Preview: No. 6 Stanford Women’s Volleyball opens up NCAA tournament play at Maples
This weekend, Stanford women’s volleyball will open up NCAA tournament play at Maples Pavilion. Stanford got a (2) seed in their region and is the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament. They will open up against Utah Valley University on Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN+. Note: 30 minutes after the conclusion of the match between (7) South Dakota State and Arizona. That will start at 4:30 PM PT on ESPN+.
Last time out: Stanford had a huge 3-2 (17-25, 25-16, 25-22, 24-26, 15-12) victory over No. 7 Louisville last Saturday to win their first ever ACC championship. It was the 25th conference championship overall in program history with the rest being in the Pac-12/Pac-10. Head coach Kevin Hambly was named ACC Coach of the Year as a result.
GoStanford.com: Hambly Earns ACC Coach of the Year
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Louisville-Saturday, November 29th
On Stanford: Stanford has had a really strong season. They won the ACC championship as I mentioned and picked up some big wins recently over No. 7 Louisville and No. 3 Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, a loss at home to No. 10 SMU is probably why they didn’t get a top four seed in the NCAA tournament.
Stanford senior outside hitter Elia Rubin leads the way with 3.34 kills per set while redshirt sophomore Julia Blyashov has really come on strong with 3.05 kills per set. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ipar Kurt (2.57 kills), sophomore middle blocker Lizzy Andrew (2.45 kills), junior outside hitter Jordyn Harvey (2.32 kills), and freshman middle blocker Erika Sayer (2.18 kills) are also playing well, helping to form a really balanced attack. Freshman setter Logan Parks and freshman libero Spencer Etzler have both been fantastic in their respective roles while sophomore setter Taylor Yu has been a key part of the rotation as well.
This Stanford team has more of a by committee approach, which makes them dangerous. While Rubin is certainly the star of the team, the Cardinal offense is not super ball dominant where the game plan is to simply shut down Rubin. There’s a lot of balance across the board.
On Utah Valley: The Wolverines are 16-10 overall and 10-2 in the WAC. They won the WAC tournament and clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament as a result. Not every conference in volleyball has a tournament, but the WAC does and the Wolverines won it.
They played some quality teams in the non-conference like BYU, Utah, and Utah State, all teams that made the NCAA tournament.
Senior outside hitter Avery Page is leading the way with 3.43 kills per set while sophomore outside hitter Sami Blackett is averaging 3.06 kills per set. The two of them form a really good duo. The problem they have as a team is Page and Blackett have to do so much for them. They could really use a third option to take the pressure off of them.
On the whole, Utah Valley had a strong season by winning the WAC. Their challenge is Stanford is a whole over level. So they definitely got their work cut out of for them.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the key to beating Utah Valley starts with containing Page and Blackett. It’s that simple. If Stanford can limit their production, it’s going to be virtually impossible for the Wolverines to win.
Secondly, Stanford needs to keep their balanced attack going. They simply have more weapons than Utah Valley. As long as they make use of their depth and play smart, they’ll be fine.
Lastly, Stanford needs to keep up the service pressure. That’s been a major strength of theirs all year, averaging 1.66 services aces per set while their opponents average 0.66. If Stanford dominates on their serve, they should defeat Utah Valley with little trouble.
Prediction: I got Stanford winning in straight sets. I think they’re going to come out hungry and determined to make quick work of Utah Valley in front of a packed Maples crowd.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406
Email: [email protected]
