Recap: No. 5 Stanford Women’s Volleyball sweeps Clemson, GA Tech, NC State, & Wake Forest
No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball just completed a successful four-match road sweep of Clemson (25-27, 25-18, 28-26, 25-15), Georgia Tech (25-21, 25-23, 25-14), NC State, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-12), and Wake Forest (25-18, 25-19, 25-17). It was a crucial stretch in the calendar as now they have just two road matches left and only one more time do they need to leave the state of California (at Louisville on Saturday, November 29th). In case you are wondering, yes, the other road match left is at Cal on Sunday, November 23rd. Stanford is now 20-3 overall and 11-1 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Clemson-Friday, October 24th
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Georgia Tech-Sunday, October 26th
BOX SCORE: Stanford at NC State-Friday, October 31st
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Wake Forest-Sunday, November 2nd
Starting with the win at Clemson, Julia Blyashov went to work for the Cardinal with 15 kills and 12 digs while hitting .279. Lizzy Andrew (12 kills), Elia Rubin (10 kills), and Erika Sayer (10 kills) were also in double figures while Jordyn Harvey (9 kills) nearly joined them. It was a bit of a worrisome start dropping that first set, but from then on, Stanford was able to take care of business by winning the next three sets, two of which were pretty decisive. Stanford out-hit Clemson .282 to .145 in the match and also did a nice job out-serving them with four service aces while Clemson had just the one service ace.
Moving on to the win over Georgia Tech, this was a nice sweep over a team that has been receiving votes in the AVCA Rankings. Rubin was on fire with 10 kills and six digs while hitting .417 while Blyashov had nine kills on .286 hitting. The first two sets were close, but then in the 3rd set, Stanford shut the door emphatically 25-14, winning six of the final seven points as a kill by Blyashov clinched the match. Stanford out-hit Georgia Tech .337 to .139 while having a having a 63.3% side out percentage to Georgia Tech’s 49.3%. Just an all-around dominant win.
Switching gears to this past weekend, Ipar Kurt came alive in the win over NC State with 16 kills and seven digs while hitting .382. Andrew (12 kills), Rubin (11 kills), and Harvey (9 kills) were also strong. Things were a little dicey when tied up 1-1, but then Stanford turned on the jets in the final two sets to win convincingly. Especially that final set 25-12 in which they won seven of the final 10 points. Stanford didn’t hit as well in the match overall (.271) as they had at Georgia Tech, but they held NC State to .176 hitting overall and really frustrated them in the third set (.122) and fourth set (-.087).
Ending with the win over Wake Forest, this one was pretty smooth as the Demon Deacons did not reach 20 points in any of the three sets. Blyashov and Andrew each had nine kills. Blyashov hitting .364 and Andrew hitting .643. It wasn’t the best day for Rubin as she had just five kills while hitting .133, but her teammates were able to pick up the slack and still ensure a smooth victory.
Looking ahead, Stanford will welcome North Carolina and Duke to The Farm this coming weekend. They’ll face North Carolina on Friday, November 7th at 7:00 PM PT and then Duke on Saturday, November 8th at 7:00 PM PT. That will be the first of five straight matches at home before hitting the road to face Cal.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406
Email: [email protected]
