No. 18 Stanford women’s volleyball (14-8, 7-5 ACC) lost to the University of California, Berkeley (16-7, 6-6 ACC) this Wednesday, and then returned home to sweep Berkeley on Friday night.
The Cardinal began its Wednesday game without sophomore setter Logan Parks, with junior setter Lilly Wagner subbing in for her. Despite the seeming setback, Wagner rose to the occasion, putting up 27 assists, as well as eight digs and four kills on nine attempts. However, despite Wagner and the team’s excellent effort, Berkeley broke Stanford’s 11-game win streak against them.
The match began with a very close set, with Stanford and Berkeley trading leads until a tied score of 8-8. At this point, Stanford went on a five-point scoring run led by junior middle blocker Lizzy Andrew and senior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey. The Card were in the lead until the very end, when Berkeley made a comeback to win with a final score of 25-23.
The second set was almost entirely led by Berkeley, although Stanford kept the score very close. In a scoring run that began with two consecutive aces by sophomore libero Spencer Etzler, the Card took a 9-5 lead, but could not hold on, ultimately losing the set 25-20.
The third set was even closer, with Stanford and Berkeley trading points until the very end. Stanford, taking advantage of a service error, tied Berkeley at 24-24. Then, with a kill by senior outside hitter Julia Blyashov, tied at 25-25, forcing Berkeley to have to score two more points to win. The Bears were ultimately successful, with the final score of 27-25.
This sweep by Berkeley was uncharacteristic of Stanford women’s volleyball, as the team has been historically very successful against their rivals from across the bay. However, Stanford fought hard to keep the sets close.
Stanford’s Friday night sweep returned the team to their typical performance against Berkeley. In the first set, they traded points until an Andrew first-ball kill set off a three-point scoring run. Stanford never looked back, winning the set 25-17.
Berkeley initially took control of the second set, building up a lead of 7-3. That would be the last lead Berkeley would see for the rest of the set. Andrew again propelled Stanford to the lead, and the Card scored seven consecutive points for a score of 10-7. Andrew ultimately notched 12 kills in the match, tying for the lead with senior outside hitter Ipar Kurt, and they worked together to bring the Card to victory with a score of 25-19
Another player who shone was Wagner, who made a season-high 36 assists. In the postgame interview, Andrew complimented Wagner saying, “she’s really the way I’m able to succeed,” and credited her high sets for many successful kills. In the third set, powered by many excellent sets by Wagner, the Card achieved a dramatic victory over the Golden Bears, with a final score of 25-23.
After the match, Ipar Kurt spoke about the team’s turnaround against Berkeley. “Tonight we played great, and that execution, we’ll be wanting to continue that on the road,” she said.
Stanford hits the road this week to face Miami (11-10, 9-3 ACC) on Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. and Florida State (12-10, 6-5 ACC) on Nov. 8 at 10 a.m.