Recap: No. 4 Stanford Women’s Volleyball sweeps Texas State
On Saturday, No. 4 Stanford women’s volleyball picked up a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18) sweep over Texas State. Stanford middle blocker Lizzy Andrew led the way for the Cardinal with 10 kills hitting .562 while outside hitter Julia Blyashov had nine kills. Stanford setter Logan Parks had 36 assists, doing a nice job of distribution. Texas State outside hitter Nina Moorer was the top performer for the Bobcats with nine kills. Stanford improves to 8-2 overall, winning 18 straight matches at Maples Pavilion while Texas State falls to 4-6.
BOX SCORE: Texas State at Stanford-Saturday, September 20th
“I thought we executed better than we did the night before,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “I thought we did a really nice job of distributing the ball to multiple people. I mean no one had 20 swings and everyone was in the in the teens like you know I mean it’s like 10, 18, 16: so good really good balance. I thought Logan did a nice job. We got our middles going, which was nice; both middles going and giving them a lot of swings and they did a nice job. So I just think it was a good solid high level execution match for us.”
The first set was tight from the jump as it was tied up 5-5 after a kill by Logan Parks and then 10-10 after an attack error from Texas State. The Bobcats then won three straight points to lead 13-10 as Jade Defraeye had two kills during that run. Stanford then had back-to-back kills from Andrew and Blyashov to make it 13-12 before eventually taking the lead 15-14 after another kill from Blyashov. After a service error from Stanford, Texas State trailed 17-16. Stanford then won three straight points to make it 20-16 as Andrew tacked on another kill. Stanford would go on to take the set 25-20, ending on a 3-0 run as Elia Rubin got the set-clinching kill off an assist from Parks.
“I think she’s getting better,” Hambly said of Parks. “She’s getting there. She has her moments where she struggles a bit as a freshman would, but she seems like, today she seemed like she was in really nice control and command of the team and understanding when to use people and when not to. So, I thought it was a step in the right direction for sure.”
“I feel a lot more settled in lately actually,” Parks said. “Yeah, I’ve gotten some good reps with the team and been able to find some connections these past couple games and it’s been good.”
In the second set, Texas State jumped out to a 4-1 lead as Moorer had a nice service ace. Stanford would work their way back into the set, tying it up 9-9 after a kill by Erika Sayer. After a kill by Maggie Walsh, Texas State was down 12-11 as they were doing all they could to keep the match close. Stanford then went on a 5-0 run that included back-to-back kills from Andrew. That put Stanford up 17-11. From there, Stanford cruised the rest of the way as they took the set 25-15 after a kill by Rubin. Stanford now had a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third set was tight early as it was a 7-6 lead for Stanford following an error on their end. Stanford then went on a 5-0 run to lead 12-6 as Jordyn Harvey and Erika Sayer each had a kill during the run. After a kill by Parks, Stanford led 18-10 and then alter on after another kill by Parks, it was a 24-16 lead for Stanford, just one point away from winning the match. Texas State would fend off a couple of match points to make it 24-18 before a kill by Blyashov off an assist from Taylor Yu ended the match. 25-18 Stanford took the third set and clinched a 3-0 sweep.
“Yeah, we’ve been going back and forth, you know, playing her and Ipar,” Hambly said of Blyashov. “And she had a good match. You know, I think she took advantage of having the setter up there against her and hit some nice shots. I thought she did a really nice job.”
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. They were definitely dominating at the net for me today,” Parks said of Harvey and Blyashov. “I love setting both of them on both pins and they were hitting high and good and getting some good kills and it was fun to set them.”
For Stanford, this was a solid win. Any time you get a sweep is a good day. Texas State battled hard and showed why they are an NCAA tournament level team. Stanford simply found another gear and showed why they are a top five team in the nation. Stanford had good kill distribution and for the most part everything was clicking pretty smoothly, holding the Bobcats to .086 hitting.
“Yeah, I think we put good service pressure on them and then we stopped their outsides and did a nice job on the outside,” Hambly said. “So I mean, I think when we’re doing that and stuff that’s when we’re getting off the net, it’s tough to score if we’re doing a good job on defense and then we were turning and not giving them much opportunities. Like when you get a dig and you turn it into a kill then you know they don’t get a lot of swings so we limited their swings I thought pretty drastically as well.”
“I have a lot of high-level hitters for sure,” Parks said. “So it’s fun to set them all and find them. They get a lot of good kills for me and it’s, yeah, it’s really fun to set all of them.”
Touching quickly on Logan Parks, she really has done a good job of stepping into the starting setter role as a freshman. She seems to be having a positive experience so far and getting a lot of support from her coaches and teammates.
“We haven’t started school yet, so not sure about the student part, but being an athlete here is amazing,” Parks said of her Stanford experience. “We have a great coaching staff, we have great community around us, people to support us and great teammates and I just love the girls, and I love everybody who we’re around. So, it’s been great.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against UCLA on Sunday. That will begin at 3:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Yeah, they’re good, man,” Hambly said of the Bruins. “It’s why we scheduled them like last the game. Hopefully we got a good crowd. I think we’ll have over 3,000. You know, we’ll see. They’ve got some big, physical kids and they’re gonna put some pressure on us. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, they’re a good team,” Parks added. “So I think we’re ready for some good rallies and some good volleyball. We’re gonna pretty here tonight and tomorrow and then take them on. So we’re ready.”
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