In its final road game of the regular season, No. 3 Stanford’s women’s volleyball (23-5, 16-3 Pac-12) earned its 19th straight-set victory of the year against the Arizona Wildcats (19-12, 9-10) in its win in Tucson on Wednesday, 25-21, 25-17, 27-25.
Sophomore middle blocker Inky Ajanaku had a team-high 15 kills and seven blocks, and sophomore outside hitter Brittany Howard recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs. Senior outside hitter Rachel Williams, who was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week for her play last week against then-No. 3 Washington and Washington State, added nine kills and seven digs.
Stanford hit .333 in the match, despite Arizona previously allowing opponents just a .168 hitting percentage this season—the lowest mark in the Pac-12. Instead, it was the Cardinal that won the defensive battle, both outblocking (10-8) and outdigging (55-45) the Wildcats.
Arizona had its chances to establish a stake throughout the match, especially in the first and third games, but was never able to capitalize on its opportunities. The Wildcats led the first set as late as 19-17, yet the Cardinal won eight of the next 10 points to take the game.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Burgess led the way in that stretch with a kill, two blocks, and two points on serve.
After Stanford dominated the second game, outhitting Arizona .556 to .219, they came out slow after the intermission in the third. The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead, with three of those points coming off of Cardinal attack errors. They continued to lead the set as late as 20-19 before the Card once again went on a small run. Three straight points put Stanford up 22-20, and it would later close out the set 27-25, despite Arizona saving two match points.
The Card returns home to Maples Pavilion on Friday for Senior Night and the “Big Spike” matchup against Cal in its final regular season game. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and the match will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Jordan Wallach at jwallach ‘at’ stanford.edu.