Cardinal And Bears Await Huskies In Bay
THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11
#13 Washington at #20 Stanford • 7:00 pm
Stanford, Calif. • Maples Pavilion
Live on Pac-12 Networks Bay Area | Live Stats
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14
#13 Washington at California • 12:00 pm
Berkeley, Calif. • Haas Pavilion
Live on Pac-12 Networks Washington | Live Stats
SEATTLE -- Washington faces another lengthy road trip, its final two-stop trip of the regular season, this week in the Bay Area. The 13th-ranked Huskies get their eighth top-25 match-up of the season on Thursday night, at 7 p.m., visiting 20th-ranked Stanford at Maples Pavilion. After two off days, UW takes on California in Berkeley at Haas Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 12 noon. Both matches will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks, Thursday on the Pac-12 Bay Area channel, Sunday on Pac-12 Washington.
The Huskies are coming off a pair of impressive home sweeps to get to 18-4 on the year and 11-3 in conference. With six matches remaining, UW is in second-place, one game behind UCLA and one game ahead of Washington State. Washington remained 18th nationally in the RPI this week, and dropped a spot in the coaches poll despite two sweeps.
The Cardinal are 13-9 and 8-6 in league play, having had multiple starters out of the lineup recently, and losing four straight starting with a loss to the Huskies in Seattle on Oct. 24. But Stanford got many of its starters back into the mix last week and defeated Oregon State in its most recent match. Caitie Baird continues to rank third in the Pac-12 with 4.01 kills per set on a .266 percentage. Kendall Kipp, back after missing several matches, remains the most efficient outside hitters in the league with a .326 attack percentage. Kami Miner leads the league with 11.23 assists per set, and Elena Oglivie, who played some outside hitter in recent matches, is third in the Pac-12 with 4.34 digs per set. McKenna Vicini's 1.32 blocks per set also ranks third. Washington has won four in a row against Stanford, but the past three have been in Seattle. UW's last trip to Stanford came in 2019 when the Huskies were able to upset then-No. 1 Stanford for their first win in Maples since 2007.
The Bears remain in search of their first conference win but they battled the Huskies in a close four sets back in the first meeting in Seattle. Marin Grote's sister Lydia Grote has averaged 2.57 kills per set since joining the lineup eight matches ago. Katie Smoot is posting 3.09 kills per set, while Bella Bergmark ranks among the Pac-12 leaders with a .381 attack percentage. Mima Mirkovic is posting 3.20 digs per set. The Bears rank sixth in conference play with 1.28 aces per set and fourth with 14.09 digs per set. Washington has currently won 17 in a row over the Bears, including two matches in Haas Pavilion last spring.