Team_BD_10072016_198Team_BD_10072016_198
Women's Volleyball

Stanford Hosts USC, UCLA

TICKETS | NOTES

THIS WEEK: The No. 9 Stanford women's volleyball team (16-6, 10-4 Pac-12) returns to Maples Pavilion this week to host USC (16-9, 8-6 Pac-12) on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and No. 13 UCLA (19-5, 10-4 Pac-12) on Saturday, Nov. 12 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. Thursday's match will be televised on ESPNU with Paul Sunderland and Karch Kiraly on the call. Saturday's match will be streamed live via pac-12.com and on the @StanfordWVB Twitter page. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: 
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
Snapchat: StanfordWVB

PROMOTIONS: Head coach John Dunning will host a Chalk Talk prior to Saturday's match from 5:30-6 p.m. in Kissick Auditorium in the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, located just north of Maples Pavilion. Also on Saturday, 80 randomly-selected fans who scan into the match with a ticket or ID will receive a special-edition Stanford volleyball t-shirt (Must be in attendance to win). 
 


SCOUTING USC: USC enters the week in a three-way tie for fifth-place in the Pac-12 at 8-6. The Trojans are hitting .240 as a team and rank third in the conference in digs (16.00) and sixth in kills (13.92). Freshman outside hitter Khalia Lanier leads the team and is fourth in the Pac-12 with 3.99 kills and 4.44 points per set. Senior middle Elise Ruddins paces the conference with a .423 hitting percentage and is ninth in blocks (1.13). Senior libero Taylor Whittingham is third in the Pac-12 in digs (4.93) and 10th in aces (0.22). 

THE SERIES WITH THE TROJANS: Stanford holds a 60-24 advantage in the all-time series with USC. The Cardinal swept the Trojans on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles as Merete Lutz hit .706 and led the team with 12 kills and five blocks. Middle blocker Inky Ajanaku added 10 kills and eight blocks in the sweep. USC's last win over Stanford came in five sets on Sept. 27, 2015 at Maples Pavilion.

SCOUTING UCLA: The Bruins (10-4) sit in a four-way tie with Stanford, Oregon and Washington for the Pac-12 lead. UCLA had won six in a row before getting swept at Arizona last weekend. The Bruins responded with a sweep over Arizona State the following day. UCLA leads the Pac-12 in kills (14.44), assists (13.63) and digs (18.29), while ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.170)  and fifth in blocks (2.37) and attack percentage (.246). Senior Jordan Anderson leads the team with 3.32 kills and 1.10 digs per set, while junior Reily Buechler, who recently passed the 1,000 career kills mark, averages 3.18 kills and 2.10 digs per set. Senior Taylor Formico anchors the defense with a Pac-12-best 5.11 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE BRUINS: Stanford is 48-36 overall against UCLA. The Bruins snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Cardinal earlier this season, winning 3-1 in Los Angeles on Oct. 21. UCLA freshman Torrey Van Winden led all players with 19 kills on .417 hitting, while Stanford was paced by freshman Kathryn Plummer's 16 kills and 11 digs. Cardinal libero Morgan Hentz also matched her career-high with 27 digs in the match.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford increased its winning streak to five matches with wins at Colorado and No. 19 Utah last week. Freshman Kathryn Plummer had a career-high 20 kills against the Buffaloes and registered her team-best sixth double-double of the year with 19 kills and 10 digs versus the Utes. Freshman Audriana Fitzmorris added 2.43 kills, 1.71 blocks and 3.36 points per set in the two matches, while freshman libero Morgan Hentz anchored the defense with 5.43 digs per set.

TOP OF HER CLASS: Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku is one of 10 finalists in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Fans can vote daily through Dec. 5 at seniorclassaward.com.
 


NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up four spots again this week to come in at No. 9 in the AVCA top 25. The top 5 was unchanged as No. 1 Nebraska received all 64 first-place votes for the second straight week followed by No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Texas. The Cardinal is now the highest-ranked Pac-12 squad, while No. 11 Washington, No. 13 UCLA, No. 16 Oregon, No. 19 Utah and No. 25 Arizona.

IN THE NATION: Stanford continues to lead the country with 3.35 blocks per set, thanks in large part to its middle blockers Inky Ajanaku and Audriana Fitzmorris. Ajanaku (1.52 bps) is second in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation, while Fitzmorris (1.47) is fourth in the conference and 13th 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 fifth place with 558, passing Jennifer Detmer (1997-00), Jenn Harvey (2000-03), Laura Olesen (1985-89) and Kerri Walsh (1996-99). Ajanaku's 1.30 career average is tied for the sixth-best mark in school history with Foluke Akinradewo (2005-09).

THREE-TIME FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris racked up five weekly honors after playing just four collegiate matches. The Overland Park, Kansas native picked up her third Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 7 after helping lead the Cardinal to road wins at Colorado and No. 19 Utah. Fitzmorris has also earned Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive honors as well as an AVCA National Player of the Week recognition.
 


HOME SWEET HOME: Traditionally, Stanford has always protected its home court. The Cardinal is 216-24 at home under head coach John Dunning (16 seasons). Over the past five years, Stanford has gone 67-7 at Maples Pavilion.

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 for the first time in program history in 2015. 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 32 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 877-184 (.827), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 440-82 in his 16 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.843).