STANFORD, Calif. -- The loss of injured national women's volleyball player of the year Inky Ajanaku has not dampened the hopes of Stanford's talented and accomplished senior class.
Coach John Dunning is convinced that Ajanaku will be fine. In fact, she’ll be more than fine. She’ll be better than ever.
As the No. 2 Cardinal opens its season Friday (6 p.m.) against Texas A&M at Maples Pavilion, it will do so without the reigning Volleyball Magazine national player of the year. Ajanaku, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker with serious attacking chops, injured her knee during the summer while playing in Peru with the United States national team, had surgery, and is redshirting this season.
Dunning is challenging Ajanaku to use the season to better understand the game, to view the court as a coach and analyze volleyball in ways she never had before.
“The next time she’s in a Stanford uniform playing on the court, she’s going to be a much better player,” Dunning said. “I guarantee it.”
Ajanaku is part of a four-member senior class that has been formidable since starting as freshmen. The loss of their best player will be felt. But the injury also can be viewed as an opportunity for the entire class.
For setter Madi Bugg and outside hitters Jordan Burgess and Brittany Howard, the talent and experience are in place. Even without Ajanaku, it’s a class that would be the envy of nearly every school in the nation.
“Those four are still going to be at the heart of our team,” Dunning said. “One of them just isn’t going to play.”
In three seasons, the seniors have gone a combined 90-12, made three NCAA tournament appearances, won two Pac-12 championships, reached the 2014 final four and has lost only once at home. Last year, Stanford went 33-2 overall, 19-1 in conference play and 17-0 at home.
“For three years, our program has been centered around their personalities and their abilities,” said Dunning, entering his 15th season at Stanford and 31st as a Division I head coach. “Our team will be a lot different than last year, but everyone is pretty clear on the fact that we have some really good players. And they’re very experienced and very motivated.”
How has Inky’s loss changed things?
“I habitually miss high on all of my ones now,” said Bugg, who will set to three freshmen in the middle, plus redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz. “It’s always strange to play with new people, but the biggest thing I was concerned about was that her presence would be gone. But she’s still such a driving force that it’s made everyone else step up that much more. Maybe the sum of our efforts will be bigger than just one player.”
Bugg was the 2014 Pac-12 Setter of the Year and a first-team AVCA All-American. When Dunning challenged each of the seniors to improve themselves in some way during the summer, Bugg chose to focus on her confidence.
“I deleted Instagram, didn’t look at Twitter much,” she said. “I just tried to focus on me and surround myself with people who made me feel like my best self.
“You can hear the difference in your voice when you’re confident, you can feel it. That was a project … ongoing. But, yes, I think I made progress this summer.”
Burgess, a two-time All-America and 2014 AVCA first-team selection, and Howard, a 2014 final four All-Tournament choice, made a commitment toward conditioning, health, and fitness.
Howard, a native of nearby Los Altos, worked out every morning at 7 on campus with Bugg and Lutz. This was after an impressive spring with Stanford’s sand volleyball team, and she already has shown great improvement since last fall.
“There’s no question our path would be different right now if Inky could play,” Dunning said. “But she can’t, so we’ve had to re-think everything and try to figure it out from a different vantage point. What you have control over is being passionate about being committed to the process of getting better day by day. Don’t allow a setback like Inky to take that away for one minute.”
The roles will change, regardless of Ajanaku’s availability. For one, Bugg could set five hitters equally last year. The Cardinal’s two middles had more total sets than any team in the country.
However, 6-3 outside hitter Hayley Hodson arrives as the top freshman recruit in the country. She was MVP of the Junior Olympics during the summer and could be a force. But Dunning cautions against overly high expectations until she proves herself at the collegiate level.
“You don’t know if they can handle the jump until they make the jump,” he said. “But I think she’s handling it well. She’s ready.”
Ajanaku has embraced her new role and already has been a vital liaison between the players and the coaching staff.
“I definitely see how this year could be a huge opportunity, even though it’s not an ideal situation,” she said. “It takes a special person to make that decision to get better by themselves every single day. I hope to be that person.”
Dunning said his hopes have not changed, even with three seniors instead of four.
“I’m really excited because I think we can win a national championship this year,” he said. “I also thought we could win it last year, and the year before, and the year before that with this group.
“There’s almost no one else in the country that’s had as much success as Madi, Jordan, and Brittany have had. They have to walk on to the court and have the other players believe that and feel that, and count on them to shoulder that burden. Because they’re that experienced, and they’re that good.”