STANFORD, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (14-3, 6-2 ACC) travels to rival California (10-10, 2-6 ACC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before hosting the Bears on Friday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS: Stanford is 84-12 all-time against Cal. The Cardinal has won seven straight against the Golden Bears, including both meetings in 2023. Cal's most recent win came on Feb. 12, 2021 - a five-set victory in Berkeley.
REUNION HOMECOMING: On Friday, Stanford welcomes back members of its 1994 and 2004 national championship teams for its alumni night. Stanford battled UCLA, the only team that it had fallen to in 1994, for the NCAA title in Austin, Texas, defeating the Bruins for its second national championship in three years. The Cardinal finished with a 32-1 record and its third Pac-10 title. The 2004 team won an unprecedented sixth national title for the Cardinal, sweeping Minnesota in Long Beach.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 91-12 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.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinal is coming off a split on the road last week, sweeping No. 12 SMU on Wednesday before falling in straight sets at No. 1 Pitt on Sunday. Stanford finished off the Mustangs in a marathon third set, 35-33 - the longest of the season for the Cardinal. Outside hitter Elia Rubin led the team with 18 kills on .368 hitting, including the 1,000th of her career on Wednesday.
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.
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.
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 4,519 assists. Her 11.38 career assists per set mark would be a program record in the rally-scoring era to 25.
MORE MILESTONES: Outside hitter Elia Rubin became the 23rd player in program history to register 1,000 career kills, accomplishing that feat on Oct. 16 at No. 12 SMU. Libero Elena Oglivie is 145 digs away from 2,000 for her career. She would be just the fourth player in school history to reach that milestone.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Kami Miner became the first Stanford player to be recognized by the ACC with a weekly honor, earning Setter of the Week. Combining with its Pac-12 selections, the Cardinal now boasts 180 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 38 Defensive, 3 Setter and 35 Freshman.
2024 ACC Weekly Selections
Sept. 9: Kami Miner (Setter)
Sept. 16: Sami Francis (Co-Defensive)
Oct. 7: Kami Miner (Setter)
Oct. 14: Kami Miner (Setter), Ipar Kurt (Freshman)
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.
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 185-40 (.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.