MILWAUKEE – Elia Rubin and Sami Francis combined for 33 kills, leading No. 5 Stanford in a 26-28, 25-23, 16-25, 25-13, 15-13 win over No. 18 Minnesota, Sunday, in the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Forum.
Stanford (2-0) served tough and played gritty defense, totaling 67 digs and 12 aces. Minnesota (0-1) out hit the Cardinal, .302 to .222, and racked up 14.0 blocks.
Rubin finished with a double-double, notching a match-high 19 kills to go with 13 digs, three blocks and two aces. Francis hit .393 with 14 kills and three blocks.
Setter Kami Miner made her season debut, registering 47 assists, three kills and a match-best 17 digs. Libero Elena Oglivie anchored the defense with 16 digs and six assists.
Opposite Jordyn Harvey was second on the team scoring 19.5 points. The sophomore recorded career-highs of 12 kills and seven aces – one shy of the school record in a single match in the rally-scoring era.
Freshman middle blocker Lizzy Andrew turned in eight kills on .429 hitting and a block. Redshirt freshman Ipar Kurt added five kills and six digs.
Freshman defensive specialist Malyssa Cawa collected five digs and an assists in four sets played, while senior Taylor Beaven chipped in with four digs. Freshman Taylor Yu came off the bench to serve in the final two sets, registering a pair of aces. Junior defensive specialist Anna Pringle also had an ace in the win.
Minnesota was led by outside hitters Julia Hanson and Mckenna Wucherer, who had 14 kills apiece for the Gophers. For the match, there were 40 tie scores and 18 lead changes. The Cardinal has won three straight over Minnesota.
Stanford is back in action on Monday against No. 3 Wisconsin at 2 p.m. PT on FOX.