Stanford University Boasts a Rich Volleyball Legacy
Since women's volleyball became a varsity sport at Stanford in 1976, the Cardinal has enjoyed a reputation as one of the nation's top programs, in every sense of the word. Not only does Stanford give talented and dedicated student-athletes a chance to get one of the best educations in the world, but Cardinal players have met with nearly unequaled success on national and international courts, both as individuals and as teams.
Stanford has established itself as the best team in the country in the 1990s - winning four of the last seven national titles (1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997). Stanford also has posted a record 51 NCAA Tournament wins, and is the only team to advance to the NCAA Regionals in each of the 18 years since the tournament began. This includes a 15-7, 15-3, 15-5 triumph over Hawaii in the 1996 National Championship Match that was the most lopsided final in NCAA history. Stanford has also reached the Final Four 11 times in the last 18 seasons, and produced 38 All-American honors in the last 17 years.
Stanford has amassed an amazing 586-152-4 all-time record since 1976 (.792 winning percentage), and has finished in the top 10 nationally each of the last 19 seasons. The Cardinal's dominance has been even more apparent as of late. Stanford has lost five or more matches in a season just once in the last nine years, and is 152-12 (.927) in the last five years alone. The numbers are even more impressive in conference play, as Stanford has gone no worse than 17-1 in Pac-10 play since 1994, and has accumulated an 87-3 (.967) conference mark over the last five seasons.
The Cardinal has also left its mark internationally as witnessed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Four of Don Shaw's former players competed in Atlanta, including Kristin Klein and Bev Oden on the national team and Barbara Fontana and Nancy Reno in beach competition. Kristin Folkl was also selected as the first alternate on the indoor team.
A look through the all-time Stanford roster will find some of the greatest players to play NCAA volleyball, headlined by Kim Oden, class of '86. Oden was a three-time conference Player of the Year and was twice named the nation's top player. She started on the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team and was named Best Hitter after posting the best hitting percentage over the entire Olympic Tournament. Oden, who was also named Best Blocker at the 1990 World Championships, where the U.S. won the bronze medal, was once again a starter on the 1992 U.S. squad that played in Barcelona. She served as the captain of the U.S. squad until her retirement in 1992. She is now a professional beach player and assistant coach at Duke University, but returned to the Red, White & Blue to compete in the 1994 Goodwill Games where she was joined there by younger sister Bev, a National Team player from 1992-'96, Cary Wendell and Kristin Folkl.
Folkl, also one of the top collegiate volleyball players of all time and now a member of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, was a part of the best class in NCAA women's volleyball history. Folkl, Barbara Ifejika, Debbie Lambert, Paula McNamee and Lisa Sharpley combined to go 125-8 from 1994-97. The group became the first class to ever win three women's volleyball national titles in four years (1994, 1996 and 1997). They also went 70-2 in the Pac-10 en route to four consecutive conference titles, and were an incredible 64-1 at Maples Pavilion. Stanford alums Bobbi Broer, Amy Cooper, Folkl, Nancy Reno, Sharpley, Teresa Smith Richardson and Wendy Rush Humphreys have also spent time in the U.S. National Team program along with current Cardinal Logan Tom and Kerri Walsh. Broer, Rush and Smith have retired but Reno is still active and is a member of the AVP's women's professional beach volleyball tour.
Barbara Fontana is a prime example of what can be done with Stanford's combination of athletics and academics. She and her partner were named the pro beach tour's newcomers of the year after the 1991 season and Fontana has continued to excel on the tour. The President of the WPVA in 1995, her teams have consistently been at or near the top of the WPVA. Fontana, who recently passed the California Bar Exam, was also a bronze medalist at the 1994 Goodwill Games.Several former Cardinal players, including Laura Olesen and Cooper, have also played professional volleyball indoors. Kari Rush was an assistant coach on the Long Beach State team that won the NCAA title in 1989 and helped the '49ers return to the Final Four in 1991. Lara Asper spent two seasons as the head coach at Colorado College, and Anne Wicks served as a Stanford assistant from 1997-1998.
But the success of former Stanford volleyball players is by no means limited to the world of sport. All of the players can rely on their Stanford education, which has helped former Cardinal players make their mark in nearly every field.