Oct. 28, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 5 Stanford women's volleyball team snapped a two-match skid to USC by sweeping the No. 4 Trojans, 25-18, 25-14, 25-23, Friday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal improves to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the Pac-12. The Trojans, who saw their12-match win streak come to an end, drop to 17-4 overall and 12-2 in the conference.
Sophomores Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat led the team in the win. Williams posted her 12th double-double of the year with 14 kills and 13 digs. Wopat hit a season-best .611 (11-0-18) while also recording eight blocks. Junior Hayley Spelman added nine kills and two blocks, while redshirt freshman Lydia Bai posted eight kills and five blocks. Junior setter Karissa Cook controlled the offense with 41 assists while collecting 12 digs for her conference-leading 13th double-double of the season.
Defensively, Stanford registered 13 blocks to just four by USC. Both teams posted 54 digs. Junior libero Hannah Benjamin tallied 12 digs for Stanford, marking her 14th game of the season with double-digit digs. As a team, the Cardinal hit .339, while holding the Trojans to a .161 clip. USC entered the match with the highest team hitting percentage in the Pac-12 (.284).
The Cardinal captured the first set 25-18. Stanford came out fired up, hitting .433 as a team and registering six blocks. USC hit just .171 in the set and committed 11 errors. Spelman led the Cardinal with four kills and two blocks in the first. Wopat recorded six block assists and three kills. USC's Alex Jupiter and Sara Shaw each put down five kills to lead the Trojans.
Stanford continued to put the pressure on USC in the second, securing a 25-14 win going into the 10 minute break. The Cardinal hit .333 in the set, while holding the Trojans to a .116 attack percentage. Williams led the team with six kills and seven digs, while Cook dished out 13 assists and tallied five digs. Jupiter, again, led the Trojans with five kills.
USC came out of the break rejuvenated and managed to maintain the lead for much of the third set. However, down by as many as six points, Stanford rallied back to win the set and complete the sweep, 25-23. There were nine tie scores and four lead changes in the set. Stanford again outhit USC, .283 to .196. Wopat drilled six kills to lead the team, while Williams chipped in with five. Cook recorded 15 assists in the set, while picking up six digs. Benjamin also registered six digs to anchor the defense. Jupiter finished with a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs for USC.
Stanford remains undefeated at home with an 11-0 record. Junior middle blocker Jessica Walker suffered an injury in practice this week and did not warm up with the team. She is listed as day-to-day.
Stanford closes out the weekend Saturday, Oct. 29 against No. 6 UCLA. The Cardinal and Bruins will square off at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion.