THIS WEEK: No. 4 Stanford (5-2) plays host to Pacific (4-5) on Friday at 7 p.m. for its home opener in Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal will also travel to Moraga, California on Saturday for its final nonconference match at Saint Mary's (4-4) at 7 p.m.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats links for both matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Friday's match will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area, while Saturday's match will be streamed on TheW.tv.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
PROMOTIONS: Head coach Kevin Hambly will host a Chalk Talk at 6:30 p.m. in Kissick Auditorium in the Arrillaga Family Sports Center. The team will also be signing autographs after the match and giving away free posters. For more information on this season's promotions, visit gostanford.com/wvbpromotions.
SCOUTING PACIFIC: Pacific has started the season 4-5 with wins over Idaho, Sacramento State, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. The Tigers are hitting .234 as a team, led by sophomore middle blocker Ashlyn Fleming (.411). Sophomore outside hitter Emily Baptista paces the team with 3.77 kills and 1.71 digs per set. Freshman setter Hanne De Schrijver controls the offense with 12.30 assists per set, while senior libero Katrin Gotterba anchors the defense with 4.00 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE TIGERS: Stanford holds a 32-22 lead in the all-time series with Pacific. The Cardinal swept the Tigers last season in Stockton led by Ivana Vanjak's 10 kills and Morgan Hentz's 17 digs.
SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels are 4-4 to start the season, but have faced three top-10 opponents (Creighton, Washington, Nebraska) either on the road or at a neutral site. As a team, Saint Mary's is hitting .207 and turning in 2.91 blocks and 1.44 aces per set. The Gaels run a 6-2 offense with senior Mary Hernandez and sophomore Alexsa Parker sharing duties at setter. Junior outside hitter Payton Rund leads the team with 2.37 kills and 2.04 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE GAELS: The Cardinal is 16-2 overall against the Gaels. Stanford swept Saint Mary's last season in Moraga as Kathryn Plummer led all players with 10 kills on .556 hitting.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford split its matches last weekend at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Champaign, Illinois. The Cardinal swept the Fighting Illini in their home opener, led by Kathryn Plummer (14 kills) and Merete Lutz, who had 12 kills in her season debut. Stanford then came up short against No. 3 Penn State in a five-set thriller. Plummer finished with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Audriana Fitzmorris hit .385 with a season-best 13 kills in the middle.
ROAD TESTED: Stanford finally plays its first home match this week. The Cardinal is slated to play 13 of its first 17 matches away from Maples Pavilion. In fact, nine of its first 11 matches will be played on the road or at a neutral site.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 4 in the AVCA Poll this week after splitting last week's matches. Minnesota is No. 1 for the second straight week, followed by Penn State and Florida. Wisconsin jumped Texas to round out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 20, including No. 7 Washington, No. 11 Oregon, No. 13 UCLA, No. 16 Utah and No. 18 USC.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz missed the Cardinal's first five matches due to an ankle injury suffered in the team's last preseason practice. The three-time All-American is seventh all-time at Stanford with a .356 career hitting percentage and is 16 blocks away from entering the program's top 10.
LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 and ranks sixth nationally with 5.00 kills per set. The outside hitter is second in the league and eighth nationally in points per set at 5.65.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz set a single season Stanford record as a rookie with 630 digs (4.88 dps). She leads the Cardinal this season and is seventh in the Pac-12, averaging 3.50 digs per set and has tallied double-digit digs in four of the team's first seven matches.
PRESEASON All-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections. Merete Lutz is being recognized for the third time in her career, while Audriana Fitzmorris, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer were also tabbed to the list.
BY THE NUMBERS: The 2016 season marked Stanford's 36th 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 (115), made more Final Four appearances (20) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. It's seventh NCAA title also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.
HEAD COACH KEVIN HAMBLY: Kevin Hambly was named the head coach of the Cardinal on Jan. 30, 2017 after spending eight seasons at the helm at Illinois. The 2011 Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year, Hambly led the Illini to six NCAA regional appearances and the 2011 national title match. He coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois.
