No. 14 Stanford women’s volleyball (10-6, 3-3 ACC) defeated Notre Dame (4-10, 1-4 ACC) 3-1 but lost to No. 3 Louisville (16-2, 6-0 ACC) in straight sets over the weekend.
The Cardinal opened with a 3-1 victory against Notre Dame on Friday, led by senior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey, senior outside hitter Julia Blyashov and sophomore setter Logan Parks, who all registered double-doubles against their strong opponent.
In the first set, Notre Dame got out to a quick four-point lead, but it was immediately broken up by a first-ball kill by Harvey. The Cardinal and the Irish proceeded to trade points, but Notre Dame kept Stanford behind until the very end. Stanford fought hard but ultimately lost the set 25-23.
The second set was off to a similar start, with Notre Dame keeping Stanford either tied or behind. However, a kill by junior middle-blocker Lizzy Andrew started a scoring run that brought Stanford from behind 5-3 to ahead 7-5.
Stanford didn’t drop their lead until Notre Dame made a tense comeback bid at the very end of the set, going from behind 20-17 to ahead 21-20. This wobble wasn’t enough to stop the Cardinal from winning the set, and two consecutive kills by freshman middle blocker Ella Andrews brought Stanford back into the lead for good.
The third set also initially looked to be another close one. However, taking advantage of a Notre Dame miscue, Stanford went on an 8-point scoring run headed by sophomore libero Spencer Etzler’s dominant serving. Etzler recorded two consecutive service aces to bring Stanford into the lead, and the Cardinal never looked back, winning 25-22.
The final set was again close, as Stanford didn’t take a considerable lead until the end of the set. Blyashov and sophomore outside hitter Kaci Demaria traded kills to bring Stanford to victory, with Demaria closing out the match with a kill down the line that Notre Dame never saw coming.
Stanford’s victory against Notre Dame continued the program’s tradition of dominating the northern Indiana team, with its all-time record rising to 10-1.
On Sunday, the Cardinal put up a strong fight against the dominant Louisville Cardinals, but the shared mascot name did little to narrow the gap between the two teams. Louisville has been dominant both in and out of the conference, remaining undefeated in conference play and losing just two games so far this season.
Stanford trailed closely behind Louisville during the beginning of the first set, but a scoring run led by Stanford’s Andrews and Blyashov powered the Cardinal to an 18-13 lead. However, Louisville was resilient and ultimately made a comeback for an 18-18 tied game. Not intimidated, Stanford kept the game close until the very end and only lost by two points for a score of 25-23.
Stanford stayed scrappy, but consistently trailed Louisville in the second set. Parks showed off her prowess again, making 26 assists in the match to keep Stanford in the scoring, but the Cardinal were unable to mount a comeback and lost the set 25-18.
In the third set, Stanford again kept Louisville close, but a scoring run that took Louisville from leading 9-7 to 18-9 hurt Stanford’s early chances of a set victory. A strong fight led by Blyashov with three kills and an ace brought the score from 22-12 to 25-17.
The weekend series brings Stanford women’s volleyball to a 10-6 overall record and a 3-3 conference record. The Cardinal will return to Maples Pavilion to compete against Wake Forest and NC State on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 18 at 1 p.m., respectively.