STANFORD, Calif. - No. 6 Stanford (23-4, 15-3 ACC) closes out the regular season this week, facing off with No. 19 Georgia Tech (20-7, 12-6 ACC) on Wednesday in Atlanta before returning to The Farm for Senior Day on Saturday against No. 3 Louisville (25-3, 17-1 ACC). Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE YELLOW JACKETS: Stanford is 3-0 all-time versus Georgia Tech, including a sweep over the Yellow Jackets at home on Nov. 9 - the first meeting between the teams since 1995. Kami Miner and Elena Oglivie recorded double-doubles, and Ipar Kurt hit .833 to lead Stanford in the win.
THE SERIES AGAINST THE CARDINALS: The Cardinal is 1-2 overall against Louisville. Louisville defeated the Cardinal in straight sets on Sept. 29. Last season, Stanford pulled off the reverse sweep of the then-No. 2 Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center. Saturday marks the second meeting between the teams in Maples Pavilion.
SENIOR DAY SATURDAY: Saturday marks the final regular season match for five Cardinal seniors - Taylor Beaven, Sami Francis, Charity McDowell, Kami Miner and Elena Oglivie. The group will be recognized during a postmatch ceremony.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford recorded a pair of road wins last weekend over Duke and North Carolina. The Cardinal has won 21 straight sets, including sweeping its past six opponents. Middle blocker Sami Francis led the Cardinal hitting a combined .500 with 2.00 blocks per set against the Blue Devils and Tar Heels. Ipar Kurt added 4.50 kills and 4.83 points per set, while Elia Rubin tallied 3.33 kills on .421 hitting and 4.00 digs per set.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 96-12 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. This season, the Cardinal is 11-0 at home, dropping just two sets on The Farm.
MILESTONES 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 4,904 assists. Her 11.40 career assists per set mark would be a program record in the rally-scoring era to 25. On Sunday at UNC, Miner tallied her 1,000th career dig, becoming the 20th player in program history to accomplish that feat.
STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Stanford is third nationally with a .321 team hitting percentage, ranks seventh in assists per set (13.33) and 10th in kills per set (14.24). Individually, setter Kami Miner is 13th in the country with 10.90 assists per set, while Sami Francis is sixth in blocks per set (1.53) and 12th nationally with a .419 attack percentage.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (ACC)
Hitting percentage: Sami Francis - 1st (.419)
Kills per set: Elia Rubin - 4th (3.87)
Assists per set: Kami Miner - 1st (10.90)
Service aces per set: Jordyn Harvey - 8th (0.39); Taylor Yu - 9th (0.38)
Digs per set: Elena Oglivie - 8th (3.90)
Blocks per set: Sami Francis - 2nd (1.53)
Points per set: Elia Rubin - 3rd (4.57)
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 16 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 184 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 40 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)
Nov. 25: Sami Francis (Defensive)
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 194-41 (.826) 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.