Recap: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball sweeps Cal on The Farm in Big Spike
On Wednesday, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball swept Cal on The Farm 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-15) for the first match of Big Spike. Stanford redshirt sophomore outside hitter Julia Blyashov led the way for the Cardinal with 14 kills and 10 digs while hitting .361. Stanford senior outside hitter Elia Rubin (11 kills & 17 digs) and sophomore middle blocker Lizzy Andrew (9 kills while hitting .600) also had strong performances. Cal sophomore outside hitter Dominique Phills was the top performer for the Golden Bears with six kills. Stanford improves to 24-4 overall and 15-2 in the ACC while Cal falls to 7-20 overall and 4-13 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford-Wednesday, November 19th
“Well, I mean, we were on our third setter, like, with Tush coming in, because Taylor was out, and Logan Parks was out, so to have our setter, our third setter come in, do a nice job, and still put up some pretty good numbers is pretty good,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “Well, we had no choice. So, it wasn’t like we gave her the opportunity. It was like we lost, Taylor was injured in the match, so we had to play her. So it was great that she responded very well. Something that she was definitely not prepared for.”
Stanford pretty much rolled through Cal in this one. They led 11-3 to open the first set as they went on an 8-0 run after being tied 3-3. Blyashov had three straight kills during that run. After a kill by Peyton DeJardin, Cal was down 19-12 as they were hoping to maybe make it more of a set. But then, Stanford went on a 3-0 run to lead 22-12 as Rubin had a kill and service ace. Stanford would take the set 25-15 after a kill by Jordyn Harvey off an assist from Logan Tusher clinched the set.
“She was doing fabulous,” Andrew said of Tusher. “I’m so proud of her. She was actually kicking butt, which we’re really proud of her to come in like that. So, she was kicking butt on her own. Great defense, great blocking, great setting, great serving.”
Speaking of Tusher, as Hambly said in his opening remarks, she came in to replace Taylor Yu at setter due to an injury Yu had. Tusher did a nice job filling in and stepping up. As far as Yu’s return timetable, there are no updates as of now, so we’ll just have to see how things shake out on that front.
In the second set, Stanford got out to an early 8-2 lead as they were on a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Harvey and Rubin. Cal would once again find themselves down 19-12 , this time after a kill by Mikayla Hayden. Stanford then went on a 6-0 run to win the set 25-12. Blyashov had three kills during the run while Rubin had a service ace and Andrew had a kill. A service error by Cal was included in that run as well. Up 2-0, Stanford was looking strong and clearly in control.
“Julia was great. All of our pins were good,” Hambly said. “Julia, I thought Julia was really, really patient and did a really nice job of not trying to, like overdo it from an attacking standpoint when it was there. She took what they gave her and when it wasn’t, then she was smart, got them out, made them uncomfortable.”
In the third set, Stanford led 3-0 as a kill by Erika Sayer got the set started. Cal put up a bit more of a fight, trailing 12-8 after Ashley Li got a kill for the Bears. After an attack error from Stanford, it was 16-11. Then, Stanford shut the door as they went on a 4-0 run to lead 20-11 as Andrew had a pair of kills during the run while Rubin had a service ace. Stanford would win three of the final four points to clinch the set 25-15. Ipar Kurt got a kill, freshman Zaria Queen got the first kill of her career, and then Cal committed a service error to end the match.
“Got her first kill,” Hambly said of Queen. “Yeah, she had, she’s played a little bit. But just serving and to get her in there and to get a swing was really cool.”
For Stanford, this was an important win. Beating Cal is always important and then on top of that, they also got back in the win column after a difficult loss to SMU. Stanford did a good job of staying steady and not allowing any set to get too close.
“Our goal was to be super consistent and to play Stanford volleyball,” Andrew said. “Make sure we were on the little things and just kind of be ourselves.”
While Blyashov and Rubin were excellent, Andrew was fantastic as well. She did a great job of making the most of whatever kill opportunities came her way and navigating the challenge of having two different setters out there in Yu and then Tusher.
“She hit great,” Hambly said of Andrew. “Especially for two different setters and trying to figure it out. She hit .600? Yeah, I mean, she was scoring. She used her physicality. Setters did a nice job of getting her high and giving her an opportunity to make some plays.”
“You know, our passing was really, really great tonight,” Andrew said. “Our setter was doing a great job of putting balls up there for me. She was absolutely killing it. So, kudos. I have a great team behind me.”
What made this match extra fun for Stanford was that it opened up rivalry week on The Farm. Big Game is on Saturday and so to play a part in those festivities and get a win in the process was something that made this match mean more.
“It was super fun,” Andrew said. “Yeah, no, we call it the Big Spike. We absolutely love it. We were super excited all day, so we’re really happy to be here and be able to participate in that.”
Looking ahead, Stanford will run it back against Cal in Berkeley on Sunday, November 23rd at 1:00 PM PT on ACCNX. That will be round two of Big Spike.
“Yeah, I think we looked at it like we got to win six sets against these guys,” Hambly said. “You know, this is, it’s a long match for the week. It’s not like we’re playing three and then we go to their place we play them again on Sunday and I thought, the way we defended them and the way we served, and the way we passed, was really, really good and we’re gonna need to do the same thing here moving forward and probably a little bit better because at their place they’re gonna be very good. Cal’s a much better team at home.”
“Yeah, I think sticking on what we did today, making sure we’re super focused, super locked in, and we don’t let the environment control how we play,” Andrew said looking ahead to the match in Berkeley. “We keep playing Stanford women’s volleyball and we are super consistent.”
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