STANFORD, Calif. – Kendall Kipp and Caitie Baird combined for 40 kills to lead No. 1 seed Stanford to a 25-11, 25-18, 18-25, 25-20 win over Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (25-4) is now 41-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal hit .377 as a team and racked up 53 digs and 10.0 blocks.
Kipp finished with a match-high 21 kills on .410 hitting, seven digs, four blocks and an ace. Baird hit .412, tallying 19 kills to go with seven digs, two aces and a block.
Pepperdine finishes its season at 19-11. The Waves hit .200 as a team and totaled 9.0 blocks, 37 digs and a pair of aces.
Setter Kami Miner registered 50 assists, five digs, three blocks and two kills. Libero Elena Oglivie had a match-high 17 digs to go with six assists.
Freshman outside hitter Elia Rubin turned in a double-double with 12 kills on .400 hitting and 15 digs in her NCAA Tournament debut. Middle blocker McKenna Vicini notched eight kills on a .429 attack percentage and had a hand in seven blocks.
Pepperdine was led by middle blocker Meg Brown who recorded 10 kills on .320 hitting and five blocks. Setter Isabel Zelaya finished with a double-double, totaling 32 assists and 10 digs.
Stanford is back in action on Saturday against LSU with a spot in Regionals on the line. The Cardinal and Tigers meet at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
40 combined kills from @KippKendall and @caitiebaird_ power the Cardinal into the second round ??
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