Cougars, Huskies Up NextCougars, Huskies Up Next
John P. Lozano/isiphotos.com
Women's Volleyball

Cougars, Huskies Up Next


No. 2 Stanford (14-1, 6-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 21 Washington State (13-3, 4-2 Pac-12)
Friday • 8 p.m. PT
Television • Pac-12 Network
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com


No. 2 Stanford (14-1, 6-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 18 Washington (12-4, 4-2 Pac-12)
Saturday • 7:30 p.m. PT 
Television • Pac-12 Network
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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PROMOTIONS: Saturday's match is the annual Pink Match, sponsored by Stanford Medicine, to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer and raise money for breast cancer research. The three remaining pink jerseys (#1, #2 and #9) along with a few other items will be auctioned off during the match. The winning bidders are able to select the name of their choice to be printed on the back of the jerseys. The bidding will close at the start of the 3rd set. All money will go toward the Women's Cancer Center at Stanford Medicine. The Cardinal will also be signing postmatch autographs both nights. To view all of this season's promotions, click here.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: Washington State enters the week in a five-way tie for second in the Pac-12 at 4-2. The Cougars are second in the conference with a .263 hitting percentage and rank third with 2.60 blocks per set. Washington State is led by senior outside hitter Taylor Mims, who is fifth in the league with 3.91 kills and 4.52 points per set. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jocelyn Urias is seventh in the Pac-12 with a .347 attack percentage and 1.19 blocks per set, while junior setter Ashley Brown controls the offense with 10.59 assists per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 60-4 all-time against Washington State. The Cardinal has won three in a row, including a season sweep last year. The Cougars most recent win came on Sept. 30, 2016, a five-set victory in Pullman.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington is one of five teams in the Pac-12 tied for second place at 4-2. The Huskies lead the conference with 1.65 aces per set and rank sixth with 13.32 kills per set. Junior outside hitter Kara Bajema leads the squad and is sixth in the Pac-12 with 3.87 kills and 4.38 points per set. The Huskies' freshman setter Ella May Powell is sixth in the league with 10.38 assists per set, while junior libero Shayne McPherson anchors the defense with 4.02 digs per set (seventh in the Pac-12).

THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford holds a 54-15 lead in the all-time series with Washington. The teams split the season series in 2017. The Cardinal won the first meeting, a five-set thriller in Maples Pavilion. The Huskies answered with a 3-1 victory in Seattle, handing the Cardinal its only Pac-12 loss of the season.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches Poll again this week, garnering four first-place votes. The Cardinal began the season at No. 1 for the first time since 2002. BYU stayed at No. 1, while the Cardinal is followed by Nebraska, Texas and Minnesota in the top 5. Eight Pac-12 squads are ranked, the most by any conference.

LAST WEEK: Stanford remained undefeated in the Pac-12 with road wins at then-No. 24 Utah and Colorado. The Cardinal racked up a season-high 74 digs in the win against the Utes as junior libero Morgan Hentz collected 26 of those. Junior opposite Audriana Fitzmorris had a season-high 18 kills on .405 hitting to lead the offense. At Colorado, junior Kathryn Plummer posted 23 kills on .400 hitting in just three sets. Sophomore Meghan McClure tallied double-doubles in both wins.
 


HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 25-match home winning streak is the longest in the nation. The Cardinal went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches in 2017, and is 6-0 to start this season. Over the past five-plus seasons, the Cardinal is 77-8 (.906) at home. 

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.

SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Middle blocker Tami Alade is one of two Pac-12 players to be 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.
 


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.

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.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: At Howard on Aug. 27, junior Kathryn Plummer became 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: JuniorMorgan 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.

CARD IN EUROPE: In June, the Cardinal embarked on a 12-day European Tour, including stops in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. The Cardinal played matches versus the Slovenia National Team, twice, the Slovenia U19 National Team and the Serbian U19 Team while in Slovenia. Stanford also played the Croatian Federation Team and Italy's Menca's U17 National Team. Freshmen Holly Campbell and Mackenzie Fidelak, and outgoing senior Merete Lutz joined the team on the tour. The trip was the Cardinal's first international journey since visiting China in 2011.
 


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.