Pac-12 Volleyball Race Heats Up

THIS WEEK
It is a tight race for the Pac-12 crown as five teams are mathematically still in contention for the Pac-12 crown, while four teams are separated by just two matches at the top. With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the pressure is heating up as teams vie for the Conference crown, as well as a NCAA Tournament berth.

The headline match of the week is No. 3 WASHINGTON hosting No. 6 STANFORD on ESPNU on Thursday. The third-place Cardinal is looking to make up some ground on the Huskies who sit in second place, just one match ahead. Meanwhile, No. 2 USC looks to stay at the front of the pack and kicks off the week’s action hosting OREGON on the Pac-12 Networks’ Match of the Week on Wednesday.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded standings)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All Times Local To Site)

PAC12/PACAZ/PACBA/PACLA/PACMT/PACOR/PACWA - Indicates live broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.
ESPNU - Indicates live broadcast on ESPNU

AVCA RANKINGS
Not much has changed from last week with six Pac-12 teams earning a spot in the AVCA Coaches poll top 25 this week. Pac-12 teams occupy two of the top-three spots in the polling and four of the top nine. USC is No. 2, followed by No. 3 WASHINGTON. STANFORD is ranked No. 6, improving one spot from last week, while UCLA is No. 9. ARIZONA and ARIZONA STATE are Nos. 19 and 21, respectively. COLORADO is receiving votes.

A league-record nine Pac-12 teams were ranked in the preseason top 25. The Trojans started the season ranked No. 22 and quickly moved up to No. 1 in the country, remaining there for four-straight weeks.

NCAA STATS 
• USC senior Samantha Bricio continues to lead the nation in aces per set (0.74). The national player of the year candidate is also the NCAA leader in points per set (6.32), also ranking third in kills per set (5.16).
• Also leading the nation is WASHINGTON’s Lianna Sybeldon, who has the best hitting percentage in the country at .480.
• With just one loss, the Trojans have the best winning percentage in the country at .962, while the Huskies rank seventh with a .917 winning percentage and UCLA is 17th at .833.
• The Huskies lead the Pac-12 and rank third in the country with a .311 hitting percentage and also boast the second-best opponent hitting percentage in the nation, limiting foes to .133.
• The Pac-12 is home to three of the nation’s top-17 hitters, in terms of kills per set. Behind Bricio is UCLA’s Jordan Anderson with a 4.77 kps, which is sixth. ARIZONA’s Kalei Mau is 17th (4.40).
• The Conference also boasts four of the top blocking teams in the country, with UW’s 3.03 blocks per set ranking third. STANFORD is 10th in the nation with a 2.95 bps, followed by ARIZONA STATE (16th, 2.87 bps) and WASHINGTON STATE (17th, 2.85 bps).

For a complete list of NCAA stats team and individual leaders visit this link: http://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/ranking_summary

RPI RANKINGS 
Five Pac-12 teams have RPIs in the top 12 in the country with USC leading the way at No. 2. WASHINGTON has a RPI of seven, followed by UCLA at No. 10 and STANFORD at No. 12. ARIZONA STATE is No. 25 in the RPI ranking and ARIZONA is No. 46. Also in the RPI are Oregon at No. 68, COLORADO at No. 69, WASHINGTON STATE at No. 90, UTAH at No. 124, OREGON STATE at No. 141 and CALIFORNIA at No. 159. For the full rankings, click here.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK 
USC’s Samantha Bricio was voted the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for a league-record sixth time. She is tied for the second-most career weekly award recognitions with Logan Tom (Stanford, 1999-2002) at nine. WASHINGTON’s Cassie Strickland was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week, while UCLA’s Zana Muno is the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. For the complete release and for previous winners, click here.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Kalei Mau of ARIZONA is 17th in the country with 4.40 kills per set … ARIZONA STATE has held opponents to a .166 hitting percentage on the year, the 35th-best mark in the country  … CALIFORNIA's setter Alyssa Jensen is sixth in the league in assists per set at 9.95 … COLORADO's Alexis Austin became the CU rally-scoring era career-kills record holder and now has 1,332 kills in her career … OREGON swept California last weekend and now owns a five-match winning streak over the Bears … OREGON STATE's Mary-Kate Marshall, a 2014 AVCA All-American, is third in the Pac-12 and ninth in the country in attacks per set (12.45) … STANFORD's victory over Oregon State moved its all-time record to 63-0 against the Beavers … UCLA's junior Jordan Anderson has reached the 20-kill mark eight times this season. She's sixth in the country in kills per set at 4.77 … USC improved to 13-0 at home this season after two wins over Colorado and Utah last weekend … UTAH's Adora Anae ranks second in double-doubles in the Pac-12 with 15 on the season … WASHINGTON completed the desert sweep for the fifth year in a row, winning 3-0 at both Arizona State and at Arizona  … WASHINGTON STATE averages 2.85 blocks per set, the 17th-best mark in the country on the year.

• On Mon., Oct. 26, the Pac-12 Networks revealed the Pac-12 All-Century Women’s Volleyball roster. STANFORD's Logan Tom was named Pac-12 Women’s Volleyball Player of the Century honors and UCLA's Andy Banachowski being named the Pac-12 Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Century. To view the full roster, click here.

• On Friday, Oct. 16, USC head coach Mick Haley earned his 900th career NCAA Division I victory (378 at USC, 522 at Texas).

• Utah head coach Beth Launiere picked up her 500th career win in the Utes’ 3-1 victory against Oregon State on Sun., Nov. 1, at the Huntsman Center. She has been in Salt Lake City for all 25 years of her head coaching career.

• Pac-12 teams have defeated nine ranked non-conference teams so far this season with USC accounting for three of those wins. The Trojans’ three wins were to teams ranked in the top 11 at the time of the meeting, two of which came in the opening weekend. UCLA traveled to then-No. 17 Hawai’i over the weekend and took down the UH in front of a crowd of over 8,600 fans. ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO and STANFORD have also notched wins over top-10 foes.

• Pac-12 teams went 97-31 (.758) in the non-conference, including going 27-7 in the opening weekend. In the opening weekend, 17 of the 27 wins came in three-set sweeps. Since 2002, league teams have dominated the first weekend of play, going 332-81 (.804).

• Three Pac-12 teams remain undefeated after the conclusion of the non-conference portion of the schedule and 11 teams have a record of .500 or better due, in part, to the strength of the league’s defense. Four Conference teams are ranked in the top 12 in the nation in opponent hitting percentage, as ARIZONA STATE, WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON STATE and ARIZONA limiting opponents to under .142 hitting. Four league squads are also in the top 15 in the country in blocks per set, with STANFORD ranking second in the country at 3.19. Four Pac-12 teams also rank in the top 15 in kills per set, including the Huskies (7th) and the Wildcats (13th).

• The Pac-12 is coming off another historic season which saw an unprecedented 10 teams earn NCAA Tournament bids and went a perfect 10-0 in the first round of the postseason.

• Last year, 14 players were named AVCA All-Americans and eight return for 2015 including senior standouts such as Stanford’s Madi Bugg and Jordan Burgess, USC’s Samantha Bricio, UO’s Martenne Bettendorf, ASU’s Macey Gardner and UW’s Lianna Sybeldon. Sophomores Merete Lutz of Stanford and Mary-Kate Marshall of OSU also return to help lead their respective teams this season.

• One new coach will be roaming the Pac-12 sidelines after WASHINGTON announced the hiring of Keegan Cook, who replaced former UW coach Jim McLaughlin. However, Cook may look familiar to some as he served as an assistant coach under McLaughlin the last two years, helping the Huskies advance to the NCAA semifinal in 2013. Also in coaching news, UTAH head coach Beth Launiere needs just seven more victories for career No. 500. She has spent all 25 years of her career in Salt Lake City.

• FAB Freshman ... Pac-12 volleyball continues to recruit marquee student-athletes. Seven Pac-12 teams landed at least one Volleyball Magazine FAB 50 recruit with OREGON pacing the Conference with four. STANFORD signed the nation’s top recruit according to the publication in Hayley Hodson.

• Once again, the Pac-12 will have the most comprehensive volleyball television coverage of any league in the country. 95 total matches will be broadcast live, with 92 being televised on the Conference's Pac-12 Network. Another three more were selected to be televised on ESPNU. For the full television schedule, visit pac-12.com.

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

2015 PAC-12 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

NATIONAL HONORS

Sept. 30 - Samantha Bricio, USC - ESPNW National Player of the Week
Oct. 6 - Macey Gardner, ASU - AVCA National Player of the Week
Nov. 2 - Cassie Strickland, ESPNW National Player of the Week

IN THE PRESEASON

Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll & All-Pac-12 Team | AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

o The Pac-12 has captured six of the last 14 NCAA crowns (2011 - UCLA, 2005 - Washington, 2004 - Stanford, 2003 - USC, 2002 - USC, 2001 - Stanford) and 14 NCAA titles overall.

o The Pac-12 has had 10 or more All-Americans selections in eight of the last 10 years. Last year, 11 were named to the AVCA All-America squad, the most since 13 were selected in 2009. Ten former Pac-12 players have earned All-America honors four times, while another 18 players in all have earned All-American honors three times.

o Since 1990, Pac-12 players garnered AVCA Player of the Year honors 13 times, including the last four of the last five years - CAL's Carli Lloyd (2010), USC's Alex Jupiter (2011), ORE's Alaina Bergsma (2012) and WASH's Krista Vansant (2013). The NCAA Honda Sports Award honor has been bestowed upon a Pac-12 volleyball player 13 times, including Vansant in 2013.

o The current group of Pac-12 volleyball coaches enters the 2015 season with nearly 5,000 Division I victories to its credit, having compiled 4,822 wins in a combined 219 years of head coaching experience. That averages out to nearly 23 wins a season for each coach per season. In addition, these coaches have guided NCAA Division I teams to 38 NCAA semifinal appearances and eight NCAA titles. In the last 13 years, seven different coaches have been named the ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year and/or the AVCA Coach of the Year - Arizona's David Rubio (2001 ASICS), California's Rich Feller (2007 ASICS, 2010 ASICS and AVCA), Stanford's John Dunning (2001 AVCA), UCLA's Mike Sealy (2011 AVCA), USC's Mick Haley (2003 AVCA), Washington's Jim McLaughlin (2004 ASICS and AVCA), and UCLA's Andy Banachowski (2006 ASICS and AVCA).