STANFORD, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford (19-4, 11-3 ACC) closes out a four-match homestand, playing host to Virginia (19-6, 9-5 ACC) on Thursday and Virginia Tech (7-17, 1-13 ACC) on Friday in Maples Pavilion. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. on ACCNX.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE CAVALIERS: Stanford is 1-0 all-time versus Virginia. The Cardinal swept the Cavaliers on Aug. 31, 2001 in Charlottesville in the lone meeting between the two programs.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE HOKIES: Friday marks the first meeting between Stanford and Virginia Tech.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford swept Clemson and No. 16 Georgia Tech at home last week. The Cardinal his a combined .471, outscoring its opponents 125.0 to 56.0. Middle blocker Sami Francis led the team with 3.67 kills on .700 hitting, 2.00 blocks and 4.75 points per set. Setter Kami Miner dished out 12.17 assists per set to go with 3.33 digs per set, while libero Elena Oglivie collected 5.17 digs per set, 2.50 assist per set and 0.50 aces per set. The Cardinal his a season-best .542 against the Yellow Jackets.
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.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 94-12 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.
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 4,757 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 54 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 183 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 39 Defensive, 5 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)
Oct. 28: Kami Miner (Co-Setter)
Nov. 11: Elena Oglivie (Defensive), Kami Miner (Setter)
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 190-41 (.823) 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.