On Friday, Stanford women’s volleyball (9-5, 2-2 ACC) swept Virginia Tech (4-9, 1-3 ACC) for their first conference win. The Cardinal followed it up with a sweep of Virginia (5-8, 1-3 ACC) the next day. Stanford dominated both matches, scoring 25-16, 25-23 and 25-14 against the Hoosiers and 25-12, 25-23 and 25-13 against the Cavaliers.
The efforts of senior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey led the Cardinal to victory against Virginia Tech on Friday night. To kick off the match, Stanford and Virginia Tech were neck and neck, trading brief scoring runs. However, by the halfway point of the first set, Stanford had strongly pulled ahead with a score of 12-5. This was led, in part, by junior middle blocker Lizzy Andrew, whose two consecutive aces later on in the set put Stanford up 18-7. The Cardinal gave up nine more points, but the lead stayed in their favor, with Virginia Tech failing to mount a convincing comeback.
The second set saw a tense back-and-forth, with Virginia Tech initially getting up to a convincing 6-0 lead. However, a late-game scoring run led by Harvey and bolstered by a few Virginia Tech miscues brought Stanford from trailing 21-20 to victory.
Freshman middle blocker Ella Andrews’ first ball kill began a scoring run in the third set that took the Cardinal from leading a close 13-9 to leading by a convincing 20-9. After that, the Stanford win was never in danger.
Harvey ultimately had a team-leading 12 kills and season-high three service aces, as well as three digs, showing both her offensive and defensive prowess.
On Saturday, Harvey shone again, this time defensively. She had 16 digs, including an impressive pancake save to keep a rally alive in the first set. Stanford ultimately won that point, leaving the score 19-8. The Cardinal only gave up four more points, convincingly crushing the Cavaliers to take the first set 25-12.
However, the biggest star of the game was senior outside hitter Julia Blyashov. Her 18 kills were over one third of Stanford’s total of 49. In the second set, she helped propel the team from what looked to be a sure loss to victory, closing out the match with a kill. She ended the win over Virginia with a .607 hitting percentage—a season high—helping her ultimately put up 19.5 points.
Andrew and Blyashov traded kills in the third set to secure a 25-13 Stanford victory. Andrews also put up double-digit kills and four blocks. She had help from sophomore setter Logan Parks, who had an impressive 44 assists in the match, 11 more than the entire Virginia team.
These matches bring Stanford women’s volleyball to a 9-5 record, with 2-2 in the conference. This will make the next matches against Notre Dame on Oct. 9 and Louisville on Oct. 11 even more essential, as they will further determine their standing in the ACC.
The Cardinal will return to Maples to compete against Wake Forest and NC State on Oct. 16 at 7 pm and Oct. 18 at 1 pm.