STANFORD, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (4-2) plays host to Utah State (1-4) on Friday at 6 p.m. and UC Davis (2-3) on Sunday at 3 p.m. for its home-opening weekend in Maples Pavilion. Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX.
SERIES AGAINST UTAH STATE: Stanford is 2-0 overall against Utah State. The Cardinal swept the Aggies in the most recent meeting at home in 2005.
SERIES AGAINST UC DAVIS: Sunday is the first meeting between the Cardinal and Aggies as Division I opponents.
HOME SWEET HOME: In eight seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 100-12 at Maples Pavilion, including 20-2 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won 32 in a row at home to begin Hambly's tenure at Stanford. In 2024, the Cardinal went 14-0 at home, dropping just three sets. It was its first undefeated season on The Farm since 2018.
STACKED SCHEDULE: Stanford is slated to play 11 matches against teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Poll, including five against top-5 opponents. The Cardinal will take on No. 1 Nebraska (Aug. 24), No. 5 Texas (Sept. 7), No. 16 Florida (Aug. 22), No. 17 Missouri (Sept. 9) and No. 18 UCLA (Sept. 21) in nonconference action. Stanford will meet No. 3 Pittsburgh (Nov. 14), No. 4 Louisville (Oct. 5 & Nov. 29), No. 10 SMU (Nov. 16) and No. 22 Georgia Tech (Oct. 26 & Nov. 26) in ACC play.
COACHES' PICK: In its second season in the ACC, Stanford was picked to finish third by the league's coaches. Combining with its Pac-12 history, Stanford has finished in the top 4 in league play in 39 of the past 40 seasons, and the top 3 in 37 of 40 campaigns.
SENIOR LEADER: Outside hitter Elia Rubin is the only returning All-American on the Cardinal roster in 2025. Last season, she became the 23rd player in program history to register 1,000 career kills, accomplishing that feat against No. 12 SMU. She led the team in 2024 and ranked third in the ACC in points per set (4.54) and was fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.93).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Libero Spencer Etzler nabbed her first career weekly honors, collecting ACC Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week honors on Aug. 25. Combining with its Pac-12 selections, the Cardinal now boasts 188 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 42 Defensive, 6 Setter and 36 Freshman.
2025 ACC Weekly Selections
Aug. 25: Spencer Etzler (Defensive & Freshman)
BY THE NUMBERS: Stanford has won more NCAA titles (9), more NCAA Tournament matches (141), 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.
2025 SEASON IN REVIEW: Stanford closed out the 2024 season with a 28-5 overall record and tied for second in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 17-3 mark. The Cardinal made its 43rd NCAA postseason appearance in 44 seasons, advancing to its 18th regional final since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998.
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, 2024. The Cardinal held the Longhorns to .125 hitting - their lowest in a match in over 11 years.
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. For the third consecutive edition of the Games, Stanford boasted more Team USA selections (37) than any other school.
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 203-44 (.822) in nine seasons on The Farm, mentoring 14 AVCA All-Americans to 29 awards and seven Academic All-Americans (nine awards).
THE HAMBLY FILE: Kevin Hambly coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois and has now mentored 26 All-Americans to 48 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.