Posts: 1,611
Threads: 208
Joined: Dec 1969
A really impressive three-game sweep by the Cardinal tonight on Senior Night, to finish off their home season and set a school record for the best start to a season, winning their 28th consecutive match -17, -18 and -13 against a better than that score would indicate #19 Colorado team. This after playing last night against another top-25 opponent in #23 Utah.
Perhaps the most impressive thing was the third game. All season long, when winning the first two, Stanford has gone into the locker room and come out flat, putting themselves in a big hole and having to fight their way back in, and often going to a fourth set because of it.
Tonight, Morgan Boukather got blocked on the first rally of the third set. Then Colorado's Cierra Simpson (of the three Simpson sisters on the Buffs) missed long with a serve, and Jordan Burgess rotated back to serve.
The next 12 points.
Some of them were quick, and some of them were long. There was one memorable sequence of diving saves that ended in a Stanford point. But by the time she gave up the service line, it was 13-2, and any hopes Colorado might have had of a comeback and another upset win were gone. The only thing left to determine was the final margin, and, while Stanford eased off the pedal and subbed heavily with the score 20-9, 25-13 is a pretty amazing set score against a top-20 opponent.
The first set was also in part determined by a smaller Burgess run, with her serving keeping the Buffs on their heels and allowing Stanford to run all of their offensive options, taking the Cardinal from a 17-15 lead to a 20-15 lead on swings by Boukather and Lutz.Â
Set 2, it was a serving run by Brittany Howard, who paired with Kyle Gilbert to serve Stanford from an 11-10 lead to a 20-11 margin, and while they gave back a few points, there was more than enough cushion to see out the set in comfort.
Be on the lookout for a highlight play. Kyle Gilbert, diving backwards to try to save a deflection, made a beautiful kick-dig save. It ended up in a Buffs point, but just the sheer coordination it took was amazing.
A wonderful Senior Day sendoff for Boukather and Gilbert. But the star of the match, and someone who seems to be hitting her best form of the year at exactly the right time, was Jordan Burgess. The quicker tempo of the Stanford offense matches her athleticism and arm snap, and doesn't allow middle blockers, worried about Ajanaku and Lutz, to get back to the left side. Burgess hit seam after seam in the block tonight on her was to a 13 kill, no error on 24 swing performance for a .571 hitting percentage, which is superb for a pin hitter.
The Buffs definitely were camped out out the middles, and slowed them down a bit, but never really stopped them - Inky hit .400 and Lutz .333, and Stanford as a team hit .353 to the Buffs' final .086. The Cardinal outblocked Colorado 8-4, and I will admit I am a bit concerned about Stanford's blocking not being as tight as it could be. But tonight it didn't matter.
It will probably matter on Wednesday. The Cardinal travels up to the lair of a slightly wounded Washington Huskies squad that really needs a win to get back onto a top-seed line in the NCAA tournament. The game will be live on the Pac-12 network on Wednesday at the strange time of 5 pm PT. Then it's back to the Bay Area for the last regular season game at C.al on Friday, and then wait for the NCAA selection show on Sunday evening.
Well done seniors, and well done Stanford.
VG
