Tech’s first ever conference game in Palo Alto sees more Larissa Mendes action after injury
#16 Georgia Tech volleyball suffered their first loss after a nine game winning streak at the hands of #6 Stanford Cardinal, an uncomplicated 3-0 sweep that took barley 80 minutes (9-25, 17-25, 12-25). Tech moves to 18-5 (10-4 ACC) while Stanford gets to 19-4 (11-3 ACC), moving ahead of Tech in the ACC standings for solo 3rd behind Pitt and Louisville.
I kid you not, there’s is barely anything to take away from this match. Tech got beat soundly in all parts of their game. We had flickers of our normal game and Larissa Mendes played sets two and three (she came back yesterday against Cal too), but Stanford is one of those teams a clear level above Tech. It takes the combo of Tech being great and a team like Stanford being bad for us to have a chance. This was not that evening. It’s not our fault, it’s just where our program is relative to one of the greatest ever in Stanford.
Set 1
Stanford got rolling immediately and straight up did not stop scoring, forcing Tech’s first timeout up 9-3 during a five-point run. Tech scraped and clawed points here and there, but no offensive rhythm existed as Stanford pushed the lead to 11 at 18-7, forcing Tech’s second timeout. In the end, Stanford finished the set on a 10-2 run with one of Tech’s points being a service error, which just about sums up how dominant the Cardinal was.
Stats via Stanford
Set 2 (Stanford 1-0)
Larissa Mendes entered the game at right side, returning Tech to their traditional lineup, which initially did a good job giving Tech a spark. Tech started with a three point run with a kill by Mendes and a Bertolino ace, then Otene made it 4-1 with one of her higher quality kills. The lead held steady for a bit before Stanford tied it up at 7-7, 8-8, and 9-9 before taking their first lead blocking Bertolino to make it 10-9.
And then Stanford turned into 1st set Stanford going on a 6-2 run for a 16-11 lead, then stopping some of Tech’s better plays in Pierce’s slide kill to the right and a large swings by Bertolino and Mendes. Collier called her first timeout down 21-16. And Elia Rubin kill then a Ipar Kurt ace prompted the next Tech timeout two points later at 23-16. Bertolino got one more kill before Stanford finished the deal 25-17.
Stats via Stanford
Set 3 (Stanford 2-0)
Stanford very quickly started taking care of business after the break, only not scoring a point on the way to a 7-1 lead because of a successful challenge by Michelle Collier before she called timeout at the aforementioned score. Things continued to suck after this point for the most part. We got a kill here and there but Stanford cruised to a 25-12 set win.
Stats & Game Leaders
Stats by Stanford
Game Leaders
Kills: Elia Rubin (STAN) – 11
Assists: Kami Miner (STAN) – 31
Digs: Elena Oglivie (STAN) – 15
Points: Elia Rubin (STAN)/Ipar Kurt (STAN) – 13
Hit % (min. 10 attempts): Ipar Kurt (STAN) – .833
Blocks: Sami Francis (STAN) – 7