THIS WEEK: The No. 7 Stanford women’s volleyball team (18-6, 12-4 Pac-12) returns to The Farm this week to play host to Colorado (16-12, 8-8 Pac-12) on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. and Utah (9-18, 3-13) on Friday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday’s match will be live streamed via pac-12.com (link on GoStanford.com), while Friday’s match will air only on Pac-12 Bay Area or online at pac-12.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
PROMOTIONS: Fans can receive $2 general admission tickets with a canned food donation on Thursday and Friday. Head coach John Dunning will be hosting a free Chalk Talk from 4-4:30 p.m. in the Maples VIP room on the east side of the concourse.
SCOUTING COLORADO: Colorado enters the week 16-12 overall and 8-8 in the Pac-12 coming off wins over the Arizona schools at home last week. The Buffaloes are sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.232) and blocks (2.56) and rank seventh in kills (13.19) and opponent hitting percentage (.203). Senior outside hitter Alexis Austin is fifth in the Pac-12 in kills (4.04) and points (4.57) per set, while sophomore Gabby Simpson adds 3.38 kills and 3.94 points per set. Senior setter Nicole Edelman controls the offense with 9.81 assists per set, ranking seventh in the conference, while junior libero Cierra Simpson is seventh in digs per set (4.12).
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFALOES: Stanford is 14-1 all-time against Colorado. The Buffaloes earned their first win over the Cardinal earlier this season, posting a 3-1 victory in Boulder. Sophomore Gabby Simpson led Colorado with 25 kills, hitting .405, and 10 digs. Stanford freshman Hayley Hodson had 22 kills on a .326 attack percentage and five blocks in the loss.
SCOUTING UTAH: The Utes (9-18, 3-13 Pac-12) nearly upset both the Arizona schools at home last week, falling to the Wildcats in five (15-13 in the fifth) and dropping a 25-23, 26-24, 25-23 match to the Sun Devils. Sophomore outside hitter Adora Anae paces the squad with 4.19 kills and 4.65 points per set, ranking fourth in the Pac-12 in both categories. Sophomore Eliza Katoa adds 2.55 kills and 1.16 digs per set, while senior middle blocker Brenna DeYoung is 10th in the conference with 1.11 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE UTES: Stanford leads the all-time series against Utah, 11-1. The Cardinal has won 10 in a row against the Utes, including a sweep in Salt Lake City on Oct. 16. Hayley Hodson tallied 10 kills and four blocks in the win, while Merete Lutz added eight kills and six blocks. Utah’s only win over Stanford came during the 2000 season in Salt Lake City.
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 leads the Pac-12 with 10.99 assists per set and recently passed Carrie Feldman (1989-92) for third place on the program’s career assists list (4,765).
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 1,212 kills and moved into the top-10 in career digs with 1,274 digs. She needs just 12 digs to pass Kerri Walsh for sixth on the program’s career digs list.
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. This season, Howard is averaging a career-best 3.03 kills per set on a .296 attack percentage.
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 (3.85) and points (4.56) per set this season. She is the first freshman to lead the team in kills since Alix Klineman, who was the 2007 Volleyball Magazine National Freshman of the Year.
HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford’s senior class is 57-2 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 206-19 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 (1,190) and Brittany Howard (1,115), 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).
ALL-CENTURY TEAM: Stanford was well represented when the Pac-12 Networks revealed its Women’s Volleyball All-Century team, leading all schools with nine representative including the Player of the Century Logan Tom (1999-02). Also named to the list were Foluke Akinradewo (middle blocker, 2005-08), Kristin Folkl (outside hitter, 1994-97), Kristin Klein (outside hitter, 1988-91), Ogonna Nnamani (outside hitter, 2001-04), Bev Oden (middle blocker, 1989-92), Kim Oden (middle blocker, 1982-85), Lisa Sharpley (setter, 1994-97), and Kerri Walsh (outside hitter, 1996-99).
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford fell one spot to No. 7 in the AVCA poll this week after splitting at the Washington schools on the road last week. USC regained the top spot, while Washington moved up to No. 2 after Minnesota (No. 3) swept Penn State (No. 4) last week. No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Nebraska sit ahead of the Cardinal. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including three in the top 10.
TOP SENIOR: Jordan Burgess is one of 10 finalists in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award, which is based on notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Fans are encouraged to vote for their favortie on the Senior CLASS website (seniorclassaward.com) through December 7.
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 856-177 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 419-75 in his 14-plus seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.848).