Heading to the DesertHeading to the Desert
Women's Volleyball

Heading to the Desert

No. 2 Stanford (17-2, 10-0 Pac-12)
at Arizona State (10-12, 0-10 Pac-12) | Fri. • 8 p.m. PT
at Arizona (8-11, 2-8 Pac-12) | Sun. • 1 p.m. PT
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
Facebook |Twitter| Instagram
 


SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE: Arizona State is still searching for its first conference win in 2017. Prior to Pac-12 play starting, the Sun Devils had won six in a row. ASU leads the conference in digs (16.85) and rank third in assists (13.10). Senior libero Halle Harker paces the Pac-12 with 5.50 digs per set. Senior Oluoma Okaro is third in the league with 4.51 kills and 5.19 points per set. Sophomore Ivana Jeremic adds 2.79 kills and 1.95 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE SUN DEVILS: Stanford is 69-5 all-time versus Arizona State. The last ASU victory came on Oct. 2, 2015, a four-set victory in Tempe. The Cardinal swept the Sun Devils earlier this season at Maples Pavilion. Kathryn Plummer led all players with 13 kills, while Tami Alade finished with nine kills on .750 hitting and six blocks.

SCOUTING ARIZONA: The Wildcats are tied for 10th in the Pac-12 with Washington State at 2-8. Arizona holds wins over Arizona State and then-No. 15 USC in conference play. The Wildcats are hitting .210 as a team for the season. Sophomore setter Julia Patterson controls the offense with 10.32 assists per set, good for sixth in the Pac-12. Junior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke leads the team with 3.15 kills and 2.19 digs per set, while freshman outside hitter Paige Whipple tallies 2.45 kills and 2.30 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE WILDCATS: Stanford holds a 67-7 all-time lead in the series with Arizona. The most recent Wildcats' victory came on Oct. 14, 2016 in Maples Pavilion, snapping a 19-match losing streak to the Cardinal. Stanford swept Arizona in the first meeting between the teams this season, winning 25-21, 25-21, 25-7. Kathryn Plummer tallied 12 kills on .423 hitting, libero Morgan Hentz had 17 digs and setter Jenna Gray posted a career-high eight blocks.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford improved to 10-0 in the Pac-12 with home wins over No. 14 Washington (3-2) and Washington State (3-0). Sophomore Kathryn Plummer led the team with 20 kills, 10 digs and five blocks against the Huskies. She also paced the squad with 10 kills in a sweep over the Cougars, while redshirt senior Merete Lutz had nine kills. Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz averaged 4.50 digs per set in the two matches.
  


ROAD TESTED: The Cardinal played 13 of its first 17 matches away from Maples Pavilion. In fact, nine of its first 11 matches were played on the road or at a neutral site. Stanford is 9-0 this season in road matches. Five of its final 10 matches will be at Maples Pavilion.

STRAIGHT SETS: Thirteen of Stanford's first 17 wins of the season have come in straight sets. The Cardinal is 2-1 in four and five set matches this season.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 2 in the AVCA Poll this week, earning 11 first-place votes. Penn State held on to the top spot, while Texas, Florida and Minnesota round out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 20, including No. 12 Utah, No. 13 UCLA, No. 14 Washington, No. 15 Oregon and No. 19 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 .353 career hitting percentage and moved into the program's top 10 in career blocks with 450.

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer paces the league and is eighth in the nation in points per set at 5.34. Sophomore Jenna Gray leads the conference with 11.62 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is tops in the Pac-12 with a .424 attack percentage.
 


SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Fifth-year senior Merete Lutz has been named a top 30 candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz set a single season Stanford record as a rookie with 630 total digs (4.88 dps). She leads the Cardinal this season and is fifth in the Pac-12, averaging 3.73 digs per set and has tallied double-digit digs in 13 of the team's first 19 matches.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Twins Caitlin and Michaela Keefe are the daughters of Stanford Hall of Famers Adam Keefe and Kristin (Klein) Keefe. Their father played basketball (1988-1991) and volleyball (1988-1990), and was the 10th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1992 NBA draft, playing professionally for the Hawks, Jazz, Warriors and overseas in Spain. Their mother was a four-time AVCA All-American (1988-1992) and a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz recorded her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 27 against Arizona State. She became just the 18th Cardinal player since 1986 to accomplish that feat.
 


APPROACHING 1,000: Sophomore Morgan Hentz is 124 digs away from 1,000 for her career. She will be the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to reach that milestone. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the career record at Stanford with 2,147 digs, the fifth-most in Pac-12 history.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished tied for second in the Pac-12 in 2016 with UCLA at 15-5. It marked the 28th top-2 standing in conference play in the past 31 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 11 Pac-12 titles.

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.