Bear-hunting season: Stanford women’s volleyball dominates rival Cal with dual sweeps

No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball (16-3, 8-2 ACC) defeated rival California (10-12, 2-8 ACC) on Wednesday (25-15, 25-17, 25-14) in Berkeley’s Haas Pavilion and on Friday (25-23, 25-19, 25-19) in Maples Pavilion. After a long three-game week, the Cardinal will now have a week before the play at Miami. 

At Berkeley, Stanford overcame Cal’s early spark, finding their rhythm through redshirt freshman outside hitter Ipar Kurt’s precise attacks and a series of well-executed kills. The Cardinal’s commitment to simple, disciplined play proved effective, especially as their blocking strengthened through the sets.

Setter Kami Miner orchestrated a diverse offense that kept Cal guessing, with Stanford’s hitters taking turns breaking through the defense. Building momentum with timely scoring runs, the Cardinal secured a convincing sweep — a welcome bounce-back after its  loss to No. 1 Pittsburgh, setting the stage for their upcoming home rematch against Cal.

On Friday at Maples, the momentum swung like a pendulum between the Bay Area rivals, with Cal’s outside hitter Maggie Li proving to be a persistent thorn in Stanford’s side. Early on, she showcased her versatility — forcing kills through Miner’s block and cleverly tipping balls into the “campfire” zone that left Stanford’s defense scrambling in rotation. 

Kurt and senior middle hitter Sami Francis anchored Stanford’s  diverse attack strategy — mixing powerful slams through the middle with tactical tips — while Stanford’s libero Elena Oglivie’s ace in the middle of set one marked a shift in momentum, exposing Cal’s footwork struggles. 

What looked like a comfortable 21-17 Stanford lead quickly evaporated as the Cardinal’s typically reliable passing game wavered. When Kurt got blocked straight down, the momentum shifted in Cal’s favor, bringing the score to a nerve-wracking 21-20. While Stanford’s Francis and outside hitter Elia Rubin combined for a crucial block and Kurt landed a sharp line shot to reach set point at 24-21, the final moments turned into a nail-biter. Cal fought back valiantly, but Stanford’s Francis sealed the deal with a decisive cross-court attack at 25-23. 

The set began with a series of trading errors, but Stanford’s Francis would soon become the central figure in a rollercoaster of emotions. After commanding early attention with a powerful cross-court kill on a slide play from the right side, her momentum hit a sudden wall when  back-to-back net violations brought Cal right back into the game at 10-10. Coach Hambly opted not to challenge either call, but Francis didn’t let the errors  shake her for long, responding with a statement kill. 

“I looked at Kami [and asked] what call do you want for me? I was just in the right spot at the right time,” Francis said after the match. Hambly also concurred after the game, saying that its reps allowed Stanford to have such a varied offense, and allowed each player to have a connection to Miner down and communication to body language.

Despite opposite Jordyn Harvey battled through her own struggles with service errors and back-row violations, it was Francis who emerged as the steadying force when the set hung in the balance. With the teams locked in a back-and-forth battle around 18-17, she took control of the court’s airspace, winning a crucial joust at the net and following it up with a block that pushed Stanford to a 20-18 lead, forcing Cal to call timeout.

The sequence  energized the entire Stanford squad. Junior outside hitter Elia Rubin closed out the set in style with back-to-back aces, but it was Francis’ resilience through adversity — turning those early setbacks into momentum-shifting plays — that embodied Stanford’s mental toughness in the 25-19 second set win.

In the third set, what began as a back-and-forth battle quickly turned into Stanford’s show. The Cardinal capitalized on Cal’s early mistakes, including two four-touch violations, but the Bears wouldn’t go quietly, responding with an ace and a stuff block to knot things at 3-3. But Stanford then unleashed their full offensive arsenal — Rubin finding holes in the defense, Francis dominating at the net with a key block and #15 showing finesse with a well-placed tip.

The turning point came at 15-11, when Cal’s setter couldn’t recover from an overpass, prompting a timeout that did little to slow Stanford’s momentum. Even as the Cardinal made spectacular defensive plays, diving and scrambling multiple times in long rallies, they maintained their composure when Cal occasionally found ways to terminate.

With the score at 20-11, victory was all but assured. Francis — who had been crucial throughout the match — delivered one final kill to seal the sweep at 25-19, a fitting end to Stanford’s bounce-back performance.

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