THIS WEEK: The No. 11 Stanford women’s volleyball team (11-5, 5-3 Pac-12) begins a four-match homestand this week. First up, the Cardinal plays host to No. 4 Washington (17-1, 7-1 Pac-12) on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Washington State (14-6, 3-5 Pac-12) on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Wednesday’s match will air on the Pac-12 Networks, while Friday’s match will be streamed online for free on pac-12.com (link on Stanford schedule page).
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SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington (17-1, 7-1 Pac-12) enters the week in second place in the Pac-12 with its lone loss of the season coming at the hands of then-No. 2 USC. The Huskies lead the nation with a .319 hitting percenatge and in opponents hitting percentage (.124). Washington also paces the conference with 3.14 blocks per set. Four Huskies rank in the top-10 in the conference in hitting percentage - No. 1 Lianna Sybeldon (.470), No. 4 Courtney Schwan (.398), No. 5 Melanie Wade (.394) and No. 10 Carly DeHoog (.352). Wade and Sybeldon also rank in the top-10 in blocks per set with 1.59 and 1.29, respectively. Senior libero Cassie Strickland anchors the defense with 4.02 digs per set, good for sixth in the conference.
THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford holds a 50-13 advantage in the all-time series against Washington. The Huskies won the only meeting between the squads last year, snapping the Cardinal’s school-record 28-match winning streak to start a season.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: Washington State (14-6, 3-5 Pac-12) is coming off a split versus the Oregon schools at home last week. The Cougars lead the Pac-12 in service aces (1.57) and rank third in blocks (3.00) and opponent hitting percentage (.149). WSU is led by junior outside hitter Kyra Holt who is third in the Pac-12 with 0.34 aces, fifth with 4.63 points and sixth with 4.00 kills per set. Junior setter Haley MacDonald controls the offense with 10.21 assists per set, ranking fifth in the conference. Senior libero Kate Sommer is second in the Pac12 with 4.47 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 55-3 all-time versus Washington State. The Cardinal swept the Cougars at Maples Pavilion in the squads’ only meeting in 2014. Stanford has won 24 stragiht against Washington State, with its last loss coming in four sets in Pullman on Nov. 16, 2002.
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 4,422 and needs 40 assists to move into third place past Carrie Feldman (1989-92).
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 1,150 kills and 1,214 digs, needing just six digs to break into the top-10 all-time at Stanford.
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. At Utah (Oct. 16) she became 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 (3.81) and points (4.49) per set this season.
HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford’s senior class is 53-2 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 202-19 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 (1,150) and Brittany Howard (1,047), 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.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford slipped to No. 11 in the AVCA poll this week after splitting its road trip to Utah and Colorado. It is the Cardinal’s lowest ranking since Sept. 28, 2009 when it was also No. 11. The top 5 remained unchanged as USC received all of the first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Washington and No. 5 Penn State. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including three 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 849-176 (.828), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 412-74 in his 14-plus seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.848).