STANFORD, Calif. – No. 9 Stanford closed out the nonconference portion of its schedule on Saturday, dropping a 24-26, 25-27, 25-14, 13-25 decision to No. 3 Louisville at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal (5-3) completed a string of six consecutive matches against top 20 opponents, including four in the top 3. Still searching for a home victory, all five of Stanford's wins have come on the road this season.
Louisville (9-1) battled the Cardinal all night as the first two sets saw 25 tie scores and nine lead changes. The Cardinals out hit Stanford, .222 to .197, and held a 14.0-10.0 advantage in blocks.
Senior opposite Kendall Kipp had a team-high 15 kills, four digs, four blocks and two aces. Outside hitters Caitie Baird and Elia Rubin combined for 23 kills. Rubin finished a dig shy of a double-double and had two blocks and an ace, while Baird had 12 kills to go with seven digs, two blocks and an ace.
Setter Kami Miner tallied 35 assists and 10 digs for her third double-double of the year. The sophomore also notched three kills on .400 hitting. Junior libero Elena Oglivie collected a team-best 16 digs to go with seven assists and an ace.
Redshirt junior middle blocker McKenna Vicini paced the team with six blocks, including two solo. She also hit .375 and had four kills. Sophomore middle blocker Sami Francis added four kills and four blocks. Freshman Kelly Belardi recorded a career-high four digs and had an assist off the bench.
Louisville was led by outside hitter Claire Chaussee's 19 kills on a .310 attack percentage. Setter Raquel Lazaro, a transfer from USC, had a double-double with 39 assists and 11 digs.
Saturday marked the first meeting between Stanford and Louisville.
Stanford is back on the road next week, opening Pac-12 Conference play on Wednesday at Cal before traveling to Eugene to face No. 20 Oregon on Sunday.
