STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 seed Stanford (27-4) begins its quest for a 10th national title this week, hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Maples Pavilion. The tournament's No. 6 overall seed will face Utah Valley (16-10) in the opening round on Friday night.
Friday, Dec. 5
Match #1 - 4:30 p.m. | ESPN+
Arizona (16-12) vs. (7) South Dakota State (23-4)
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Match #2 - 30 minutes following Match #1 | ESPN+
Utah Valley (16-10) vs. (2) Stanford (27-4)
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Saturday, Dec. 6
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) Texas for regionals next week. If the Longhorns do not advance to the second weekend, the Cardinal would host regionals. The Final Four will be held Dec. 18 and 21 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford closed out the regular season with wins over Georgia Tech (3-1) and at then-No. 7 Louisville (3-2). The win over the Cardinals clinched a share of the ACC regular season title with Pittsburgh. The Cardinal hit a combined .320 in the two matches. Freshman Logan Parks controlled the offense with 11.71 assists per set. Her career-high 64 assists at Louisville were the most by a Cardinal player in a match since 2017.
CONFERENCE CHAMPS: Stanford claimed a share of its first ACC title, and its 25th conference championship overall in 2025. The Cardinal has finished in the top 4 in conference play in 40 of the past 41 seasons, and the top 3 in 38 of 41 campaigns. Stanford was picked to finish third by the ACC coaches in 2025.
PREVIEWING UTAH VALLEY: Friday marks the first meeting between Stanford and Utah Valley. The Wolverines are making their third postseason appearance and first since 2021. Utah Valley defeated Utah Tech in the WAC Tournament final to earn the conference's automatic berth to NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are led by WAC Player of the Year Avery Page who averages 3.40 kills per set.
PREVIEWING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: Should Stanford and South Dakota State face off in the second round it would mark the first meeting between the two teams. The Jackrabbits won the Summit League regular season title before falling in their tournament championship. SDSU earned an at-large bid for the second consecutive season. This is the third time in the history of the Summit League that two teams will represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. The Jackrabbits are set to make their third NCAA Tournament in the Division I era (2007, 2024, 2025).
PREVIEWING ARIZONA: Stanford is 76-10 all-time against Arizona. Should the teams meet in the second round, it would be the first postseason matchup between the squads since 2002. The Cardinal defeated the Wildcats in straight sets in the regional final at Maples Pavilion. Arizona, which is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Charita Stubbs, is in the postseason for the first time since 2018. The Wildcats finished sixth in the Big 12 to earn an at-large berth to the tournament.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 13 matches against this year's NCAA field, posting an 9-4 record. Stanford was 6-2 against ACC teams in the tournament and picked up nonconference wins over Florida, UCLA and Utah State.
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 44 of the 45 NCAA Tournaments all-time.
HOME SWEET HOME: In nine seasons under Kevin Hambly, Stanford is 113-14 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. The Cardinal is 27-2 at home in the last two seasons.
ACC COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hambly, The Montag Family Director of Women's Volleyball, was tabbed the ACC Coach of the Year in 2025. It marks the third conference coach of the year honors for Hambly, who is 226-46 overall and 145-25 in conference play in nine seasons at the helm of the Cardinal program. In two seasons as a member of the ACC, Stanford is 55-9 overall and 35-5 in league play. Hambly now has six conference titles as the head coach of the Cardinal (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025).
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Seven Cardinal were recognized with all-conference honors by the ACC. Lizzy Andrew, Spencer Etzler and Elia Rubin were named to the first team, while Julia Blyashov, Jordyn Harvey, Logan Parks and Erika Sayer landed on the second team. Etzler, Parks and Sayer were also selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Stanford now has 178 all-conference selections all-time, including honorable mention, and 51 all-freshman picks, including honorable mention.
SENIOR LEADER: Outside hitter Elia Rubin is the only returning All-American on the Cardinal roster in 2025. She is just the 11th player in program history to register both 1,000 career kills and digs. Rubin is currently third on Stanford's career aces list with 148. In the rally-scoring era to 25, Rubin broke the school record for career aces on Nov. 8 against Duke.
MLV DRAFT PICK: Outside hitter Elia Rubin was selected 26th overall in the Major League Volleyball (MLV) draft on Nov. 24. The Santa Monica native was taken as the second pick in the fourth round by the San Diego Mojo. She is the third Stanford player drafted to the MLV, formerly known as the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF), joining Kendall Kipp (Round 3, Pick 1 – Columbus Fury) and Elena Oglivie (Round 4, Pick 5 – Grand Rapids Rise).
STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Cardinal paces the conference in assists (13.34) and kills (14.12) per set, ranking ninth and 15th in the NCAA, respectively. Stanford is third in the ACC in aces (1.66) and hitting percentage (.301), and sixth in blocks (2.54) and eighth in digs (13.59).
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS (ACC)
Hitting percentage: Lizzy Andrew - 2nd (.440); Erika Sayer - 5th (.383)
Assists per set: Logan Parks - 3rd (9.99)
Service Aces per set: Elia Rubin - 4th (0.41)
Digs per set: Spencer Etzler - 6th (3.69)
Points per set: Elia Rubin - 9th (4.03)
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 224-45 (.830) 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 three-time conference 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.