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John P. Lozano/isiphotos.com
Women's Volleyball

A Look Back at 2022

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford closed out the 2022 season with a 27-5 overall record and a 23rd conference championship with a 19-1 mark in the Pac-12. The Cardinal made its 41st NCAA postseason appearance in 42 seasons, advancing to its 16th regional final since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.

Stanford produced three AVCA All-Americans as opposite Kendall Kipp and setter Kami Miner earned first-team recognition, while libero Elena Oglivie landed on the honorable mention list. The Pac-12 Player of the Year and AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year, Kipp led the team with 4.51 kills on .319 hitting. Miner was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year, while Oglivie earned Pac-12 Libero of the Year honors.

Head coach Kevin Hambly is now 142-33 (.811) in six seasons on The Farm, mentoring 12 AVCA All-Americans to 21 awards and five CSC Academic All-Americans. Hambly was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second time in 2022.

NCAA TOURNAMENT NUMBERS: In four tournament matches in 2022, Stanford out hit its opponents .336 to .228. Opposite Kendall Kipp paced the team with 5.87 kills on .432 hitting, 1.07 blocks per set and 6.47 points per set. Outside hitter Caitie Baird added 3.20 kills, 1.80 digs and 0.33 aces per set. Setter Kami Miner dished out 12.53 assists per set, while libero Elena Oglivie anchored the defense with 4.87 digs per set.

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal played 21 matches against the 2022 NCAA field, posting a 15-6 record. Stanford was 8-1 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up nonconference wins over No. 2 seeds Minnesota and Nebraska, No. 3 seed Florida, No. 5 seed Houston, LSU, Pepperdine and Tennessee State. 

BY THE NUMBERS: Stanford has won more NCAA titles (9), more NCAA Tournament matches (135), made more Final Four appearances (23) and been in the national championship match (17) more times than any other program in the nation. The Cardinal has qualified for 41 of the 42 NCAA Tournaments all-time.

BACK ON TOP: Stanford clinched its 20th Pac-12 title, and its 23rd conference championship overall in 2022. Stanford has won 11 of the last 17 Pac-12 championships. The Cardinal has finished in the top 4 in the Pac-12 in 36 of 37 seasons. 

AVCA All-AMERICANS: Kendall Kipp and Kami Miner were tabbed First Team All-Americans by the AVCA, while Elena Oglivie was an honorable mention pick. The selections bring Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 110 honors spread over 46 players. It is the second career recognition for Kipp, who earned a second-team nod in 2021. The Cardinal has produced multiple All-Americans in the same season in 17 of the past 18 seasons.

ALL-REGION HONORS: Led by Pacific North Region Player of the Year Kendall Kipp, five Cardinal were recognized by the AVCA with all-region honors. Joining Kipp on the all-region team were Caitie Baird, Kami Miner and Elena Oglivie, while freshman Elia Rubin landed on the honorable mention list. Kevin Hambly was tabbed Pacific North Region Coach of the Year. Stanford now boasts 120 all-region selections all-time (including honorable mention).

PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Opposite Kendall Kipp was tabbed the 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year. She is the 13th Cardinal player to earn the conference's highest honor, capturing Stanford's 17th Player of the Year award and first since Kathryn Plummer won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

PAC-12 SETTER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Kami Miner is the third Stanford player to be named Pac-12 Setter of the Year, collecting the seventh award overall as Madi Bugg won it from 2013-15 and Jenna Gray from 2017-19.

PAC-12 LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Junior Elena Oglivie becomes the second Cardinal to be tabbed Pac-12 Libero of the Year, joining Morgan Hentz who won it three times (2017-19).

PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hambly earned his second Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor having also won in 2018. Now in his sixth season at the helm of the program, Hambly collects the ninth Pac-12 Coach of the Year award all-time for the Cardinal.

HOME SWEET HOME: In six seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 70-9 at Maples Pavilion, including 15-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won 32 in a row at home to begin Hambly's tenure at Stanford. 

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Six Cardinal were recognized by the Pac-12 when the conference released its annual awards. Caitie Baird, Kendall Kipp, Kami Miner, Elena Oglivie and Elia Rubin were on the 18-member all-conference team, while McKenna Vicini landed on the honorable mention list. Rubin was also selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Stanford now has 158 all-conference selections all-time, including honorable mention, and 48 all-freshman picks. 

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Outside hitter Caitie Baird and libero Elena Oglivie were named Academic All-Americans, landing on the first and third teams, respectively, as voted on by the College Sports Communicators (CSC), formerly known as CoSIDA. It is the first career recognition for both Baird and Oglivie, who are the 15th and 16th Academic All-Americans in program history. The Cardinal now boasts 24 CSC Academic All-America awards all-time.

CAREER MILESTONES: Opposite Kendall Kipp registered her 1,000th career kill at USC on Nov. 9. The senior became the 21st player in program history to accomplish that feat. Libero Elena Oglivie recorded her 1,000th career dig in a sweep over Arizona on Nov. 19. The Honolulu native is the 19th player in school history to reach the milestone. Caitie Baird followed Kipp and became the 22nd player in program history, notching her 1000th career kill against San Diego (Dec. 10).

A FIRST SINCE: Stanford's .605 team hitting percentage against USC on Oct. 23 was its highest since 2013 and the third-highest in the nation in 2022. The Cardinal recorded 49 kills on 76 swings with just three errors in the three-set match. It was the fifth-highest in Pac-12 history and the highest between Pac-12 opponents in the rally-scoring era (2001-present).

ON THE ROAD: Fourteen of Stanford's first 20 matches were played away from Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal was 14-1 in true road matches in 2022 - the most road wins in the nation.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Sophomore Kami Miner earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors on Oct. 25 for her efforts in a pair of home sweeps over UCLA and USC. The setter averaged 13.50 assists per set while guiding the Cardinal offense to a combined .458 attack percentage in the two matches. It was Miner's first career national honor and the first for Stanford since 2018 (20th overall).

PAC-12 WEEKLY AWARDS: Stanford collected 13 Pac-12 weekly honors in 2022. The Cardinal now boasts 138 players of the week, including 27 Offensive, 32 Defensive and 35 Freshman (the most all-time, offensive and defensive began in 2011).

2022 Pac-12 Weekly Selections
Sept. 12: Kendall Kipp (Offensive), Elia Rubin (Freshman)
Sept. 19: Elena Oglivie (Defensive)
Oct. 10: Elia Rubin (Freshman)
Oct. 17: Elia Rubin (Freshman)
Oct. 24: Kami Miner (Offensive), Elia Rubin (Freshman)
Oct. 31: Caitie Baird (Offensive), Elia Rubin (Freshman)
Nov. 7: Kendall Kipp (Offensive)
Nov. 14: Elena Oglivie (Defensive)
Nov. 21: Elena Oglivie (Defensive)
Nov. 28: McKenna Vicini (Defensive)

COACHES' PICK: Stanford was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 in a vote of the league's coaches, trailing 2021 champion Washington. The Cardinal captured two first-place votes and placed three on the Preseason All-Pac-12 squad (Caitie Baird, Kendall Kipp and Kami Miner). The coaches have correctly chosen the champion 21 times out of the past 37 polls.

IMPACT IN THE MIDDLE: Sami Francis, who made the move from outside hitter to middle blocker this season, was second in the Pac-12 with 1.46 blocks per set. The sophomore had the Cardinal averaging 2.71 blocks per set as a team - tops in the conference and good for 10th nationally. Francis was also sixth in the Pac-12 with a .375 hitting percentage.

COACHING EXCELLENCE: Kevin Hambly became the seventh head coach in Division I women's volleyball to lead a school to back-to-back NCAA titles. Hambly is now 142-33 (.811) in six seasons on The Farm, mentoring 12 AVCA All-Americans to 21 awards and five Academic All-Americans (six awards). 

THE HAMBLY FILE: Kevin Hambly coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois and has now mentored 24 All-Americans to 40 awards. He is the third head coach to lead Stanford to a national championship. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year became the first Cardinal head coach (any sport) to win an NCAA title in one of his first two seasons on The Farm since 2005.