Women’s volleyball clinches first ACC Championship title
No. 5 Stanford women’s volleyball (27-4, 18-2 ACC) wrapped up their regular season with a crucial week of competition, securing a Senior Day victory over Georgia Tech (16-13, 11-9 ACC) before winning a thrilling five-set match against Louisville (24-6, 16-4 ACC). This decisive week allowed the team to clinch a share of their first-ever ACC Championship title and the program’s 25th conference title, securing an automatic qualifier bid and the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The team closed out its regular season home slate with a 3-1 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion. The match, which also served as Senior Day, honored the team’s two graduating seniors, outside hitter Elia Rubin and defensive specialist Anna Pringle.
The Cardinal secured the win with set scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-13 and 25-22. Stanford’s offense registered 56 kills on a strong 0.314 hitting percentage for the match.
Junior opposite hitter Jordyn Harvey led the attack with 13 kills on a 0.346 hitting percentage. Rubin also tallied 13 kills, with redshirt sophomore outside hitter Julia Blyashov contributing 12 kills. Sophomore setter Taylor Yu delivered 33 assists to direct the offense.
The third set proved to be the Cardinal’s most dominant set of the match. The offense registered 11 kills with zero attack errors on 17 total attempts, translating to a 0.647 hitting percentage. This was complemented by a perfect 100% sideout percentage, underscoring the Cardinal’s consistency.
At the heartwarming post-match senior ceremony, Rubin and Pringle shared reflections on how the Stanford volleyball program fostered their personal and athletic development.
“I was super shy,” Pringle said. “Coming here and figuring out how I can still be my authentic self and be comfortable with the people around me and break out of my shell was really important for me.”
Rubin credited her growth to her peers.
“At Stanford, you’re surrounded by the best people who are gonna inevitably push you to be better, because you’re just surrounded by such greatness and so many cool people,” Rubin said.
The Cardinal’s culture of playing for a greater cause has resonated deeply with Rubin, who noted the absence of last names on the team’s jerseys.
“Playing for something bigger than yourself is something that I feel like Stanford is really, really good at,” said Rubin. “We don’t wear our names on our jersey. We only have the ‘Stanford’ on our jersey. That’s just the idea and the vibe that we play with.”
Looking ahead, both players have exciting and bright futures. Rubin was recently drafted by the San Diego Mojo, and she hopes to play overseas. Pringle’s end goal is medical school, and she hopes to work in biological research or the healthcare field.
On Saturday, Stanford defeated No. 7 Louisville in five sets to bring home its first-ever ACC Championship title, which it shares with No. 4 Pitt (26-4, 18-2 ACC). This victory earned the Cardinal the automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA Tournament.
During the NCAA selection show on Sunday, Stanford was announced as the No. 6 overall seed and will host the first two rounds of the tournament at Maples. Stanford’s first-round matchup is set for this Friday at 7 p.m. against Utah Valley (16-10, 10-2 WAC). The winner of the Stanford-Utah Valley match will advance to play against the winner of the South Dakota State-Arizona match on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Maples.
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