Opening in D.C.Opening in D.C.
Karen Ambrose Hickey/Stanford At
Women's Volleyball

Opening in D.C.

No. 1 Stanford (0-0)
at American (1-0) | Sun. • 1 p.m. PT
at Howard (1-0) | Mon. • 4 p.m. PT
Live Stream (Sunday) • Patriot League Network
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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SCOUTING AMERICAN: American has won 15 of the last 17 Patriot League titles. The Eagles are led by Patriot League Player of the Year Aleksandra Kazala, who averaged 4.71 kills per set and hit .312 a year ago. Setter Kristen Largay (8.77 aps) and libero Kennedy Etheridge (4.36 dps) were also named to the seven-member Patriot League Preseason Team.

THE SERIES WITH THE EAGLES: Sunday's match will be the first meeting between the Cardinal and the Eagles. It also marks the first time a No. 1 ranked team will take on American in Bender Arena.

SCOUTING HOWARD: The Bison are the three-time defending MEAC champions. Howard returns four starters from last year's squad in senior middle blockers Kelsey Clark and Alexis Lete, junior setter Jaimeson Lee and outside hitter Skylar Lott.

THE SERIES WITH THE BISON: The Bison and Cardinal will meet for the first time on Monday at Burr Gymnasium.

PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections - Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer. Fitzmorris, Hentz and Plummer are repeat honorees, while Gray earns the nod for the first time.
 


BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marked Stanford's 37th 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 (119), made more Final Four appearances (21) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seven NCAA titles also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford opens the 2018 campaign atop the AVCA Coaches Poll with 43 first-place votes. It marks the first time since 2002 in which the Cardinal begins the season at No. 1. Overall, it is the 70th time Stanford has held the No. 1 spot in the poll. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 20, including No. 10 USC, No. 11 UCLA, No. 15 Colorado, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Oregon and No. 19 Utah. 
 


AVCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Last season, Kathryn Plummer became the first player in AVCA Division I history to earn Player of the Year honors after being named the National Freshman of the Year the previous season. She was the first Cardinal player to bring home the honor since 2007 (Foluke Akinradewo) and the ninth overall.

ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal returns five AVCA All-Americans to its 2018 roster. Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer were all first team picks as sophomores, while Audriana Fitzmorris earned a spot on the second team. Senior Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list. Stanford's five players on the first and second teams in 2017 were a program-best. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 95 honors spread over 40 players. It marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal had produced at least four All-Americans. 
 


PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: In 2017, Kathryn Plummer became the 15th Cardinal player and first since Alix Klineman in 2010 to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in kills (4.66) and points per set (5.39). She was also the first conference player to win Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since Stanford's Bev Oden in 1989 and 1990.

SETTER OF THE YEAR: Jenna Gray was the second Stanford player to earn Pac-12 Setter of the Year honors since the award began in 2011, joining Madi Bugg who took home the honor three times (2013, 2014, 2015). The Shawnee, Kansas native paced the league and was fourth nationally in 2017 with 12.04 assists per set, and had the Cardinal hitting .319 as a team - the third-best mark in the nation.
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She led the team with 4.08 digs per set in 2017, upping that mark to 4.39 digs per set in NCAA Tournament matches, and had just 15 reception errors on the season.
 


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It was the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.

SINGLE SEASON MARKS: Four Stanford players made their way into Cardinal's single season record books in 2017:
Tami Alade - .416 hitting percentage (9th)
Jenna Gray - 1,433 assists (t-8th); 44 service aces (10th)
Morgan Hentz - 486 digs (10th); 4.08 digs per set (8th)
Kathryn Plummer - 555 kills (7th)

HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches in 2017. Dating back to 2016, Stanford has now won 19 consecutive matches at Maples Pavilion. Over the past five seasons, the Cardinal is 71-8 (.899) at home. 

1,000 KILLS CLUB: Junior Kathryn Plummer is just 14 kills away from becoming the 19th Stanford player to register 1,000 career kills just half way through her collegiate career. Only two Cardinal players have reached the 2,000 career kills milestone - Ogonna Nnamani (2,450) and Alix Klineman (2,008).

1,000 DIGS CLUB: Junior Morgan Hentz became the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to register 1,000 career digs, doing so against No. 18 UCLA on Nov. 16. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the career record at Stanford with 2,147 digs, the fifth-most in Pac-12 history.
 


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.

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, and has added six more at Stanford.