Rivalry matchups marks the start of Pac-12 volleyball action

SAN FRANCISCO - With the non-conference slate wrapped up with Pac-12 teams posting a 73.6 winning percentage, league play begins this week. Rivalry matchups kicks off Conference action on Pac-12 Networks on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 25 and 26. No. 21 CALIFORNIA is one of just two undefeated teams remaining in the country, going 10-0 for its best start since 2011. STANFORD regained the No. 1 ranking in the country this week and faces the Golden Bears on Thursday. The first week of league play closes out on Sunday with two matches on Pac-12 Networks, including a top-10 showdown between the Cardinal and No. 10-ranked WASHINGTON.

AVCA RANKINGS
• STANFORD regained the No. 1 spot in the AVCA Coaches poll, garnering 28 first-place votes, leading six Pac-12 teams among the top 25. Riding seven-game winning streak, including back-to-back top-10 victories, WASHINGTON moved up two spots to No. 8.
• Also ranked are No. 18 UTAH, No. 21 CALIFORNIA, No. 24 OREGON and No. 25 USC, with Colorado and Washington State receiving votes.
• Stanford was the overwhelming No. 1 pick in the AVCA Preseason Coaches poll released on Aug. 13. The defending NCAA Champion garnered 62 of a possible 64 first-place votes. It was the second-straight year the Cardinal were No. 1 in the preseason and the 74th all-time No. 1 ranking for the program.
• Since 2003, the Pac-12 has had at least five teams in the preseason poll with the exception of 2014 and 2007 when four teams were ranked.

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK
• The Apple Cup starts league play on Wednesday. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 53-16, also winning four of the last six, dating back to 2016. However, the Cougs won the last meeting between the teams last season in Pullman and has won their last 10 matches this season.
• Since joining the Conference in 2011, Utah leads the series, 10-6. The teams split the regular-season series last season.
• Since 1986, the series has been close between UCLA and USC, with the Bruins having the edge at 37-32. But the Trojans have claimed three of the last four.
• The Ducks have won the last eight meetings going into this week’s rivalry clash but the series has been close in Corvallis, with Oregon taking the slight edge at 18-15.
• Arizona has taken the slight lead in the series (since 1986), 36-31, by winning the last four meetings. Prior to that, the series was nearly even with UA winning six of 11 meetings from 2011-16.

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• Washington’s Kara Bajema was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and teammate Avie Niece was voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after the Huskies swept the home-and-home series vs. then-No. 9 Wisconsin. Earning the honor for the second week in a row, Bajema has 19 kills in each match, also reaching the career 1,000-kills milestone. Niece had a career-high 10 blocks in the win in Madison, Wis., and was responsible for one third of the Badgers’ attack errors in both matches.
• Stanford’s Kendall Kipp averaged 2.63 kills, 0.88 blocks and 3.1 points per set to help the Cardinal go 1-1 last week, including a win over then-No. 1 Nebraska.

WHAT’S TRENDING
• Pac-12 teams compiled a 89-32 non-conference record and a 73.6 winning percentage. Thirteen of those wins came against top-25 foes including Utah posting a pair of upsets in the opening weekend when it was unranked; Colorado’s top-five win against Illinois on Sept. 6 when it was unranked; Washington sweeping Wisconsin who was ranked in the top 10 and going 5-0 against top 25 teams; and Stanford winning four matches against top-seven teams.
• California’s Savannah Rennie returned to the court after overcoming a liver transplant, followed by non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and has helped the Golden Bears to a 10-0 start as they are one of two undefeated teams left in the country. Rennie has started every match, averaging 3.42 kills per set while ranking in the top 10 in the country in hitting percentage (.462). She also ranks second on the team in blocks per set (1.10). Cal has won half its matches in a sweep. The Bears also lead the country in hitting percentage.
• Utah’s pair of top-25 wins to open the season is the first time it had beaten two AVCA ranked teams in the opening weekend in program history, with wins over then-No. 7 Kentucky (3-0) and then-No. 23 Cal Poly (3-2). It also beat Saint Mary’s (3-0)in the true season opener for the season’s first match.
• 28th-year head coach Dave Rubio has his Wildcats riding a eight-match win streak after losing back-to-back contests on Aug. 31 and Sept. 6, which also included a 3-1 loss to then-No. 2 Nebraska. Since then, UA has lost just two sets.
• Grad student Kory Cheshire missed all of last season because of an injury. This season, she has played in every match, starting in six, and is averaging 2.99 points and 0.95 blocks per set, while hitting .298.
• Stanford’s first loss of the season came after the Cardinal put together a school-record 37-match win streak, which dated back to Sept. 1, 2018 and included a 6-0 run in last season’s NCAA Tournament to claim the national championship.
• With the return of senior middle blocker Berkeley Oblad who missed last season because of injury, Utah is among the top blocking teams in the country, ranking No. 2, averaging 3.18 stuffs per set, A big improvement over last season when the Utes averaged 2.26 bps.
• The No. 3 active career leader in the NCAA, Stanford senior and two-time AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer is the Pac-12’s active career kills leader with over 1,500 kills (1,652), entering the top 35 in league history. USC senior Khalia Lanier is just over the 1,500-kills threshold (1,551) and is fifth among the NCAA’s active leaders in the category. They are two of just six active NCAA players with 1,500-career kills. Washington’s Kara Bajema is the latest Pac-12 student-athlete to reach the 1,000-kills threshold.
• Five from the Conference have over 1,000-career digs, all of which are seniors. Two-time Pac-12 Libero of the Year Morgan Hentz of Stanford has collected over 1,700 in her three seasons (1,860) to rank in the top 20 Pac-12 history and ranks eighth among the NCAA’s active leaders this season. Washington State’s Alexis Dirige, Washington’s Shayne McPherson, Utah’s Brianna Doehrmann and Arizona State’s Courtney Leffel have reached the threshold.
• Stanford’s Audriana Fitzmorris recorded her 500th block against Duke on Aug. 31 becoming just the 28th all-time in league history to hit the mark and is on the verge of breaking the all-time top 20 (524). She is one of three active in the NCAA have recorded 500-career blocks, ranking below USC’s Jasmine Gross, who has tallied 528 in her career, over 300 of those coming in her two years at Pepperdine.
• Eight AVCA All-Americans return from last year, including two-time AVCA National Player of the Year and Pac-12 Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer. She is one of just three Cardinal to earn multiple national player of the year nods and the first in the Conference since 2001 and 2002 (Logan Tom). Also back are 2018 first-team All-Americans Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz (STAN). Second-team All-Americans on the court in 2019 are Brooke Botkin (USC), Dani Drews (UTAH), Audrianna Fitzmorris (STAN) and Ronika Stone (ORE), as well as third-team All-American Kara Bajema (WASH).
• 10 of the 14 players named to the 2018 All-Pac-12 team return for 2018, including two-time Pac-12 Setter of the Year Jenna Gray. 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Raquel Lázaro was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 team as voted on by the league’s coaches.
• The Pac-12 welcomed back California head coach Sam Crosson who came to Berkeley after turning around a Cal Poly squad that made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018. Twice voted Big West Coach of the Year, he was an assistant coach on the 2010 team that made its only national championship match appearance in 2010. He has led the Golden Bears to their best start since 2011.
• The most tenured coach in the Pac-12 is Arizona’s David Rubio who is in his 28th season and who’s contract was extended through 2023. He is just the second coach in league history to have recorded 500-career wins. Head coach Beth Launiere is in her 30th season at the Utah helm, recently leading her team to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Pac-12 volleyball continues to attract marquee student-athletes. Five Pac-12 teams landed at least one Volleyball Magazine FAB 50 recruit with Stanford leading the nation with five top-50 recruits. The Ducks landed three, which ties for second-most in the country. Twelve named to the list will be donning a Pac-12 uniform this season.

PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL BROADCASTS
• In 2019, 93 Pac-12 regular-season volleyball matches will be televised this season, by far the most of any conference in the nation. Of those, 90 appear on the Pac-12 Networks beginning with a top-five showdown at Stanford with Texas on Sunday, Sept. 8.
• ESPN will also televise three Pac-12 matches, a pair of Cardinal road contests at Oregon (Oct. 4, ESPN2) and at UCLA (Oct. 25, ESPNU). ESPN2 will also televise UCLA at Colorado on Oct. 13.
• For a full television schedule, visit pac-12.com.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All Times Specific to Site)

P12N/P12A/P12BA/P12LA/P12M/P12O/P12W - Indicates live broadcast on Pac-12 Network. 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded standings)

PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

THIS WEEK: 
Offensive: Kara Bajema, Washington
Defensive: Avie Niece, Washington
Freshman: Kendall Kipp, Stanford

ALSO NOMINATED:
Offensive: Elizabeth Shelton, ARIZ; Andrea Mitrovic, ASU; Maddie Haynes, CAL; Meegan Hart, COLO; Ronika Stone, ORE; Kory Cheshire, OSU; Kathryn Plummer, STAN; Dani Drews, UTAH, Alexcis Lusby, WSU.
Defensive: Devyn Cross, ARIZ; Courtney Leffel, ASU; Rachel Whipple, COLO; Georgia Murphy, ORE; Grace Massey, OSU; Morgan Hentz, STAN; Magda Jehlarova, WSU.
Freshman: Kennedi Boyd, ASU; Sterling Parker, COLO; Kylie Robinson, ORE; Zoe Weatherington, UTAH; Alexcis Lusby, WSU.

2019 PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

IN THE PRESEASON

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