There they’re, all six of them proudly proven on a publicity graphic, all six Stanford starters on the preseason Pac-12 crew.
Loaded and on a mission.
That’s as a result of the beautiful sting of the tip of the 2022 season nonetheless looms massive for the Cardinal, which not solely misplaced to San Diego within the regional last, however misplaced in 5 on its residence court docket.
Stanford, the Pac-12 champion, led two units to at least one and was up 23-22 within the fourth set, oh so near advancing to the NCAA nationwide semifinals.
However San Diego gained the fourth 25-22.
And within the fifth, the Toreros broke a 9-9 tie by scoring the final six factors.
San Diego, the 2022 crew of future, went on to Omaha.
Stanford gamers walked again to their dorms and residences on the lookout for solutions.
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The six are redshirt senior outdoors Caitie Baird, junior center Sami Francis, fifth-year proper aspect Kendall Kipp, junior setter Kami Miner, senior libero Elena Olglive and sophomore outdoors Elia Rubin.
The one starter not on the record is redshirt-senior center McKenna Vicini, who led Stanford in blocks final yr with 40 greater than Kipp. And Vicini led the Pac-12 in hitting proportion (.427).
Loaded.
Kipp, Miner and Oglivie may be the three greatest gamers at their respective positions within the nation; Kipp and Miner for positive; you possibly can argue a few others are proper up there with Oglivie. However she’s elite.
“They’re particular gamers and so they’re particular folks and so they make our crew higher,” Baird mentioned. “I’m fortunate to be on the identical aspect of the web as them. In observe it’s by no means enjoyable being on the other aspect. They make you’re employed for each level.”
Pound for pound, when wholesome — and that was an issue in 2022 — Stanford is the crew to beat this NCAA volleyball season.
“I might agree,” Rubin mentioned.
Rubin went by means of her freshman season comparatively unscathed, though she shortly displayed her less-than-straight pinkie that she broke final yr. Kipp has had concussions, Francis was out for some time.
The 6-foot Miner, a VolleyballMag.com second-team All-American final season, has stayed wholesome all through her first two years as she’s established herself as the following nice American setter after the three on the prime, Olympians Jordyn Poulter and Micha Hancock and Lauren Carlini.
She led the Pac-12 in assists final season with 11.42/set, had 22 aces, 92 kills, 59 blocks and averaged 2.1 digs/set.
“Wonderful setter. She makes ridiculous balls look really easy,” Oglivie mentioned.
Miner is one among a handful of present NCAA standouts whose fathers had been NBA gamers. Her father, Harold, was a star at USC and was a two-time NBA dunk champion.
Among the many others in at this time’s sport are Asjia O’Neal at Texas (Jermaine O’Neal) and teammate Madisen Skinner (Brian Skinner) and Wisconsin’s Anna Smrek (Michael Smrek) and Carter Sales space (Calvin Sales space). Lorenzo Orr, who had a protracted European professional profession and whose daughter, Kennedi, is a junior at Nebraska, was a teammate of Miner’s at USC. And there have been a lot extra with a complete pipeline of extra to come back.
Rubin gushed when speaking about Miner’s athleticism and talent to regulate set speeds and heights, particularly contemplating how completely different she and the opposite outdoors, the 6-3 Baird, bounce and assault.
“Significantly, each single day in observe, I don’t even know how one can describe it. Some balls she units, it’s insane,” Rubin mentioned.
Miner, who grew up in Redondo Seashore however by no means embraced seaside volleyball, has spent loads of time within the USA health club. Adjusting to completely different hitters takes work, however “for me it was all about establishing a suggestions loop for each of them,” Miner mentioned.
“They each have such massive home windows, to allow them to decide units off at loads of completely different factors. So having that suggestions loop about the place they really feel they will rating probably the most and have probably the most vary, for me that was a very powerful factor.”
The 6-5 Kipp, a product of Newport Seashore who begins her fifth yr in Palo Alto, was a VolleyballMag.com first-team All-American and the Pac-12 Participant of the Yr.
“She’s a tremendous athlete,” Oglivie mentioned, “and she or he has such a ardour for the sport and hearth and you’ll see it in how excited she will get.”
Kipp led Stanford in kills (528, 4.51/set, second solely to USC’s Skylar Fields within the Pac-12), had a team-high 43 aces (fourth within the Pac-12), and had 113 blocks. Kipp was a key reserve as a freshman when Stanford gained the 2019 title.
“She brings such competitiveness and focus to our practices,” Rubin mentioned. “She actually holds all of us accountable.”
Oglivie, the 5-10 product out of Honolulu, was the 2022 Pac-12 Libero of the Yr and a VBM third-team All-American. She averaged 4.42 digs, tops within the Pac-12, and had 24 aces. She’s labored laborious at changing into a greater setter.
Francis, 6-6 and by all accounts primed for her greatest season, performed in simply 17 matches final season. The product of La Jolla Nation Day and San Diego averaged 1.98 kills, hit .375 and had 92 blocks, a team-leading 1.46.set, second solely to Washington State All-American Magda Jehlarova within the Pac-12 final season.
Baird is from Indianapolis. She made the VBM second All-American crew after getting 385 kills (3.32/set), 31 aces and 70 blocks. She redshirted her first yr at Stanford in 2019, so was on the sidelines for the NCAA title run.
Rubin was the 2021 VolleyballMag.com nationwide highschool participant of the yr, however the 6-1 product of Marymount Excessive College in Los Angeles wasn’t overly assured when she arrived in Palo Alto.
However, “I knew she was going to be actually good,” Miner mentioned.
“I really feel like I discovered the game of volleyball in such a brand new method. From the start of the yr to the tip, I noticed a lot enchancment,” Rubin mentioned. “You might take that like I used to be higher than I assumed I used to be.”
Rubin laughed out loud at herself.
“I didn’t suppose there was loads I used to be going to be taught in faculty, that I had reached that time and I used to be so flawed about that. That was superior.”
She laughed once more.
“That was the best a part of it, seeing how a lot I might broaden my sport in so wanting a time. And three weeks in I used to be taking part in in a top-five match and I stunned myself to see that I might maintain my very own.”
After which some. She was a five-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week final season, third in kills (3.15/set) for Stanford and second in digs (2.36) and aces (34).
“Taking part in within the health club with the very best degree of opponents, there’s nothing higher than that,” Rubin mentioned. “That’s one thing actually cool about our health club particularly, you can take a look at anybody round you and so they’re simply elevating my sport.”
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Most each good volleyball crew will inform you how a lot all of the gamers like one another, how they’ve turn out to be one another’s greatest buddies and the way they do every part collectively.
Stanford has bolstered that.
For instance, Miner, Francis, Oglivie, junior DS Taylor Beaven and former teammates Leilah Smith and Maiya Tillman all lived collectively.
“We had been actually shut earlier than, however dwelling in a home with six of my greatest buddies made us even nearer and enabled us to have these actually frank conversations,” Miner mentioned.
And it’s not that their teammates had been overlooked.
“We’re all so shut. At this level we’re like siblings. It’s like the connection I’ve with my brother that I’ve with these women. It’s like a little bit household. We might have the entire crew over to the home on a regular basis.”
Miner did the vast majority of the cooking. Francis was the baker.
However after final spring, they moved again to campus.
“We had been at all times going to spend our senior yr again on campus,” Miner mentioned. “Simply to be a part of the nice vibes which can be right here on campus. And it’s type of a problem to commute and the maintenance is loads for a home that massive.”
The final word crew bonding comes each 4 years, when NCAA packages can take a global journey. Within the case of Stanford, it was this previous June, when the Cardinal explored and performed volleyball in Istanbul, Türkiye; Prague, Czech Republic, and Maribor, Slovenia.
Right here’s what makes Stanford so completely different: A lot of the gamers — together with incoming freshmen Julia Blyashov, Jordyn Harvey, Koko Kirsch and Ipar Kurt (who’s from Istanbul) — all traveled individually and met in Europe.
Baird, Kipp and Vicini stayed behind to take part in Stanford’s commencement and caught up with everybody in Prague. And two former Stanford gamers, who by no means received an opportunity to make a global journey — Natalie Berty and Selina Xu — went on the tour.
“It was a blast,” mentioned Baird, who mentioned the crew took benefit of integrating the incoming freshmen in a particular method.
By the way in which, all of these freshmen might see some motion, particularly early. Blyashov is a 6-3 outdoors from Carlsbad, California; Kirsh is a DS from Trabuco Canyon, California; Harvey is a 6-1 proper aspect from Salt Lake Metropolis; and Kurt is a 6-2 outdoors.
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Stanford went 27-5 final season, 19-1 within the Pac-12. Three of these losses had been to Texas, Penn State and Louisville early, after which at Oregon in late September. They had been using a 21-match successful streak after beating Houston within the third spherical of the NCAA Match earlier than taking part in San Diego.
The schedule this yr is often brutal. Stanford performs anybody and everybody.
The Cardinal begins faculty later than most as a result of Stanford is on the quarter system, so each August, early September, coach Kevin Hambly hundreds up the pre-conference schedule with attention-grabbing journeys and all the highest opponents.
Stanford begins in Colorado, the place it performs at Northern Colorado of the Large Sky on Friday and on the Mountain West’s Colorado State on Saturday. Then they’re residence for No. 11 Florida of the SEC, after which it’s on to No. 1 Texas of the Large 12 in probably the most anticipated pre-conference match of the season.
Two days later Stanford goes to No. 23 Rice of the American Athletic Convention earlier than returning residence for a weekend through which it performs No. 7 Minnesota and No. 14 Ohio State of the Large Ten. And earlier than the ultimate Pac-12 season begins, Stanford is residence for No. 5 Nebraska of the Large Ten and goes to No. 4 Louisville of the ACC.
“Kevin loves it, and all of us find it irresistible, too,” Francis mentioned.
“We wouldn’t have it another method,” Miner mentioned.
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Again to final December 10 after that loss to San Diego.
“We received again to the locker room and everybody was crying and it was actually unhappy and everybody was tremendous pissed off,” Miner mentioned. “And everybody was like I need to get within the health club tomorrow and begin training. I can’t imagine that we’re gonna have to attend nonetheless many months that’s, from December to August.”
Francis: “There have been no phrases.”
“We missed our alternative. It was actually disappointing. However it motivated us and there’s extra of a way of urgency.”
“It was a wake-up name,” Oglivie mentioned.
“It was a wake-up name,” Francis echoed.
Miner agreed.
“I believe, for us, it’s going to finish up being type of a blessing in disguise. It’s given us that type of chip on our shoulder that this group actually wants with a purpose to be very profitable. I’m excited and we’re all actually excited to see what we are able to do with that added motivation and understanding the way it feels to be so shut and are available up a little bit bit quick.”
Baird will get the final phrase as Stanford heads to Colorado.
“I’ve full religion on this crew that we are able to go all the way in which,” Baird mentioned. “Now we have everybody coming back from final yr and we added some unbelievable items to the combination. It’s going to be a blast and it’s already been enjoyable in practices and competing with one another and pushing one another to get higher day-after-day.
“It’s going to be a lot enjoyable for us and we’re able to get after it and see the place we stand.”
