STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 seed Stanford (25-4) begins its quest for a 10th national title this week, hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Maples Pavilion. The tournament's No. 5 overall seed will face Big Sky Tournament Champion Sacramento State (21-11) in the opening round on Friday night.
Friday, Dec. 6
Match #1 - 4:30 p.m. | ESPN+
Washington (19-11) vs. (7) Loyola Marymount (24-5)
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Match #2 - 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Sacramento State (21-11) vs. (2) Stanford (25-4)
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Saturday, Dec. 7
Match #3 - 6 p.m. | ESPN+
Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this week, the team will likely travel to (1) Louisville for regionals next week. The Final Four will be held Dec. 19 and 22 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford is coming off a pair of top 20 wins last week to close out the regular season on a nine-match winning streak. The Cardinal pulled off a reverse sweep on the road at No. 19 Georgia Tech before returning to The Farm to defeat No. 3 Louisville in four sets on Senior Day. Setter Kami Miner controlled the offense with 12.22 assists per set to go with 3.44 digs and 1.44 blocks per set. Libero Elena Oglivie anchored the defense with 4.44 digs per set, including a season-high 24 digs in the win over the Cardinals.
PREVIEWING SACRAMENTO STATE: Stanford is 4-0 all-time against Sacramento State in the NCAA Tournament. Friday the teams will meet in the postseason for the first time since 2007 - the last time the Hornets appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Cardinal is 8-0 all-time against Sacramento State. The Hornets, who are making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance, won their first Big Sky Tournament title since 2007, earning the conference's automatic berth into the postseason. Sacramento State is led by Big Sky first team selections Bridgette Smith and Caitlin Volkmann, both senior captains. Smith is the first player in school history to be named an All-Big Sky First Team pick four times.
PREVIEWING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: Stanford is 3-1 all-time against Loyola Marymount in the NCAA Tournament, and 4-1 overall. The Cardinal defeated the Lions in the second round of the 2018 tournament in Maples Pavilion in the most recent meeting. LMU knocked the Cardinal out of the tournament in the second round in 2015 - a sweep at Maples Pavilion. The WCC champion, LMU is making its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance and first under WCC Coach of the Year Trent Kersten. The Lions were last in the postseason in 2022 and are led by WCC Setter of the Year Mia Schafer and WCC Libero of the Year Sam Hastings.
PREVIEWING WASHINGTON: Stanford is 3-2 overall against Washington in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal leads the all-time series, 60-20. The teams last met in the postseason in 2006 when Stanford swept Washington in the national semifinals in Omaha. The Huskies most recent win over the Cardinal in the NCAA Tournament came in the regional semifinal in 2003 - a four-set win in Long Beach. Washington is making its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies made 21 straight appearances from 2002-22 before missing out last season. Washington, which finished ninth in its first season in the Big Ten, is led by Big Ten Second Team selections Emoni Bush and Kierstyn Barton.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 15 matches against this year's NCAA field, posting an 11-4 record. Stanford was 7-3 against ACC teams in the tournament and picked up nonconference wins over (2) Wisconsin, (3) Kentucky, (3) Texas and (6) Minnesota.
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 43 of the 44 NCAA Tournaments all-time.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 98-12 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 12-0 at home, dropping just three sets on The Farm.
COACHES' PICK: In its inaugural ACC season, Stanford was correctly picked to finish second by the league's coaches, tying with Louisville at 17-3. Combining with its Pac-12 history, Stanford has finished in the top 4 in league play in 38 of the past 39 seasons, and the top 3 in 36 of 39 campaigns.
ACC SETTER OF THE YEAR: Kami Miner was tabbed the 2024 ACC Setter of the Year, her third time winning a major conference award. It is the ninth time a Cardinal player has been named Setter of the Year (Madi Bugg - 2013-15 and Jenna Gray - 2017-19).
ALL-ACC: Seven Cardinal were recognized with all-conference honors by the ACC. Sami Francis, Kami Miner and Elia Rubin were named to the first team, while Jordyn Harvey, Ipar Kurt and Elena Oglivie landed on the second team. Lizzy Andrew was selected to the All-ACC Freshman Team. Stanford now has 171 all-conference selections all-time, including honorable mention, and 48 all-freshman picks, including honorable mention.
MILESTONES UNLOCKED: Kami Miner recorded her 5,000th career assist on Senior Day, tying her career-high with 60 assists in a four-set win over No. 3 Louisville. She became the fifth player in school history to reach the milestone. In the rally-scoring era to 25, Miner is tied for second with Madi Bugg with 5, 014 career assists. Her 11.42 career assists per set mark would be a program record in the rally-scoring era to 25. Miner also tallied her 1,000th career dig at North Carolina on Nov. 24, becoming the 20th player in program history to accomplish that feat.
STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Stanford is third nationally with a .315 team hitting percentage and ranks seventh in kills per set (14.27) and assists per set (13.38). Individually, setter Kami Miner is 12th in the country with 11.02 assists per set, while Sami Francis is third in blocks per set (1.59) and 16th nationally with a .407 attack percentage.
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (ACC)
Hitting percentage: Sami Francis - 3rd (.407)
Kills per set: Elia Rubin - 4th (3.88)
Assists per set: Kami Miner - 1st (11.02)
Service aces per set: Jordyn Harvey - 7th (0.39); Taylor Yu - 10th (0.36)
Digs per set: Elena Oglivie - 8th (3.95)
Blocks per set: Sami Francis - 2nd (1.59)
Points per set: Elia Rubin - 4th (4.48)
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 recorded her 2,000th career dig at No. 19 Georgia Tech, becoming the fourth player in school history to reach that milestone. The fifth year is currently third all-time in program history with 2,024 career digs.
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 186 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 41 Defensive, 6 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)
Dec. 2: Sami Francis (Defensive), Kami Miner (Co-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 196-41 (.827) 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.