The Stanford women’s volleyball team leaned on its senior outside hitter Friday night and the three-time All-American came through in typically spectacular fashion.
Alix Klineman recorded a match-high 32 kills and had a hitting percentage of a cool .500 as second-ranked Stanford defeated visiting No. 7 Washington, 24-26, 25-17, 25-16, 32-30, in front of a raucous crowd of 4256 at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal (6-1, 15-1) continues the homestand with a 7 p.m. match against Washington State on Saturday.
Stanford also benefited from Klineman’s seventh double-double of the year. She put 13 digs and five blocks on her stat line. She recorded her second 30-plus kills match of the season.
Stanford hit .383 against Washington (.268), which entered the match with the best hitting percentage in the nation.
Sophomore outside hitter Hayley Spelman set career highs with 17 kills on 35 attempts for a .343 attack percentage. Senior setter Cassidy Lichtman added a season high 59 assists and recorded 13 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double, and senior libero Gabi Ailes finished with 17 digs, six assists and two aces. Stephanie Browne was 8-0-14 for a .571 hitting percentage.
The teams traded points in the fourth until Washington scored three straight to take a 9-6 lead, forcing head coach John Dunning to call timeout.
Klineman and Spelman put down consecutive kills to tie the score at 12. More errors by Washington and kills by Williams and Klineman gave the Cardinal a two-point advantage. The Huskies came back to tie the score and the teams traded points until Stanford finally worked a 32-30 win.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports