THIS WEEK: The No. 7 Stanford women’s volleyball team (8-4, 2-2 Pac-12) plays host to Oregon State (3-11, 1-3 Pac-12) on Friday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. and No. 25 Oregon (8-5, 2-2 Pac-12) on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Friday’s match will air on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Oregon, while Sunday’s match will be shown on Pac-12 Network (national), Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Oregon.
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PROMOTIONS: Prior to Sunday’s match, head coach John Dunning will host a Chalk Talk from 3-3:30 p.m. in the new VIP room on the east side of the Maples Pavilion concourse. Sunday is Stanford's Breast Cancer Awareness Night and fans are encouraged to wear pink to show support. The team will also be signing autographs postmatch. It is the only official autograph night of the season in which all 16 player will be present.
SCOUTING OREGON STATE: Oregon State is 3-11 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 Conference, having defeated Utah at home last weekend. The Beavers are hitting just .180 on the season, while allowing opponents to hit .254. Sophomore Mary-Kate Marshall, the 2014 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, is fifth in the conference with 4.02 kills and sixth with 4.47 points per set. The Beavers run a 6-2 offense via setters Dana Backlund (8.69 aps) and McKenna Hollingsworth (7.93 aps). Redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke adds 1.40 kills and a team-best 1.08 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE BEAVERS: Stanford is a perfect 61-0 all-time against Oregon State, including three wins over the Beavers in 2014. Stanford swept the regular season against OSU before defeating the Beavers in four sets in the Ames Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING OREGON: Oregon (8-5, 2-2 Pac-12) is coming off a five-set win over Utah last weekend at home. The Ducks are third in the conference with a .253 team hitting percentage and rank fifth in kills (13.68) and digs (14.88). Senior outside hitter Martenne Bettendorf leads the team and ranks eighth in the Pac-12 with 3.72 kills and ninth with 4.16 points per set. Sophomore setter Maggie Scott is second in the conference with 10.79 assists per set, while junior middle blocker Kacey Nady is sixth with a .386 attack percentage. Junior libero Amanda Benson anchors the defense and leads the conference with 4.76 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE DUCKS: Stanford holds a 54-4 edge in the all-time series against Oregon. The Cardinal has won six straight against the Ducks. The last time Oregon defeated Stanford was Nov. 18, 2011 in five sets at Maples Pavilion.
A BUGG’S LIFE: Senior Madi Bugg was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year for the second straight season in 2014. The Apex, N.C., native led the nation with 12.10 assists per set last season and began this year ranked fifth on the Cardinal’s career assists list with 4,245. She needs 44 assists to pass Lisa Sharpley for fourth in program history.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: Senior outside hitter Jordan Burgess racked up 19 double-doubles to lead the team in 2014. The human biology major became just the ninth Cardinal player to accumulate more than 1,000 career kills and digs. Burgess now has 1,121 kills and 1,194 digs.
CAREER MILESTONE: Senior outside hitter Brittany Howard, a three-year starter and all-conference selection, registered her 1,000th career kill at Arizona State (Oct. 2), becoming the 17th player in program history to accomplish that feat. She needs just 11 digs to become the 10th Cardinal player accumulate 1,000 career kills and digs.
TOP RECRUIT: Freshman opposite Hayley Hodson begins her career at Stanford after being tabbed the No. 1 overall recruit in the nation in 2015 by Volleyball Magazine. Hodson already has national team experience, most recently winning a gold medal at the 2015 Pan America Cup in Lima, Peru. She leads the Cardinal in kills (3.44) and points (4.11) per set this season.
HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford’s senior class is 51-2 at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal’s only two losses on its home court since 2012 have come at the hands of USC, both in five sets (Oct. 30, 2013 and Sept. 27, 2015). Traditionally, Stanford has always protected its home court. The Cardinal is 200-19 at home under head coach John Dunning.
A STANFORD FIRST: For the first time in program history, three Stanford classmates, Inky Ajanaku (1,010), Jordan Burgess (1,121) and Brittany Howard (1,003), have each registered 1,000 career kills. Other classmates to reach the milestone include Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza (‘09) and Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat (‘14).
TOP SENIOR: Jordan Burgess is one of 30 candidates in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award, which is based on notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Hayley Hodson has twice been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Aug. 31, Oct. 5), bringing the Cardinal’s total award count to 11 since the award’s inception in 2011 (the second-most all-time).
DEFENDING PAC-12 CHAMPS: The Cardinal secured the Pac-12 title outright after sweeping Cal in the 2014 regular season finale for its 16th conference championship in the Pac-10/12 era, and the 19th overall for the program. Stanford has claimed seven of the past nine Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning. Since 1986, the Cardinal has finished either first or second in the conference in 27 of 29 seasons.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 7 in the AVCA poll this week despite splitting its road matches in the desert last week. USC is the new No. 1 team in the nation, while Texas, Penn State, Nebraska and Arizona State round out the top 5. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 10.
BY THE NUMBERS: The Stanford women’s volleyball program has won more NCAA Tournament matches (108), made more Final Four appearances (19) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other team in the nation. The Cardinal has captured 19 conference championships and produced 30 or more wins on 17 occasions. Stanford has six NCAA titles and has competed in all 34 NCAA Tournaments, having won all 34 of its first-round matches.
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Now in his 15th season at the helm of the Cardinal program, head coach John Dunning is one of the most accomplished coaches in the collegiate volleyball world. Dunning has four national championships under his belt, has taken teams to 10 Final Fours and carried six of his 14 Stanford teams to the national title match.
DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 30 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 846-175 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 409-73 in his 14 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.849).