Recap: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball wins on Senior Day against Georgia Tech
On Wednesday, No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball defeated Georgia Tech 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-13, 25-22). Outside hitters Jordyn Harvey and Elia Rubin each had 13 kills to lead the way for the Cardinal while outside hitter Julia Blyashov had 12 kills. Georgia Tech outside hitter Anna Fiedorowicz was the top performer for the Yellow Jackets with 16 kills. Stanford improves to 26-4 overall and 17-2 in the ACC while Georgia Tech falls to 16-12 overall and 11-8 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Georgia Tech at Stanford-Wednesday, November 26th
“Well, I mean, first it’s really good. It’s a good team. Georgia Tech is a very good team,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “They’re fighting for their tournament lives. You know, they’re like on the bubble for sure. And I thought we did a really good job of executing in the first set. Once we kinda settled in a little bit and then the second set got a little away from us because we got a little sloppy, we made some errors, then I thought we did pretty good volleyball there until the little window there towards the end when things like they made a push and we didn’t respond as well as we could.
“We kind of got in a little bit of trouble passing. But otherwise, I thought we attacked the court. I didn’t see the numbers. What did we hit? Yeah, I mean .314. We did a pretty good job. We were really really good in that third set. So it’s nice to get a win for the seniors.”
Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 7-4 lead as Lameen Mambu already had a couple of kills for the Yellow Jackets. After another kill by Mambu, it was an 11-8 lead for the Yellow Jackets. Stanford then went on a 6-0 run as Rubin had a pair of kills during the run while Georgia Tech had three errors. That gave Stanford a 14-11 lead. Georgia Tech would later go on a 4-0 run to lead 17-16 as Bianca Garibaldi, Noemi Despaigne, and Fiedorowicz each had a kill during the run. Stanford would tie it 20-20 after a kill by Harvey and a service ace by Spencer Etzler. From there, Stanford would win five of the final six points to take the set 25-22 as an ace by Rubin clinched the set. She was up to four kills.
“Yeah, I think just serving aggressive always helps us,” Etzler said. “Like getting them off the net and then trying to stop their outsides with that and taking out the middle. Our block does a really good job of like setting up, so us as defenders can make a play and they get really good touches, so that really helps us a lot.”
In the second set, Georgia Tech came out fierce as they led 5-2 after a kill by DeAndra Pierce. After a 3-0 run that included a kill by Laura Perugini Bieleski, it was a 12-6 lead for the Yellow Jackets. After a 3-0 run that included kills from Lizzy Andrew, Jordyn Harvey, and Julia Blyashov, Stanford was down 15-13 as it looked like they might pull ahead. However, Georgia Tech was able to fend Stanford off as they went on to win six of the final seven points in two separate 3-0 runs to take the set 25-18. A service ace by Fiedorowicz clinched the set. It was tied up 1-1.
“We got a little sloppy in that second set,” Hambly said. “We made some errors and didn’t take care of the ball. I think that was the biggest difference.”
In the third set, Stanford got off to a nice start, leading 6-3 as Rubin got a kill off an assist from Taylor Yu, who along with Logan Parks had returned from injury. This set was truly one-way traffic for the Cardinal as they would lead 14-8 after back-to-back attack errors from Georgia Tech, and later 19-10 after a kill by Andrew and an error by Georgia Tech. Stanford would win six of the final eight points to win the set 25-13 as Erika Sayer had a couple kills during the stretch while Blyashov had a kill and service ace. Up 2-1, the Cardinal were in command.
“Yeah, it was kind of we needed to take control of the match,” Etzler said of the third set. “We were kind of being a little passive and letting them control what we were doing. So we need to attack them and just bring more intensity and energy to the next sets.”
In the fourth set, Stanford jumped out to a 6-2 lead as Sayer, Rubin, Andrew, and Blyashov each had a kill in the set. Georgia Tech would work their way back to lead 11-10 after a kill by Garibaldi. Then, Stanford went on a 4-0 run to lead 14-11 as Yu and Harvey each had kills during the run. After back-to-back errors from Stanford, it was tied 16-16 as the Yellow Jackets wouldn’t go away. It would again be tied up 20-20 before the Yellow Jackets went up 21-20 after a kill by Despaigne. From there, Stanford turned on the jets to win five of the final six points to take the set 25-22 as back-to-back kills from Harvey and Blyashov clinched the set and match.
For Stanford, this was a really important win. As they look to win the ACC title, they needed to win this match if they wanted to keep those hopes alive. They took care of business handily in four sets, not allowing it to go to a fifth set. That’ll help them be more rested come the weekend.
“Well, Georgia Tech is a great team, so we couldn’t overlook them at all,” Etzler said. “They’re very scrappy, a very good team. So I think just taking it point by point and not worry about what’s ahead on Saturday but focusing on this game and now we can worry about what’s going on with Louisville.”
Plus, it was a Senior Day as Elia Rubin and Anna Pringle both got honored. Given how much seniors mean to the program, you always want to send them off right with a win.
“Yeah, I mean, they’re both have played in a lot of huge matches and been really important and integral parts to, you know, like winning Pac-12 championship and putting us in a position to win the ACC championship,” Hambly said of Rubin and Pringle. “Like, just very fortunate to have them. They’re both great teammates and great competitors and just feel very fortunate.
“I think it’s a big deal, actually. I think it’s a really big deal to try to get a win for the seniors and send them off in the right place. It’s also big because we’re trying to win the conference and you know, we want to have, we want to have home court advantage in the first two rounds in the NCAA tournament if not more. So I think it’s all really big. But I think for the seniors, we want them to go off and be like, feel good about their last match at Maples.”
“Oh my gosh, they’ve meant everything,” Etzler said of Rubin and Pringle. “They’ve been the best role models that I could have had coming into my freshman year. Just the way they act and the way they lead our team. It’s like something that I will cherish forever.”
Up next for Stanford is a road match at No. 7 Louisville on Saturday, November 29th. That will begin at 4:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“They’re very very good, they’re very very tough,” Hambly said of Louisville. “They’re playing in a small little arena there and they battle. And last time we didn’t execute at a high level and we’re gonna need to against them.”
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