THIS WEEK: The sixth-ranked Stanford women’s volleyball team (20-6, 14-4 Pac-12) wraps-up the regular season this week, playing host to California (9-20, 3-15 Pac-12) on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. before travelling to No. 13 UCLA (22-6, 13-5 Pac-12) on Friday, Nov. 27 at 8 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 live on Pac-12 Bay Area, while Friday’s match will air on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
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SENIOR NIGHT: Wednesday's match versus Cal is Senior Night. Madi Bugg, Jordan Burgess and Brittany Howard will be honored in a pre-match ceremony. The trio has helped lead the Cardinal to a 110-18 record, two Pac-12 titles and an appearance in the 2014 Final Four during their time on The Farm.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA: Cal is 9-20 overall and holds Pac-12 wins over Utah, Washington State and then-No. 14 Arizona State. The Bears are seventh in the conference in digs per set (14.75) and eighth in kills (13.07) and assists (12.35). Senior Lillian Schonewise paces the squad with 3.08 kills per set and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with a .371 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Christine Alftin is second on the team with 2.35 kills and adds 1.93 digs per set. Junior setter Alyssa Jensen is fifth in the conference with 10.00 assists per set, while junior libero Maddy Kerr ranks sixth with 4.17 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE GOLDEN BEARS: Stanford is 68-11 all-time against California and has won seven in a row. The Cardinal defeated the Bears on Sept. 22 in Berkeley. Freshman Hayley Hodson tallied 18 kills and five blocks to lead all players, while senior Brittany Howard added 14 kills on a .462 attack percentage. The last Cal victories came during the 2011 campaign when the Golden Bears swept the season series.
SCOUTING UCLA: UCLA enters the week ranked 13th in the AVCA poll, coming off a five-set loss at No. 23 Arizona last week. The Bruins are a game behind the Cardinal in the Pac-12 standings, sitting in fourth. UCLA paces the conference in digs per set (16.81) and ranks third in kills (14.17) and assists (13.43). Junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson, a transfer from West Virginia, is second in the Pac-12 with 4.64 kills and 4.92 points per set. Junior middle blocker Claire Felix is seventh in the conference with a .360 attack percentage, while sophomore outside hitter Reily Buechler is 10th with 3.49 kills per set. Junior libero Taylor Formico anchors the defense with 4.50 digs per set, good for third in the Pac-12.
THE SERIES WITH THE BRUINS: Stanford leads the overall series with UCLA, 47-35. Friday marks the lone meeting between the two programs this season. The Cardinal swept the season series in 2014 and has won six in a row dating back to 2012.
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 10.94 assists per set and recently passed Carrie Feldman (1989-92) for third place on the program’s career assists list (4,837).
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 1,227 kills and moved into the top-10 in career digs with 1,288. She recently passed 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 2.99 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 (3.80) and points (4.53) 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 59-2 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 208-19 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 (1,227) and Brittany Howard (1,152), 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).
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved back to No. 6 in the AVCA poll this week after defeating Colorado and Utah last week. USC and Washington remained No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Texas, Minnesota and Nebraska round out the top 5. Five Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 15.
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 858-177 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 421-75 in his 14-plus seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.849).