No. 9 Utah Volleyball Responds With 3-1 Victory Over Stanford

After suffering its first two losses of the season last weekend against No. 7 Washington, No. 9 Utah returned home to take down Pac-12 preseason favorite Stanford 3-1 on Friday night at the Huntsman Center.

Without returning all-American Kenzie Koerber not in the lineup, taking down Pac-12 preseason favorite Stanford on Friday evening wasn't going to be easy.

It's a good thing Utah still had fellow all-American Dani Drews.

Drews finished with her fifth career 30-kill match in leading No. 7 Utah to a 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22) victory over Stanford. It was another phenomenal from the senior who's one of the front runners for conference player of the year, as well as another first-team all-American nod.

WE WIN! Dani goes off for 30 kills in four sets and we move to 9-2 on the season! pic.twitter.com/Wo7Jz9mpgO

— Utah Volleyball (@UtahVolleyball) March 6, 2021

Drews finished with 30 kills while hitting .348 in the match, adding in eight digs and three aces. It's the second 30-kill match this season and second time she's accomplished the feat in just a four-set match.

With Koerber out for undisclosed reasons, Madelyn Robinson added 12 kills while hitting at an extremely efficient .474 clip. Megan Yett finished with seven kills while adding 11 digs.

Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres also stepped up in the absence of Koerber, directing the offense to the tune of 49 assists, nine digs and four blocks. 

After the sweep at the hands of Washington, the Utes came out with a purpose against Stanford.

They hit .321 and .355 and the first and second sets respectively as Ka'aha'aina-Torres was finding Drews early and often. 

Stanford, being a perennial top-10 team for most of the decade, battled back in the third set to take down the Utes. After Utah battled back to trail 15-13, the Cardinal responded with a 4-0 run, eventually leading to the Stanford win.

That's where the comeback ended as Utah responded with a fourth set victory to clinch the match. 

Tied at 17 and not wanting to go to a fifth set, Ka'aha'aina-Torres ended the match the same way she started it — find Drews. She had three huge kills over the final eight points to secure the win.

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