SCOUTING USC: USC enters the week in second place in the Pac-12 at 7-3. The Trojans are second in the conference in aces (1.53) and third in hitting percentage (.257) on the season. USC is led by junior outside hitter Khalia Lanier and sophomore Brooke Botkin. Lanier leads the Pac-12 in aces per set (0.41) and ranks third in points (4.91) and fourth in kills (4.35). Botkin adds 4.36 kills and 4.83 points per set. Freshman setter Raquel Lazaro controls the offense with 11.30 assists per set, while senior libero Victoria Garrick anchors the defense with 4.83 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE TROJANS: Stanford holds a 64-24 lead in the all-time series against USC. The Cardinal has won five in a row against the Trojans, including a sweep in the first meeting this season. Outside hitters
Kathryn Plummer and
Meghan McClure combined for 32 of the team's 49 kills, while libero
Morgan Hentz racked up 18 digs. USC's last win came on Sept. 27, 2015 at Maples Pavilion.
SCOUTING UCLA: UCLA sits in a three-way tie for third place in the Pac-12 at the halfway point. The Bruins lead the league in digs (17.39) and are sixth in blocks per set (2.31). Sophomore outside hitter Mac May leads the team and is fifth in the conference with 0.34 aces per set, seventh with 3.77 kills per set and eighth with 4.31 points per set. Junior middle blocker Madeleine Gates is hitting .332 with 2.36 kills and leads the team with 1.08 blocks per set. Senior libero Zana Muno is sixth in the Pac-12 with 4.25 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE BRUINS: Stanford is 51-37 all-time against UCLA. The Cardinal swept the Bruins in the first meeting this season at Maples.
Kathryn Plummer led all players with 17 kills, while freshman
Holly Campbell chipped in with a career-high 14 kills on .400 hitting and six blocks. UCLA's most recent win over the Cardinal came on Nov. 12, 2016 - the last time Stanford dropped a match at Maples Pavilion.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches Poll again this week, receiving six first-place votes. The Cardinal began the season at No. 1 for the first time since 2002. BYU stayed at No. 1, while Stanford is followed by Minnesota, Penn State and undefeated Pittsburgh in the top 5. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked.
LAST WEEK: Stanford improved to 10-0 in the Pac-12 with a pair of four-set road wins at Oregon State and No. 16 Oregon. The Cardinal posted a season-high 21.0 blocks against the Beavers and matched is season-best with 10 aces versus the Ducks. Junior
Kathryn Plummer averaged 4.75 kills and 5.63 points per set in the two matches. Senior middle blocker
Tami Alade hit .400 and tallied 1.88 blocks per set. Against Oregon State, Alade's career-high 12 blocks tied for the 10th-most in a single match in program history.Â
Â
HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 27-match home winning streak is the longest in the nation. The Cardinal went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches in 2017, and is 8-0 to start this season. Under head coach
Kevin Hambly, Stanford has only dropped seven sets at Maples Pavilion. Over the past five-plus seasons, the Cardinal is 79-8 (.908) at home.Â
BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marked Stanford's 37th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance. The Cardinal is one of only two programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA Championship began in 1981 (Penn State is the other). Stanford has won more NCAA Tournament matches (119), made more Final Four appearances (21) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seven NCAA titles also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.
SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Middle blocker
Tami Alade is one of two Pac-12 players to be named a top 30 candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
Â
TOP 25 WINS: Stanford is the only Division I women's volleyball program to have 10 wins against team currently ranked in the AVCA top 25 this season. Stanford is 10-1 against ranked opponents this season.
PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections -
Audriana Fitzmorris,
Jenna Gray,
Morgan Hentz and
Kathryn Plummer. Fitzmorris, Hentz and Plummer are repeat honorees, while Gray earns the nod for the first time.
ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal returns five AVCA All-Americans to its 2018 roster.
Jenna Gray,
Morgan Hentz and
Kathryn Plummer were all first team picks as sophomores, while
Audriana Fitzmorris earned a spot on the second team. Senior
Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list. Stanford's five players on the first and second teams in 2017 were a program-best. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 95 honors spread over 40 players. It marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal had produced at least four All-Americans.
Â
PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: In 2017,
Kathryn Plummer became the 15th Cardinal player and first since Alix Klineman in 2010 to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in kills (4.66) and points per set (5.39). She was also the first conference player to win Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since Stanford's Bev Oden in 1989 and 1990.
SETTER OF THE YEAR: Jenna Gray was the second Stanford player to earn Pac-12 Setter of the Year honors since the award began in 2011, joining Madi Bugg who took home the honor three times (2013, 2014, 2015). The Shawnee, Kansas native paced the league and was fourth nationally in 2017 with 12.04 assists per set, and had the Cardinal hitting .319 as a team - the third-best mark in the nation.
LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She led the team with 4.08 digs per set in 2017, upping that mark to 4.39 digs per set in NCAA Tournament matches, and had just 15 reception errors on the season.
Â
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It was the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.
1,000 KILLS CLUB: At Howard on Aug. 27, junior
Kathryn Plummer became the 19th Stanford player to register 1,000 career kills just half way through her collegiate career. Only two Cardinal players have reached the 2,000 career kills milestone - Ogonna Nnamani (2,450) and Alix Klineman (2,008).
Â
