No. 6 Stanford cruises past Syracuse volleyball in straight sets

In No. 6 Stanford’s first trip to Syracuse, the Cardinal dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 sweep over the Orange.

Stanford is one of the most decorated programs in the country, holding the most NCAA titles (9) and Final Four appearances (23), and they proved why on Sunday.

“Stanford is a top team, a top program in the country. It’s not something they’ve built in the last five years; it’s been like this for decades,” head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam said.

The Orange held their own early in the opening set, even taking a 10-7 lead after a 5-0 scoring run that featured redshirt sophomore Skylar George’s second of 12 kills and a strong block at the net by graduate student Oreva Evivie. 

However, Stanford head coach Kevin Hambly called a timeout to halt the momentum, and it worked. The Cardinal responded by scoring six of the next eight points and closed out the set on a 6-0 run, taking it 25-15.

The story was similar in the second set, which featured six ties early on, but that’s when Stanford’s offense began to apply pressure. The Cardinal lead the ACC in kills (14.19) and assists (13.23) per set, leaning on their dominant front line of Elia Rubin, Lizzy Andrew, and Logan Parks. A trio that gave the Orange defense constant trouble.

Parks controlled the offense with ease, finishing with 32 assists and setting up Rubin and Andrew for a combined 19 kills. Rubin stood out with her phenomenal court awareness and deceptive movements that consistently caught the defense off guard.

“They just do everything at a really high level. They run a very good, fast, efficient, and diverse offense,” Ganesharatnam said.

Stanford pulled away in the second set following one of Andrew’s most powerful kills of the match, making it 16-12. From there, the Cardinal never looked back, closing out a 25-16 win to take a 2-0 lead.

Syracuse came out swinging in the third set, looking to build on Friday’s emphatic win over California and keep the match alive. But Stanford’s defense went into lockdown mode, holding the Orange to a hitting percentage of -.060 in the set. Syracuse finished the match hitting just .071 while Stanford posted an efficient .337.

The final nail in the coffin came when Elia Rubin delivered an emphatic block after a long rally to make it 14-9. That signaled the Cardinal starting to rotate in more of their bench.

Junior Tehya Maeva contributed a team-high 18 assists and is now just 14 away from reaching 2,000 career assists.

“Just trying to find my hitters and set them up as best I can,” Maeva said. “We’re not the tallest, so I really have to give my hitters one-on-ones to spread the defense and get our offense going.”

With the loss, Syracuse falls to 3-3 in ACC play this season. SU remains at home next weekend to host a pair of opponents from the Tar Heel State, welcoming Duke and No. 23 North Carolina to the Women’s Building beginning on Friday.