Kipp, Baird Power Card Past Utes

SALT LAKE CITY – Kendall Kipp and Caitie Baird had 19 kills apiece to lead No. 19 Stanford past No. 17 Utah, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-22, Sunday, at the Huntsman Center.

Stanford (16-10, 11-7) hit .313 as a team and finished with 9.0 blocks, 55 digs and eight aces. Utah (19-8, 12-6) hit .273 and finished with 7.0 blocks, 55 digs and seven aces.

Kipp had 19 kills for the second straight match, hitting .385. The opposite registered her second consecutive double-double with 10 digs to go with three blocks and an ace.

Baird's 19 kills came on a .311 attack percentage. The outside hitter was one dig shy of a double-double and was one of three players with two aces.

Utah led 23-21 in the third, but the Cardinal reeled off four straight points to win the pivotal set. A block by Baird and McKenna Vicini sparked the run. Baird then registered an ace and freshman Sami Francis gave the Cardinal set point with a kill. Another block by Vicini, this time with Francis, sealed the comeback.

Vicini finished with a match-high eight blocks to go with five kills on .333 hitting. Francis turned in nine kills and two blocks, while senior Holly Campbell added four kills on .429 hitting and a block.

Freshman Kami Miner controlled the offense with 49 assists and had five digs, two blocks, a kill and an ace. Sophomore libero Elena Oglivie racked up a match-high 17 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Taylor Beaven had 12. Oglivie and Beaven each posted two aces.

Utah was led by Dani Drews's 19 kills, but the Cardinal held the outside hitter to a .192 clip. Outside hitter Madelyn Robinson chipped in with 18 kills on .371 hitting and had 13 digs for the Utes.

Stanford remains on the road next week to close out the regular season. Up first, a trip to Los Angeles to take on USC on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before returning to the Bay Area to face Cal on Saturday at 8 p.m.