No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball wrapped up its two-week run against all four North Carolina ACC schools with sweeps over No. 15 University of North Carolina (UNC) (18-5, 11-3 ACC) and Duke (5-20, 2-12 ACC) at Maples Pavilion.
On Saturday against Duke, senior outside hitter Elia Rubin set a new school record in career service aces and hit a career-high .609 with 14 kills on 23 errorless swings. The Cardinal held Duke to a team hitting percentage of .000 en route to winning their sets 25-9, 25-13 and 25-14, extending their all-time series lead against the Blue Devils to 8-0.
Friday’s match against North Carolina opened with the two teams trading leads before the Tar Heels went on a three-point scoring run to pull ahead 21-17. In response, Rubin and freshman middle blocker Erika Sayer combined for two key blocks, and junior Jordyn Harvey followed with two kills to fuel a Stanford comeback.
The Cardinal gave up just one more point, and a pinpoint ace down the line by freshman libero Spencer Etzler clinched the first set 25-22.
UNC trailed for most of the remainder of the match. In the second set, Stanford unleashed a decisive seven-point scoring run that the Tar Heels could not answer. Harvey led the Stanford offense, totaling 14 kills and a season-high .560 hitting percentage.
Stanford closed out with 25-17 and 25-16 set wins, handing UNC its first straight-set loss of the season. The Tar Heels had just come off a close 2-3 loss to then-No. 4 Pitt, where they recorded a match-high of 22.5 blocks — compared to just six against the Cardinal.
The weekend capped off a dominant two weeks in which Stanford defeated all four North Carolina programs in the ACC. Last weekend, the Cardinal topped Wake Forest and NC State on the road, dropping just one set between the two games.
Riding a 10-match win streak, Stanford now turns its attention to its fifth ranked match of the season against No. 3 Pitt, led by reigning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Year Olivia Babcock. Babcock, who recorded 45 kills in the Panthers’ match against UNC last weekend, was a key member of the Pitt offense that swept Stanford last season.
The Cardinal will close out their five-game home stand against No. 3 Pitt on Nov. 14, No. 10 SMU on Nov. 16 and Cal on Nov. 19.