Jenna_Gray_Kathryn_Plummer_MR_09202017_515Jenna_Gray_Kathryn_Plummer_MR_09202017_515
Mike Rasay
Women's Volleyball

Pac-12 Play Continues

No. 2 Stanford (19-2, 12-0 Pac-12)
vs. Oregon State (16-8, 6-6 Pac-12) | Fri. • 7 p.m. PT
vs. No. 2 Oregon (14-6, 7-5 Pac-12) | Sun. • 1 p.m. PT
Television • Live Stream | Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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PROMOTIONS: Friday is the Cardinal Glow Night as the first 300 fans can receive free glow-in-the-dark t-shirts and the first 500 get glow sticks while supplies last at the Stanford Athletics table. Sunday is Military Appreciation Day as all active military, ROTC members and veterans can receive free admission to the match (with a valid ID). It is also Sundae Sunday where fans can enjoy postmatch sundaes with the team. Free for fans while supplies last!
 


CELEBRATING JOHN DUNNING: Stanford welcomes back Hall of Fame head coach John Dunning, who announced his retirement in January, to Sunday's match against Oregon for a special on-court recognition. Dunning led the Cardinal to three national championships (2001, 2004, 2016) and won five overall (1985 and 1986 at Pacific), the second-most all-time. He coached in the second-most NCAA finals matches (10) and took eight of his 16 Stanford teams to the Final Four. He boasts a career record of 888-185 as all 32 of his teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament. He coached seven national players of the year and 40 All-Americans to 81 total awards. 

SCOUTING OREGON STATE: Oregon State enters the week in a tie with UCLA for seventh place in the Pac-12 at 6-6. The Beavers are coming off a home split, defeating then-No. 12 Utah (3-1) before falling to Colorado (3-1). Oregon State is hitting .249 as a team and ranks third in the Pac-12 with 15.53 digs per set and fourth with 1.32 aces per set. Senior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall is second in the league with 4.61 kills, 5.33 points and 0.42 aces per set. Freshman Kylee McLaughlin controls the offense with 10.96 assists per set, good for third in the Pac-12.

THE SERIES WITH THE BEAVERS: Stanford is a perfect 65-0 all-time against Oregon State. The Cardinal swept the Beavers in Corvallis earlier this season. Kathryn Plummer tallied 17 kills and 11 digs, while Morgan Hentz collected 18 digs in the sweep. 

SCOUTING OREGON: Oregon is 7-5 in the Pac-12, tied for fifth in the conference with Colorado. The Ducks are second in the league with a .270 attack percentage and rank third in aces (1.32) and fourth in blocks (2.59) and opponent hitting percentage (.190). Sophomore Ronika Stone ranks second in the Pac-12 with a .363 attack percentage, ninth in blocks (1.17) and 10th in aces (0.30). Junior Lindsey Vander Weide paces the team with 2.75 kills and 2.69 digs per set. Senior Maggie Scott (6.13 aps) shares setting duties with junior August Raskie (4.97 aps).

THE SERIES WITH THE DUCKS: Stanford holds a 58-4 all-time record against Oregon. The Cardinal has won 10 in a row over the Ducks, including a sweep in Eugene earlier this season. Oregon's most recent win came on Nov. 18, 2011, a five-setter at Stanford. Kathryn Plummer led all players with 13 kills on .545 hitting, while Audriana Fitzmorris chipped in with 10 kills on a.444 attack percentage.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford improved to 12-0 in the Pac-12 with road wins at Arizona and Arizona State. Sophomore Kathryn Plummer averaged 5.43 kills on .464 hitting and 2.29 digs per set in the two matches. Jenna Gray dished out 12.29 assists per set as the team hit .398 in a pair of victories.
  


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 11-0 this season in road matches. Five of its final eight matches will be at Maples Pavilion.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Morgan Hentz picked up her first career Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 23 after averaging 4.50 digs per set in wins over No. 14 Washington and Washington State. Kathryn Plummer posted 5.43 kills per set on .464 hitting at ASU and Arizona to nab her second career weekly honor and first of the season as the Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 30).
 


NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 2 in the AVCA Poll this week, earning eight 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. 11 Washington, No. 15 Utah, No. 16 Oregon, No. 17 USC and No. 18 UCLA.

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 457.

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 and ranks 10th nationally with 4.66 kills per set, and also paces the league and is sixth in the nation in points per set at 5.36. Sophomore Jenna Gray leads the conference  and is ninth nationally with 11.68 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is tops in the Pac-12 with a .429 attack percentage, ranking ninth in the nation.
 


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 3.77 digs per set, and has tallied double-digit digs in 15 of the team's 21 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 95 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.