With back-to-back wins over local rivals St. Mary’s and San Francisco this past weekend, the No. 1 Stanford women’s volleyball team ended its nonconference slate with a perfect record.
The last meeting between Stanford (9-0) and St. Mary’s (7-4) saw the end of the Gaels’ 2009 NCAA Tournament hopes when they fell to the Cardinal in a five-set battle at Maples Pavilion.
Despite the success of the Stanford front line in limiting the offensive success of St. Mary’s from the start of the match, the Cardinal barely escaped with a 25-23 win in the first set. Consecutive blocks by redshirt sophomore Jessica Walker got the Cardinal its first two points to start out the second set, and the team pulled out a crisp 25-15 win going into the break.
However, breakdowns in the Cardinal serve-receive in the third set severely limited offensive opportunities, yielding both the lowest hitting percentage of the weekend (.152) and the only game in which Stanford’s hitting percentage was lower than that of its opponent. As a consequence, the Gaels managed to take the third set.
The Cardinal came back to shut them out in the fourth set with dominant offense from its outside hitters—freshman Rachel Williams and senior Alix Klineman—both of whom hit over .400 on the match.
Stanford left McKeon Pavilion with a four-set victory (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 25-21) over its rival and headed to San Francisco to face USF (1-10) the next night.
The Card jumped out to an early lead over the Dons as Williams served 11 consecutive points. A series of kills by Klineman and sophomore right side hitter Hayley Spelman and a pair of blocks by freshman middle blocker Carly Wopat enabled Stanford to close out the first set at a decisive score of 25-12.
While the Dons battled with the Cardinal throughout the second set, a six-point serving streak by senior setter Cassidy Lichtman brought the team from a one-point deficit to a five-point lead that would ultimately position Stanford for its 25-17 victory for the set.
Standout offensive performances by Spelman, Klineman and redshirt freshman Charlotte Brown were integral to the dominance of the Stanford front line—the team hit a cumulative .373 across three sets, bringing the match to an anti-climatic finish at 25-20 in the third set. The final score showed an easy sweep, as Stanford took the match 25-12, 25-17, 25-20.
The Cardinal will begin Pac-10 competition this week as it hits the road to take on Arizona State and Arizona. It will visit the Sun Devils in Tempe, Ariz. on Friday before taking on the Wildcats in Tucson, Ariz. on Sunday.