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Women's Volleyball

Pac-12 Play Begins at Cal

NOTES

THIS WEEK: The No. 11 Stanford women's volleyball team (6-2, 0-0 Pac-12) opens Pac-12 play on the road at Bay Area rival California (6-4, 0-0 Pac-12) on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The Cardinal will also travel to Oregon State (7-4, 0-0 Pac-12) on Friday, Sept. 23. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Tuesday's match will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area, while Friday's match can be seen on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Oregon. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: 
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SCOUTING CALIFORNIA: Cal finished nonconference play with a 6-4 record. The Golden Bears are hitting .227 as a team and rank fourth in the Pac-12 in assists (13.15) and fifth in kills (13.90). Senior setter Alyssa Jensen controls the offense with a conference-best 11.54 assists per set. Senior libero Maddy Kerr is fourth in the Pac-12 with 4.38 digs per set. Senior middle blocker Jenelle Jordan is hitting .372 with 2.72 kills per set and 1.08 blocks per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE GOLDEN BEARS: Stanford leads the all-time series against Cal, 69-11. The Cardinal has won eight in a row against the Bears, including two four-set victories in 2015. The last Cal win came on Nov. 25, 2011, a four-set win at Stanford.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE: Oregon State enters the week with a 7-4 overall record and will play rival No. 24 Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 22. The Beavers are on a three-match winning streak, which includes victories over Tennessee Tech, Wyoming and Idaho. OSU is hitting .244 as a team and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with 15.23 digs per set. The Beavers are led by junior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall, who is averaging 4.22 kills on a .326 attack percentage, 2.27 digs and 4.82 points per set. She ranks second in the conference in kills and points, and ninth in aces (0.30). Redshirt sophomore Lanesha Reagan is third in the Pac-12 with 4.00 kills and fifth with 4.47 points per set. Setter McKenna Hollingsworth is fourth in the league with 10.32 assists per set, while sophomore libero Kayla Ellis is sixth with 4.18 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE BEAVERS: Stanford is a perfect 63-0 all-time against Oregon State. The Cardinal swept the Beavers in both of its matches last season.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford wrapped up nonconference play on the road last week, sweeping Saint Mary's and Pacific. Six Cardinal players averaged at least 2.00 kills per set in the two matches. Freshman opposite Kathryn Plummer led the team with 2.83 kps on a .500 attack percentage and 1.50 blocks per set. Freshman libero Morgan Hentz collected 5.33 digs per set.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up one spot to No. 11 in the AVCA top 25 this week after sweeping Saint Mary's and Pacific last weekend. Nebraska was the unanimous No. 1 again this week, while Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington and Texas round out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25 as No. 9 UCLA, No. 16 Colorado, No. 21 USC and No. 24 Oregon join Washington and Stanford.

LEADING THE NATION: Stanford leads the country with 3.44 blocks per set, thanks in large part to its middle blockers Audriana Fitzmorris and Inky Ajanaku. Fitzmorris (1.67) leads the Pac-12 and is eighth in the nation, while Ajanaku (1.55) is second in the conference and 10th in the country. 

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku began her final season on The Farm ranked ninth in program history in total blocks (435). She is currently in seventh place with 486 and is 17 blocks away from passing Kerri Walsh (1996-99) for sixth place. Ajanaku's 1.27 career average is the seventh-best mark in school history.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Opposite Kathryn Plummer was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the week after averaging a team-best 2.83 kills per set against Saint Mary's and Pacific. She hit .500, racking up 17 kills on 34 errorless swings, and tallied 1.50 blocks per set. It is the 18th freshman of the week accolade for the Cardinal, which has the most all-time in the conference.

BY THE NUMBERS: 2015 marked Stanford's 35th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance. The Cardinal is one of only two programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA Championship began in 1981 (Penn State is the other). Stanford has won more NCAA Tournament matches (109), made more Final Four appearances (19) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation.

PRESEASON All-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with three Preseason All-Pac-12 selections. Inky Ajanaku is being recognized for the third time in her career, while Merete Lutz is a repeat honoree. Hayley Hodson was also selected. Stanford has been selected by the coaches to win the Pac-12 title for the 15th time in poll history. The coaches have correctly chosen the champion 18 times out of the past 30 polls.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished third in the Pac-12 this season for the first time in program history. It marked the 28th top-3 standing in conference play in the past 30 seasons. Stanford has won 16 conference championships in the Pac-10/12 era, and 19 overall in program history. Stanford has claimed seven of the past 10 Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning. 

HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Head coach John Dunning is one of the most accomplished and decorated 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 15 Stanford teams to the national title match.

DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 31-plus years as a head coach, John Dunning is 867-180 (.828), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 430-78 in his 15+ seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.846).