THIS WEEK: The sixth-ranked Stanford women’s volleyball team (10-4, 4-2 Pac-12) travels to Utah (7-10, 1-5 Pac-12) on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. PT and Colorado (10-8, 2-4 Pac-12) on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. PT.
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 only on Pac-12 Bay Area, while Sunday’s match will be shown on Pac-12 Network (national), Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Mountain.
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SCOUTING UTAH: Utah enters the weekend 1-5 in the conference and 7-10 overall. The Utes are led by sophomore outside hitter Adora Anae, who ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with 4.06 kills and 4.59 points per set. Utah runs a 6-2 offense with sophomore setter Jessie Jorgensen (5.50 aps) and senior Kendall Cygan (5.22 aps). Junior libero Tess Sutton leads the defense with 3.77 digs per set, good for eighth in the conference.
THE SERIES WITH THE UTES: Stanford is 10-1 all-time against Utah. The Cardinal has won nine in a row against the Utes. Stanford’s only loss came in five sets in Salt Lake City in 2000.
SCOUTING COLORADO: Colorado is 10-8 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-12 having faced the Los Angeles schools at home last weekend. The Buffaloes are hitting .228 as a team and post 2.47 blocks per set. Senior outside hitter Alexis Austin paces the squad with 3.97 kills and 4.47 points per set, ranking seventh in the Pac-12 in both categories. Senior setter Nicole Edelman directs the offense with 9.34 assists per set, while junior libero Cierra Simpson is sixth in the conference with 3.84 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFALOES: Stanford is a perfect 14-0 against Colorado. The Cardinal defeated the Buffaloes 3-2 last year in Boulder before sweeping them at Maples Pavilion.
AJANAKU OUT: Senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, the 2014 Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year, will miss the 2015 season after having surgery for an injury suffered playing with the U.S. National Team over the summer.
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 recently passed Lisa Sharpley (1994-97) for foruth place on the Cardinal’s career assists list. She now has 4,340 and needs 122 assists to move into third place on the chart.
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 1,137 kills and 1,207 digs.
CAREER MILESTONES: 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 one dig to become the 10th Cardinal player to 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 (3.71) and points (4.38) per set this season.
A STANFORD FIRST: For the first time in program history, three Stanford classmates, Inky Ajanaku (1,010), Jordan Burgess (1,137) and Brittany Howard (1,026), 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 been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three out fo the seven weeks this season (Aug. 31, Oct. 5, Oct. 12), bringing the Cardinal’s total award count to 12 since the award’s inception in 2011 (tied with USC for the most all-time).
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 6 in the AVCA poll this week after defeating Oregon State and Oregon at home. USC remained at No. 1, while Texas, Nebraska, Washington and Penn 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 848-175 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 411-73 in his 14 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.849).