STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team avenged the program's first loss at the hands of Colorado earlier this season, defeating the Buffaloes Thursday, 18-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-18, in Maples Pavilion. The seventh-ranked Cardinal (19-6, 13-4 Pac-12), much like last month in Boulder, were led by freshman Hayley Hodson, who tallied 16 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz hit .632 and poured in 13 kills of her own, while senior setter Madi Bugg posted three of Stanford's 10 aces.
"Merete [(Lutz] has been consistently doing a good job for us the last month, just about every day we come to the gym," Stanford head coach John Dunning said after the match. "And, to see Hayley come back from being injured last week--when you're out and can't practice for three or four days it's hard to get back into the flow--and I thought she got back into the flow really well tonight. (She) took a lot of good swings."
But Stanford struggled out of the gate, and did not get off to the auspicious start it had hoped for. Keyed by three kills each from Anna Pfefferle and Gabby Simpson, the Buffaloes (16-13, 8-9 Pac-12) took the first set 25-18, finishing on a 9-2 run after Stanford tied the score midway through. The Cardinal was plagued by early attack errors and net violations, but battled back from a four-point deficit to even the set at 16, forcing Colorado into a timeout. Out of the break, the Buffaloes got a kill from Simpson and did not look back, eventually closing out the set with one of its two aces. Lutz totaled four kills on just five total attacks to lead the Cardinal, but seven hitting errors by the squad equaled a .100 attack percentage for the set.
"We've had that happen a few times where we were okay and then give up a streak and get buried, which is what happened," Dunning said. "Having a match at 4 p.m. --going to class right until the pre-game meal--it's not what you normally do to prepare. How you get yourself ready to play really matters, and we obviously weren't ready."
Stanford shook off its funk and cleaned up its attack in the second set, recording 15 kills to three errors en route to a 25-12 win. Kills from Jordan Burgess and Lutz gave the Cardinal an early lead, and Ivana Vanjak's second kill sent the Buffaloes into a timeout with Stanford up 8-3. The advantage only grew after that. A powerful kill from Hodson put the Cardinal up eight at 15-7, and Colorado trailed 20-11 before calling its second timeout. Kills from Burgess and Vanjak, a block from Hodson plus an ace by Kelsey Humphreys gave Stanford set point, and another Buffaloes error--their sixth--tied the match at one apiece. Burgess paced the team with four kills and Hodson added three, with both players combining for just two errors on 13 total attacks. The Cardinal improved its efficiency significantly, hitting .462 in the second set to Colorado's .136, while also curbing the Buffaloes' attack with four blocks.
The team rolled its momentum right into the third set, jumping out to a 9-5 lead courtesy of two early kills each from Burgess and Lutz. Following a Colorado timeout, the Cardinal used three Hodson kills to press its advantage to 18-9. But the Buffs clawed their way back, narrowing the deficit to four at 23-19 before Dunning called for time to regroup. Another kill from Hodson, her seventh of the set, and a Colorado error gave Stanford a 25-19 victory.
Hodson ensured the Buffaloes would have no chance at a comeback, smashing both a kill and an ace as Stanford raced to a 5-0 lead. After trailing by as many as eight, Colorado went on a 6-1 run to come within three at 14-11 with Simpson's ace and again at 20-17 after a Joslyn Hayes' kill. The Card, though were able to keep the visitors at bay, benefitting from several Buffaloes' errors and Sarah Benjamin's ace down the stretch to close out the match 25-18. Lutz overwhelmed Colorado's front line with five kills in the final set and stymied its offense with three key blocks.
After coming out flat, Dunning was proud of the way the team responded to a rare home deficit.
"Our mission that we've taken on the whole year, our main goal, is to keep getting better until the end. We had a couple things early in the match drop and we didn't do some things right, but then after that we cleaned it up."
Stanford continues its final homestand of the year Friday against Utah at 6 p.m. The match will air on Pac-12 Bay Area channel or online at pac-12.com.