MILWAUKEE – Led by junior Elia Rubin, No. 5 Stanford swept Milwaukee, 25-20, 27-25, 25-17, Friday, in the season opener for both teams at the Klotsche Center.
As a team, Stanford (1-0) hit .361 and finished with 47 kills, seven aces and 5.0 blocks. Milwaukee (0-1) hit .177 and posted 29 kills, five aces and 5.0 blocks. Both teams tallied 32 digs.
Rubin had a match-high 14 kills on .458 hitting to go with five digs and two aces. Middle blocker Sami Francis added eight kills on a .500 clip and four blocks, including two solo.
Freshman Taylor Yu made her Stanford debut at setter, filling in for senior Kami Miner who was unavailable for Friday’s contest. The Temple City native totaled 40 assists, three digs, two kills and had an ace on match point to seal the win.
Also making their collegiate debuts for the Cardinal were redshirt freshman outside hitter Ipar Kurt, freshman middle blocker Lizzy Andrew and freshman defensive specialist Malyssa Cawa. Kurt turned in 11 kills on .308 hitting, seven digs, two aces and a block. Andrew registered six kills on 10 errorless swings to hit .600, while Cawa appeared in one set and collected a dig.
Fifth-year libero Elena Oglivie anchored the Cardinal defense with eight digs and notched two assists. Opposite Jordyn Harvey added six kills, four digs, two aces and a block. Defensive specialist Anna Pringle finished with four digs.
Senior Taylor Beaven appeared in the second and third sets, while graduate transfer Charity McDowell made her Stanford debut in the third.
Milwaukee was led by outside hitter Madi Malone, who had eight kills, seven digs and two aces.
Up next, Stanford takes on No. 18 Minnesota (FS1) and No. 3 Wisconsin (FOX) on Sunday and Monday, respectively, in a pair of nationally televised matches at Fiserv Forum.