Recap: No. 6 Stanford Women’s Volleyball powers past No. 16 Florida
On Friday, No. 6 Stanford women’s volleyball defeated No. 16 Florida 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22) to open up the regular season at the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Lincoln, Nebraska. Stanford outside hitters Elia Rubin (14 kills & 17 digs) and Jordyn Harvey (11 kills) led the way for the Cardinal while Lizzy Andrew (9 kills) and Logan Parks (9 kills) were knocking on the door of double-digit kills. Florida’s Jordyn Byrd led all players with 17 kills. Stanford improves to 1-0 on the season while Florida falls to 0-1.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Florida-Friday, August 22nd
Florida led 1-0 to open the first set after a kill by Byrd and never gave up the lead in the set from there though Stanford did even it up 1-1 after a kill by Parks and later 2-2 and then 4-4 after a service ace by Julia Blyashov. Florida did a good job of staying in front and never allowing Stanford to overtake them in that opening set. After a kill by Parks, Stanford trailed 18-19, getting within one point, but then Florida scored two straight points off a kill by Alec Rothe and an error by Stanford to make it 21-18. A kill by Blyashov got Stanford within two points at 21-19, but then Florida won three straight points to make it 24-19. The Gators would go on to win the set 25-22 after an attack error by the Cardinal.
Stanford responded well in the second set, leading 3-1 after a kill by Parks and 6-3 after a bad set by Florida. This set was the opposite of the first set in that Stanford never gave up the lead despite allowing Florida to tie it up 10-10. Stanford went on a 3-0 run to make it 13-10 as Blyashov had a pair of kills while Parks added another to her total. After a kill by Milica Vidacic made it 17-16, Stanford went on a 5-0 run to make it 22-16. Rubin and Harvey had kills during that run. Stanford would go on to win the set 25-19 after a kill by Parks clinched the set.
Stanford looked like they would cruise to win the 3rd set as they led 11-9 after an error by Byrd. However, Florida went on a 4-0 run to lead 13-11 as Rothe and Byrd each had a kill during the run. Stanford would pull back into the set and have it be tied 19-19 after a service error by the Gators. Rothe then had a kill to make it 20-19 for Florida only for Stanford to respond with a 4-0 run to make it 23-20. Three of those points were errors while the fourth point was a kill by Rubin. Stanford would go on to take the set 25-22 as a kill by Erika Sayer clinched the set.
The fourth set was tied 8-8 after an attack error by Stanford as Florida was eager to force a fifth set. Stanford would then win three straight points as Sayer got a kill off an assist from Taylor Yu, an error by Byrd, and a service ace by Spencer Etzler. That made it 11-8. Florida would fight back as they would later have a 3-0 run to go up 15-14 as Kira Hutson had a kill to give the Gators the lead. After a Stanford error tied it up 18-18, Stanford won two straight points to lead 20-18 as Ipar Kurt had a kill off an assist from Yu and Lizzy Andrew had a kill off an assist from Parks. At this point, it looked like Stanford had the edge. Stanford would not give up the lead from there as back-to-back kills from Harvey and Parks ended the set 25-22, giving Stanford a 3-1 victory.
For Stanford, this was overall a great win. They didn’t play their best, but given all the new pieces and parts they are incorporating into the lineup, a 3-1 win over a top 20 team has to feel good. This is an early win that should give them a lot of confidence as they start the season.
After getting this win, Stanford now has an even taller test in front of them as they’ll face No. 1 Nebraska on Sunday at 12:30 PM PT on ESPN. That will wrap up the two-match AVCA First Serve Showcase for the Cardinal.
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