Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Weekly Release - Sept. 14, 2021

Schedule // Standings // Statistics // NCAA Statistics

WEEK 4 SCHEDULE

• The final week of non-conference action for Pac-12 Women's Volleyball will feature 26 matches from Tuesday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 19.
• Of the 26, only four ranked opponents and two Power Conference foes are on the docket.
• Pac-12 play will begin next Wednesday, Sept. 22 with five Conference matches.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS

• No. 6 Nebraska at No. 16 STANFORD - Tuesday - 5 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Networks)
• No. 10 UTAH at No. 15 BYU - Thursday - 6 p.m. PT (BYUtv)
• No. 21 San Diego at USC - Friday - 6 p.m. PT (Pac-12 Networks)
• No. 16 STANFORD at No. 8 Kentucky - Monday - 10 a.m. PT (SEC Network)

EARLY RESULTS

• Pac-12 teams are a combined 60-29 (.678) through the season’s first three weeks, headlined by lone league unbeaten COLORADO (7-0), which has set a school record for most wins to start a season.
• The Pac-12 split its eight matches against ranked opponents last week with Oregon (3-0 vs. then No. 18 Penn State), Stanford (3-2 vs. then No. 18 Penn State), Utah (3-2 at then No. 3 Nebraska) and Washington (3-1 vs. then-No. 22 Pepperdine) all picking up one ranked win.
• The Utes earned their best true road victory in program history with the stunning 3-2 comeback victory at then No. 3 Nebraska.
• The Pac-12 is a combined 5-9 versus Top 25 opponents and 12-16 against Power 5 foes so far in 2021.

KEY PERFORMERS

• UTAH's Dani Drews took home both the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honor as well as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week following her sterling efforts in wins over Weber State and Nebraska.

AVCA RANKINGS

• Six Pac-12 women’s volleyball teams are ranked in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 revealed on Sept. 14. The Conference’s six programs in the poll are tied with the Big Ten for the most among all leagues.
• COLORADO made its season debut in the poll at No. 25 for its first appearance in the AVCA Top 25 since Sept. 9, 2019.
• WASHINGTON leads the group at No. 7, while UTAH jumped 10 spots to No. 10 following its top-10 triumph at Nebraska. No. 13 OREGON, No. 16 STANFORD and No. 19 UCLA round out the Pac-12's poll presence.

OLYMPIANS MADE HERE

• Four Pac-12 volleyball alumnae were Olympians at the recently concluded Summer Games in Tokyo and three were gold medalists.
• Four-time All-American and 2010 Pac-10 Player of the Year Alix Klineman (STANFORD) won a beach volleyball gold medal for the United States playing with April Ross (USC), a three-time All-American and the 2003 Pac-10 Player of the Year.
• Sarah Sponcil, who was an AVCA All-America honorable mention selection at UCLA in 2017, was also a beach volleyball Olympian along with USC's Kelly Claes. Claes did not play indoor volleyball during her collegiate career.
• STANFORD's Foluke Akinradewo, a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year (2007 and 2008), 2007 AVCA Player of the Year and four-time All-American, helped Team USA take home an Olympic indoor gold medal for the first time. Fellow Cardinal Kathryn Plummer, herself a two-time AVCA Player of the Year (2017 and 2018) was an alternate on that U.S. roster. 
• WASHINGTON's Tamari Miyashiro was an assistant coach of UCLA alumnus Karch Kiraly for Team USA, and legendary UCLA softball head coach Sue Enquist was also on staff as a consultant.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

• Pac-12 institutions have won 17 of the 40 all-time NCAA championships in women’s volleyball, five more than the next closest conference, and four of the past 10.
• The Conference has had at least five teams earn NCAA Tournament bids in 22 consecutive seasons and boasts eight postseason berths in five of the past eight tournaments.
• The Pac-12 has had 10 or more first, second and third-team All-America selections in 12 of the last 16 seasons.
• Eleven former Pac-12 players have earned first, second or third-team All-America honors four times, while 26 players have earned All-America honors three times, with Dani Drews garnering her third nod this past spring.
• Since 1990, Pac-12 players garnered AVCA Player of the Year honors 15 times, including the seven of the last 11 - CALIFORNIA’s Carli Lloyd (2010), USC’s Alex Jupiter (2011), OREGON’s Alaina Bergsma (2012), WASHINGTON’s Krista Vansant (2013), USC’s Samantha Bricio (2015) and STANFORD’s Kathryn Plummer (2017 and 2018).
• The Honda Sports Award for volleyball has been bestowed upon a Pac-12 athlete 21 times in its 45 years of existence, including most recently STANFORD’s Jenna Gray in 2019.