STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 6 Stanford women’s volleyball team posted a 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 win over 20th-ranked Oregon, Wednesday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal improves to 14-4 on the season and 7-2 in the Pac-12, while the Ducks fall to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
As a team, Stanford registered 14 blocks in the match, one shy of its season-high. The Cardinal outhit the Ducks .296 to .122. Stanford has now won 23 straight home matches in Maples Pavilion, dating back to the 2012 season. The Cardinal is now 7-0 at home this season and 12 of its 14 wins have come in three sets.
Senior middle blocker Carly Wopat led the Cardinal with 11 kills on 20 swings with no errors to hit .550. She also tallied seven blocks and tied her season high with four digs. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Burgess also registered 11 kills in the win to go with five digs and three blocks. Sophomore Brittany Howard finished with nine kills, 11 digs and four blocks, while sophomore Inky Ajanaku posted six kills and seven blocks.
Sophomore setter Madi Bugg registered 36 assists, six digs and two aces in the win. Junior libero Kyle Gilbert collected a match-high 21 digs, while senior Rachel Williams finished with nine digs and four blocks.
Stanford came out flat, but capitalized on a 7-1 run to come-from-behind and capture the first set 25-22. The Cardinal hit .234 in the match, while holding the Ducks to a .167 clip. Despite the poor start offensively, Stanford played well on the defensive side of the ball registering 30 digs and four blocks in the set. Gilbert led the way with 11 digs, while Ajanaku and Howard notched three blocks each. Wopat and Howard both recorded five kills to lead the offense. Oregon outside hitter Canace Finley led the Ducks with five kills.
The Cardinal picked up its offensive efficiency in the second set, posting a 25-13 victory. Stanford put down 13 kills with just one error to post a .480 attack percentage. The Ducks managed just eight kills and committed 10 attack errors in the second. Burgess led the team with four kills, while Ajanaku and Williams each had three. The Cardinal again tallied four blocks with Ajanaku, Burgess, Williams and Wopat all recording two. Oregon junior Liz Brenner paced the Ducks with four kills in the set.
Stanford completed the sweep with a 25-22 win in the third set. The Cardinal again outhit the Ducks .256- to .184. However, it was the Stanford defense which came up big again, tallying 18 digs and six blocks in the set. Gilbert led the way with nine digs, while Wopat recorded four blocks. Burgess led the team offensively with six kills, while Wopat totaled four. Finley finished with 12 kills to lead the Ducks.
Up next, Stanford plays host to Oregon State on Friday, Oct. 25. First serve between the Cardinal and Beavers is scheduled for 7 p.m. The match will be live streamed on pac12.com.