No. 17 Stanford women’s volleyball (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12) defeated Arizona State (7-7, 0-3 Pac-12) on Friday night in their third consecutive home game. After taking the first set decisively and losing the second, the Cardinal pushed on to win 3-1 against the Sun Devils.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Caitie Baird and junior opposite Kendall Kipp continued their dominance at the top of the net with 22 and 16 kills, respectively, while senior middle blocker Holly Campbell added 10 kills in addition to six total blocks. Sophomore setter Malia Tufuga played in her third game this season, stepping into the libero role after freshman libero Taylor Beaven left the game due to an injury.
The Cardinal got off to a strong offensive start with a kill from Kipp on the first point. Arizona State took the lead soon after until Kipp’s third kill of the set tied the score at 11. Kipp followed her aggressive presence at the net with strong serving, delivering two aces separated by a tip by Baird to reach a 14-11 lead for the Cardinal. Stanford maintained its lead for the remainder of the set, and Baird sealed a 25-17 victory with two kills and a block.
Arizona State turned it around and developed a steady lead in the second set. Two Stanford receiving errors on serves from Arizona State sophomore setter Ella Snyder brought the score to 8-5.
The Sun Devils charged ahead to a 19-14 lead before a stroke of good fortune on the Stanford side — culminating in a kill by Campbell — narrowed the lead to 21-19 and drove Arizona to call its own timeout. With Arizona State leading 24-20, the Cardinal challenged a call on its serve that had been called out by the referees. The call and score stood at 24-20, and an Arizona tip gave the set to the Sun Devils, 25-21.
The Cardinal were down in the third set when a kill from redshirt sophomore middle blocker McKenna Vicini off a one-handed set by freshman setter Kami Miner generated some momentum. Slowly, Stanford came back. With a block from Campbell and kills from Kipp and freshman outside hitter Sami Francis, the Cardinal tied the score at 15.
After an Arizona State timeout, Stanford took the lead at 17-16 with a kill from Campbell. A sequence of strong moves from Stanford’s offense, including another Campbell kill, a setter dump from Miner and two more attacks from Baird and Kipp put Stanford close to the finish at 23-21.
Arizona State was quick to push back, picking up two points in succession to bring the score to 23-all. Baird brought it home for the Cardinal with a kill to the opposite back corner — a swing that three touches from the Sun Devils could not send back. Stanford won the third set 25-23.
In the fourth set, Arizona State tried to break away early, but a kill from Francis gave the Cardinal a 10-9 lead. After a seven-point run, Francis brought the score to 18-10 with an ace.
An Arizona State kill straight to Beaven took her out of the game with an injury. Tufuga switched to a dark jersey to come into the game at libero, and the Cardinal were right back into it with a Kipp kill. Reluctant to let the match slip away from them, the Sun Devils made a final four-point run to bring the score to 23-20, but a pair of kills from Kipp and Baird closed the set 25-20.
Next up, No. 17 women’s volleyball will host Arizona on Sunday at home. First serve is set for 1 p.m. PT, and the match will be aired on Pac-12 Networks.