THIS WEEK: The No. 9 Stanford women's volleyball team (8-2, 2-0 Pac-12) will completes a six-match road swing at No. 7 Washington (11-1, 1-1 Pac-12) on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and at No. 17 Washington State (12-2, 2-0 Pac-12), Friday, Sept. 30. Both matches are scheduled 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. Wednesday's match will be televised on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Washington, while Friday's match can be seen on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Washington.
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SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Under the guidance of second-year head coach Keegan Cook, the seventh-ranked Huskies opened Pac-12 play with a split, falling to rival Washington State in Seattle before defeating USC in Los Angeles. Washington is second in the Pac-12 with 1.49 service aces per set, while ranking third in kills (14.44), blocks (3.00) and opponent hitting percentage (.160). The squad is led by a group of juniors, including setter Bailey Tanner, hitters Crissy Jones, Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray. Tanner is second in the Pac-12 with 10.70 assits per set, while Schwan is seventh in kills (3.60) and eighth in points (4.08). Jones is third in the league with 0.42 aces per set, seventh in points (4.26) and 10th in kills (3.30). Scambray adds 3.09 kills and 3.02 digs per set, while freshman middle blocker Kara Bajema is second in the Pac-12 with 1.68 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford is 51-14 all-time against Washington, but hasn't beaten the Huskies in Seattle since 2012. The Cardinal and Huskies split the season series in 2015 with each team winning on their own home court.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars entered the top 25 this week after knocking off then-No. 4 Washington and then-No. 9 UCLA on the road last week to open Pac-12 play. The last time Washington State won back-to-back conference road matches was 2002. The Cougars lead the Pac-12 in opponent hitting percentage (.126), while ranking second in blocks (3.34) and fifth in aces (1.22). Senior Kyra Holt, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, is fourth in the league in points (4.37) and fifth in kills (3.78). Sophomore Claire Martin, who nabbed Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, is third in the conference with 1.59 blocks per set for the season. Sophomore outside hitter McKenna Woodford is second on the team with 2.62 kills per set, while sophomore middle blocker Taylor Mims is sixth in the Pac-12 with a .379 attack percentage.
THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford holds a 57-3 overall record against Washington State. The Cardinal swept the Cougars at home before winning in four sets in Pullman in 2015. The last Washington State win over Stanford came on Nov. 16, 2002, a 3-1 victory in Pullman.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford opened Pac-12 play with road wins at California and Oregon State. Freshman Kathryn Plummer led all conference players last week with a .591 hitting percentage while averaging 4.00 kills, 1.57 blocks and 4.79 points per set. Inky Ajanku hit .405 in the two matches, while Audriana Fitzmorris tallied 1.86 blocks per set.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up two spots to No. 9 in the AVCA top 25 this week, tying its highest mark of the season. Nebraska was the unanimous No. 1 again this week, while Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida round out the top 5. Eight Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, the most since the 2015 Preseason Poll.
IN THE NATION: Stanford leads the country with 3.49 blocks per set, thanks in large part to its middle blockers Audriana Fitzmorris and Inky Ajanaku. Fitzmorris (1.70) paces the Pac-12 and is fifth in the nation, while Ajanaku (1.52) is fourth in the conference and 14th 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 46 and is seven blocks away from passing Kerri Walsh (1996-99) for sixth place. Ajanaku's 1.28 career average is the seventh-best mark in school history.
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.
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 869-180 (.828), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 432-78 in his 15+ seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.847).