Recap: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball sweeps UC Davis
On Sunday, No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated UC Davis 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-18). Stanford outside hitter Julia Blyashov led the Cardinal with 10 kills while outside hitter Elia Rubin (9 kills), middle blocker Erika Sayer (9 kills), and middle blocker Lizzy Andrew (8 kills) were right behind her. Senior outside hitter Jade Light was the top performer for the Aggies with 10 kills. Stanford improves to 6-2 overall while UC Davis falls to 3-4.
BOX SCORE: UC Davis at Stanford-Sunday, September 14th
“I thought, you know, we saw them dismantle Utah State yesterday and play a match earlier in the year where they had Wisconsin on the ropes at Wisconsin,” Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly said after the match. “So, they had our attention and I think they’re a very good team. I think Dan does a great job. So I think from the beginning, we came out and kind of took it to them and we attacked them and executed at a pretty high level there for long periods of time. We had a couple of little lags, but for the most part I thought we executed at a very high level.”
“I think we did a great job,” Blyashov added. “I think we brought it from the very beginning. Great service pressure and I think we were just executing our game plan for a good amount of time. So, very proud of our team for doing that…He [Hambly] told us that we did a great job of sticking through the little stretch of all the games. We have an off day tomorrow, so we’re kind of excited for that. And then we just had to deal with like moving into our dorms and all that stuff. So, we didn’t let any distractions get in the way of our playing and we kind of, I mean, he said we did a great job sticking to our game plan.”
Stanford got off to a strong start, leading 5-0 as Blyashov had a pair of kills to start the match. UC Davis would finally get on the board at 5-1 off a kill from Breeze Czapinski. After Davis got within four points at 10-6, Stanford went on a ridiculous 11-0 run that included two kills from Blyashov, a kill from Logan Parks, and a kill from Andrew. Stanford would go on to take the set 25-10 as a kill by Andrew clinched the set.
“The service pressure was, they weren’t ready for the service pressure,” Hambly said of the key to their first set success. “I don’t think they’ve seen something like that before and knocked them off the net a lot. Aced them a couple times and created some good opportunities for us to just transition as well. So I thought it was about the serve and pass. And we passed really well.”
“Yeah, I think our service pressure, like I said, and I think we were just on our game plan and like, wouldn’t back down,” Blyashov added. “So we just kept bringing it and we knew that, I don’t know, we were just trying to find ourselves, it’s still early in season, but we were trying to get rid of any hesitation and just let loose and yeah, it worked.”
In the second set, it was tied 4-4 after a kill by Light as UC Davis was determined to make it a more competitive set. After back-to-back kills by Czapinksi and Light, it was now an 11-9 lead for the Cardinal as the Aggies continued to fight. Stanford would then win three straight points to make it 14-9 as Rubin had a kill during that run. After an attack error from Stanford made it 20-16, the Cardinal would end the set on a 5-0 run that included an ace from Parks and a kill by Blyashov. 25-16 would be the final score of the second set as Stanford was now up 2-0.
In the 3rd set, UC Davis trailed 10-9 after a kill by Light. It would then be 11-10 after both teams traded points. Then, Stanford would go on a 5-0 run to lead 16-10 as Rubin had a skill while Spencer Etzler had a pair of aces. From there, Stanford would cruise to a 25-18 victory to take the set and the match as UC Davis committed back-to-back errors to end it.
For Stanford, this was a good win in terms of there being little drama. They came out and took UC Davis seriously and put them away. There was also really good kill distribution between Blyashov, Rubin, Sayer, and Andrew. All around a great outing.
“We had pretty good balance,” Hambly said. “I think that’s the cool part is, I mean you look at the swings, we had Jordyn had 13 swings, Julia had 18, Lizzy had 16, Elia had 17, Erika had 12. That’s really really good balance.”
“Yeah, I mean, it kind of just shows how much depth we have on the team and we, honestly I think we have so much trust in each other in executing what we need to be doing,” Blyashov said of their depth. “So, I think that takes a lot of pressure off of everyone when we know that and trust that everyone is doing their role. So, I mean it’s great.”
Given she was coming off a season she had to miss due to injury, it felt good for Blyashov to get rolling in this match. Stanford is going to need her to have a strong season and so it was good to see her come out and lead the way in kills.
“I mean, I think it all starts with our, like, first contact,” Blyashov said of her success. “I think our passers did a great job. And then, obviously our setters were taking care of business. So I mean, that’s pretty, like they set it up for that so very grateful, but yeah.”
“To lead by one [kill] is cool, but it was you know, nice to get Julia out there and give her a chance and have her play,” Hambly said of Blyashov. “I thought she did a good job.”
Once again, Stanford is happy to be back home after being on the road to start the season. Having the comforts of home is always nice. Especially when you have new locker rooms that are a significant upgrade from what you had before.
“I think it’s pretty easy to focus at home, they’re pretty excited to be at home,” Hambly said. “We’ve had a long stretch. We haven’t had a day off since, like two Thursdays ago. So I think it was really nice to have a day off here and to have a day off tomorrow. Like these guys, it was a hard stretch moving in, moving into, we have a new locker room moving into. There’s a lot on these guys and I thought the way they handled down their level of focus is really good. Because it’s hard. So being at home helps.
“It’s incredible [the locker rooms]. It’s incredible. It’s like, I mean they looked at everywhere in the country and I can’t imagine there being a space that could fit our needs better or there’s nothing we could want from it. It’s an absolutely incredible locker room.”
“I mean, we’re so hyped and we’re like so grateful to have a facility like this,” Blyashov echoed. “We’ve waited a while for it, but it’s honestly so worth it. We’re all excited to use our ice baths tonight. But yeah, we’re super grateful and very lucky to have that…So nice [to be back home]. We love being back at Maples. Our fans are amazing and we’re very grateful for all the support and yeah, we’re excited for the rest of our home games and excited for people to come and watch us.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against Hawaii on Friday, September 19th. That will begin at 6:30 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Not really,” Hambly said when asked about his thoughts on facing the Rainbow Wahine. “I mean, I know we’ve seen them play a little bit. They’ve played some common opponents. They played Davis. So, I just don’t know that much about them yet and I haven’t really worried about them. I got a few days.”
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