STANFORD, Calif. – Firing on all cylinders, No. 5 Stanford swept Loyola Marymount, 25-17, 25-17, 25-16, Saturday, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (27-4), the No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional, advances to its 21st NCAA regional semifinal since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998, and its sixth regional appearance under eighth-year head coach Kevin Hambly, the Montag Family Director of Women’s Volleyball.
Stanford hit .535 as a team, committing just three hitting errors in the match. All three Cardinal pins hit over .500 for the match as Stanford led wire-to-wire in the second and third sets. It was the third time this season the Cardinal hit over .500 in a match as a team.
Stanford went undefeated at home for the first time since 2018 with a 14-0 record, dropping just three sets on The Farm.
Setter Kami Miner orchestrated the Cardinal offense with 36 assists to go with five digs, two kills, two blocks and an ace in her final performance at Maples. Libero Elena Oglivie, a fifth-year senior from Honolulu, collected nine digs, six assists and an ace in her final outing.
Junior Elia Rubin set the tone for the Cardinal with a match-high 15 kills on a season-best .577 hitting. The outside hitter also tallied 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Opposite Jordyn Harvey registered 13 kills on a .522 attack percentage, while outside hitter Ipar Kurt added 10 kills on .529 hitting, a dig and an ace.
Middle blocker Sami Francis hit .455 with six kills, including one on match-point, to go with three blocks in her final match on The Farm. Freshman Lizzy Andrew chipped in with three kills and a block, while Anna Pringle notched five digs and an assist.
Loyola Marymount was led by outside hitter Paige Flickinger, who had 10 kills on .444 hitting, while outside hitter Sophia Meyers posted nine kills, six digs and an ace for the Lions, who were making their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance.
Stanford improves to 4-1 all-time against LMU in the postseason and 5-1 overall.
Up next, Stanford will meet (6) Florida on Thursday in the NCAA regional semifinal in Louisville, Kentucky. The Cardinal and Gators square off at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN2.