’ race plan perfectly by running as a pack, cruising to victory and, at the same time, preserving energy for Saturday’s championship race. The Cardinal finished with 77 points, ahead of runner-up Oregon, with 109 points. Senior Lucy Jenks was the fastest Cardinal runner, finishing 11th in 19:42.7. Meanwhile, Stanford’s last scoring runner, fifth-year Grace Connolly, took 21st, in 20:04.1. In the meantime, three more athletes had completed their race — freshman Amy Bunnage in 19:50.1 (14th place), freshman Sophia Kennedy in 19:56.3 (15th place) and senior Zofia Dudek in 19:57.2 (16th place).
Women’s volleyball
No. 4 Stanford (22-3, 15-1 Pac-12) registered another successful week at Maples Pavilion.
On Thursday, the team took on No. 6 Oregon (22-5, 12-4 Pac-12). The Cardinal won the first two sets easily, 25-15 and 25-19. However, the Ducks responded and leveled the match, winning the next two sets 20-25, 19-25 and sending the match to a fifth set.
In the tiebreaker, Stanford moved to an early lead and maintained it until the end, winning the set 15-12. Fifth-year opposite hitter Kendall Kipp had a spectacular performance. In her fourth double-double of the year she registered 18 kills, a career-high 17 digs, two aces, two blocks and two assists. Redshirt senior outside hitter Caitie Baird also tallied 18 kills, six digs, two blocks and an ace. Junior setter Kami Miner orchestrated the Cardinal offense, finishing the game with 41 assists, while senior libero Elena Oglivie led the defense with an impressive 21 digs, her fourth 20-plus dig performance in the season.
On Saturday, Stanford faced Oregon State (10-16, 5-11 Pac-12). The Cardinal beat the Beavers 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-13) and extended its unblemished school record against the Beavers to 75-0.
Redshirt senior middle blocker McKenna Vicini recorded 10 blocks (season-high), eight kills on 15 attempts (.533 hitting percentage) and no errors. Kipp and Baird led the team in kills with 13 each. Kipp added six blocks, five digs and an ace while Baird tallied five blocks, four digs, two assists and an ace. Meanwhile, sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin contributed with a match-high 15 digs to go with nine kills, three aces and a block. Junior middle blocker Sami Francis finished with nine kills on 12 swings (.667 hitting percentage) and four blocks.
Wrestling
On Sunday, Stanford (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) picked up where it left off as it cruised to a 35-9 victory over Nebraska-Kearney (1-2, 0-0 MIAA) at Burnham Pavilion, winning eight of the 10 bouts.
Sophomore Nico Provo, ranked No. 23 in the 125-pound class, won the first bout on an 11-2 decision. Freshman Tyler Knox (133 pounds) followed up with a dominating 16-0 technical fall, his second in a row. Next, fifth-year Jackson DiSario defeated Nick James, 19-14 at 141 pounds in his season debut. Redshirt senior Jaden Abas, ranked No. 10 at 149 pounds, extended Stanford’s lead to 15-0 with a 6-5 decision.
Sophomore Daniel Cardenas (157 pounds), also ranked No. 10, tallied a 17-2 technical fall win, his second of the season. At 165 pounds, freshman Zach Hanson posted his first career fall pushing the Cardinal lead to 26-0. Stanford forfeited at 174 pounds, but, right after, sophomore Jack Darrah logged another technical fall win (19-4) at 184 pounds. Senior Nick Stemmet, ranked No. 13 at 197 pounds, capped off the scoring for Stanford with a 14-4 decision.
Football
On Saturday, Stanford (3-7, 2-6 Pac-12) suffered a road 17-62 defeat against No. 12 Oregon (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12).
The Cardinal could not find answers on either end of the field. The defense struggled as the Beavers’ Damien Martinez ran for 146 yards and four touchdowns while Oregon quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed 12 of 19 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The Beavers’ defense was led by end Andrew Chatfield Jr., who had two sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.
Sailing
This past weekend, sophomore Jack Baldwin, who won the PCCSC Single-Handed Open Championship in late September, represented Stanford at the ICSA Single-Handed Championship in New Orleans. In a very competitive field, Baldwin battled unfavorable conditions, including several wind direction changes, and finished 17th overall. Baldwin took seventh in two individual races.
Men’s water polo
On Saturday, No. 4 Stanford (14-7, 2-4 MPSF) lost 8-12 to No. 2 Cal (19-4, 3-3 MPSF) in Berkeley, Calif.
The Bears jumped out to an early two-goal lead, which they extended as the game progressed. Seniors Ethan Parrish and Riley Pittman each scored a hat trick and helped the Cardinal stay within reach (4-6 at halftime), but at the end of the third period they trailed 5-9. Cal protected its lead in the fourth quarter as each team scored three times. Junior goalkeeper Liam Harrison registered a career-high 12 saves on his first appearance since 2021.