STANFORD, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (9-2, 1-1 ACC) plays host to NC State (7-3, 2-0 ACC) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Wake Forest (9-4, 1-1 ACC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX.
SERIES AGAINST THE WOLFPACK: Friday is the first meeting between Stanford and NC State.
SERIES AGAINST THE DEMON DEACONS: Sunday is the first meeting between the Cardinal and Demon Deacons.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford split its opening weekend in the ACC, defeating Notre Dame in South Bend before falling to No. 5 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. Elia Rubin led the team with 3.71 kills, 2.00 digs and 1.00 blocks per set. Sami Francis added 2.00 kills and 2.00 blocks per set. Stanford hit .219 as a team and notched 1.71 aces and 3.14 blocks per set in the two matches.
PACKED THE HOUSE: A record crowd in the Kevin Hambly era of 6,894 watched No. 2 Stanford sweep No. 6 Texas at Maples Pavilion on Sept. 15. The Cardinal held the Longhorns to .125 hitting - their lowest in a match in over 11 years.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 87-12 at Maples Pavilion, including 18-2 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won 32 in a row at home to begin Hambly's tenure at Stanford.
STACKED SCHEDULE: Stanford is slated to play 12 matches against teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Poll, including seven against top-10 opponents. The Cardinal faced No. 1 Texas (W, 3-0), No. 2 Nebraska (L, 3-0), No. 3 Wisconsin (W, 3-1), No. 9 Kentucky (W, 3-1), No. 18 Minnesota (W, 3-2) and No. 24 Marquette (W, 3-0) in the nonconference. Stanford will meet No. 4 Pittsburgh (Oct. 20), No. 6 Louisville (Sept. 29 & Nov. 30), No. 14 Georgia Tech (Nov. 9 & Nov. 27) and No. 20 Florida State (Nov. 3) in ACC play.
COACHES' PICK: In its inaugural ACC season, Stanford was picked to finish second by the league's coaches. The Cardinal captured three first-place votes and placed four on the Preseason All-ACC squad - middle blocker Sami Francis, setter Kami Miner, libero Elena Oglivie and outside hitter Elia Rubin.
MILESTONE UNLOCKED: Kami Miner recorded her 4,000th career assist on Sept. 2 in a four-set win over No. 6 Wisconsin. She became the seventh player in school history to reach the milestone. In the rally-scoring era to 25, Miner is third behind Jenna Gray (5,485) and Madi Bugg (5,014) with 4,312 assists. Her 11.41 career assists per set mark would be a program record in the rally-scoring era to 25.
OLYMPIC TRADITION: Stanford alumna Kathryn Plummer ('20) captured a silver medal with the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Plummer, who won three national titles on The Farm (2016, 2018, 2019), is the 11th Olympian in program history. Her spot on the roster extended Stanford’s streak of having at least one former Cardinal player on each indoor U.S. Olympic Team since 1988. A school-record 59 Stanford-affiliated athletes qualified to compete in Paris, capturing a combined 39 medals (also a record). For the third consecutive edition of the Games, Stanford boasted more Team USA selections (37) than any other school.
BY THE NUMBERS: Stanford has won more NCAA titles (9), more NCAA Tournament matches (138), 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 42 of the 43 NCAA Tournaments all-time.
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 180-39 (.822) in eight seasons on The Farm, mentoring 13 AVCA All-Americans to 26 awards and six Academic All-Americans (eight awards).
THE HAMBLY FILE: Kevin Hambly coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois and has now mentored 25 All-Americans to 45 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.