Preview: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball welcomes No. 3 Pitt to Maples
On Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball will welcome No. 3 Pittsburgh to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 22-3 overall and 13-1 in the ACC while Pittsburgh comes in at 21-3 overall and 13-1 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Duke last Saturday in straight sets 25-9, 25-13, 25-14 for a 3-0 sweep. Elia Rubin led the way for the Cardinal with 14 kills and eight digs while hitting .609.
RECAP: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball dominates Duke
On Pittsburgh: The Panthers are having a fabulous season. They opened the season with back-to-back losses in Lincoln, Nebraska to Nebraska and Florida. Nebraska was ranked No. 1 at the time and still is ranked No. 1 while Florida was ranked No. 16 at the time and now has fallen out of the Top 25 though still receiving a lot of votes. Their only other loss is to Miami on the road, who was ranked No. 18 at the time and now is ranked No. 14.
Their biggest win of the season is over Kentucky, who was ranked No. 3 at the time and is now ranked No. 2. They actually swept Kentucky 3-0. They also got back to-back wins over SMU, who was ranked No. 11 and is now ranked No. 10. Bottom line is while they are beatable, Pitt is an excellent team and extremely tough to beat.
The Panthers are led by junior right side hitter Olivia Babcock, who is averaging 5.11 kills per set while hitting .328 on the season. She is an absolute wrecking ball and does a great job of making life hard on her opponents. Junior outside hitter Blaire Bayless (2.54 kills) and freshman outside hitter Dagmar Mourits (2.24 kills) are also averaging 2+ kills per set. After that, there’s a drop off, so there’s really a lot on Babcock’s plate. Their setter redshirt senior Brooke Mosher is doing a good job, averaging 9.68 assists per set, so they are getting good distribution from her.
As a team, the Panthers average 13.54 kills, 12.60 assists, 1.49 service aces, 11.80 digs, and 2.80 blocks per set while hitting .301. Their opponents average 11.04 kills, 10.43 assists, 1.24 service aces, 10.29 digs, and 2.33 blocks per set while hitting .170.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Babcock. She’s the engine that makes this Panthers team go. If they can hold her to even four kills per set, that would be huge. They gotta force others to beat them.
Secondly, Stanford needs to win the battle up in the middle. The Panthers are used to blocking more shots than their opponents. If middle blockers Erika Sayer and Lizzy Andrew can win the battle at the net, that would be huge for Stanford.
Finally, Stanford needs to do what they do well, which is get everyone going. Stanford plays their best when Elia Rubin, Jordyn Harvey, Ipar Kurt, Julia Blyashov, Erika Sayer, and Lizzy Andrew are all in a good flow. That depth makes them dangerous. If Stanford gets good attack balance, they should be fine.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning in five sets. I think it will go down to the wire, but the Maples Pavilion crowd and energy will lift them up.
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