Women's Volleyball Pac-12 Conference

Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Weekly Rundown - Sept. 27, 2023

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The first week of Pac-12 play saw a handful of winning streaks continue. Arizona State went 2-0 to improve to 14-0 on the year and Stanford extended its conference winning streak to 20 straight dating back to last season, but one of those two streaks will come to an end quickly as the two squads are set to meet Thursday, Sept. 29 at Maples Pavilion at 6 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Insider.

It will be a matchup of ranked teams after Stanford moved up one spot to No. 3 and ASU entered the poll for the first time since 2018 at No. 25. Week two of the league slate is also highlighted by a second ranked contest, this one a top-10 showdown between No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Washington State in Eugene on Sunday at Noon on Pac-12 Insider. The Ducks have won six straight and the Cougars 11 straight heading into the second week of conference action.

LAST WEEK

  • No. 3 Stanford opened its league schedule against a then-unbeaten Cal squad and handed the Bears their first loss of the season in a 3-1 win in Berkeley, the Cardinal's sixth straight over its rival. Stanford capped the weekend with its 14th consecutive win over Colorado, a 3-0 sweep, improving its record to 27-1 all-time against the Buffs. The 2-0 week extended the Cardinal's Pac-12 winning streak to 20 dating back to last season when they fell to Oregon on the first weekend of conference play on Sept. 25, 2022 - their only league loss all year.
  • No. 6 Oregon turned in a strong conference start with sweeps over rival Oregon State at home and on the road against UCLA. The Ducks have won six straight, which includes three straight sweeps. Senior Karson Bacon helped the Oregon defense suffocate the Beavers and Bruins as the Ducks held their opponents to a .000 hitting percentage, with Bacon's 12 blocks leading the way en route to her second Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honor this year.
  • No. 7 Washington State ran its own winning streak to 11 consecutive matches, but it didn't come without challenge. After dominating rival Washington in a 3-0 sweep in their Pac-12 opener, the Cougars got a scare on the road in Tucson as Arizona pushed WSU to five sets before the Cougars ultimately came away with the victory.
  • The Sun Devils stayed on fire, picking up two more wins in the conference opening week at home, first a sweep over rival Arizona and a 3-1 win over visiting Washington. At 14-0 ASU is off to its third-best start in program history and the best under a first year head coach in J.J. Van Niel in program history. The Sun Devils have swept their opponents in 10 of 14 matches and lost just four total sets all season, and at 14 wins has now surpassed its win total of 13 from a year ago. Senior outside hitter Marta Levinska has been a force, earning her second straight Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honor after tallying 37 kills on .380 hitting across the two matches. After receiving votes for the last three weeks, ASU officially entered the rankings at No. 25, its first appearance since 2018.
  • California's dream start came to an end as the Bears went up against a formidable foe in top-five ranked Stanford, a 3-0 loss at home for their first defeat of the season, then fell again on the road, coming up just short of a reverse sweep at Utah. Despite the two losses to start league play, Cal's 11 wins are already four more than they had all of last season and the Bears have shown they will continue to be competitive throughout conference play.
  • After some struggles to start the season, USC is playing its best ball over the last three weeks with seven straight wins, which included a hard-fought five set win in the Crosstown Showdown against UCLA and a 3-0 home sweep over Oregon State to conclude the weekend. Freshman London Wijay has emerged as strong compliment in the attack to All-American Skylar Fields, and Wijay was particularly key to the win over the Bruins and she recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 24 kills and 10 digs, earning her a second consecutive Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor.
  • Colorado and Utah each split their opening matches, with the Buffs taking down the Utes 3-1 before suffering a sweep at the hands of Stanford and the Utes bouncing back from the Colorado loss with a 3-2 home win over California.
  • Oregon State, Washington, Arizona and UCLA joined California in the 0-2 department on the first week of Pac-12 meetings.

THIS WEEK

  • Week two of the Pac-12 schedule kicks off with No. 7 Washington State traveling to Corvallis to take on Oregon State on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. PT at Gill Coliseum. The Cougars will finish out the weekend with a huge showdown against No. 6 Oregon in Eugene on Sunday at Noon on Pac-12 Insider. The two squads split their matches in 2022, with each winning at home. The Ducks begin the week on Friday, Sept. 29 hosting Washington at 6 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network/Oregon/Washington, while the Beavers and the Huskies will meet on Sunday at Noon on Pac-12 Oregon.
  • The 25th-ranked Sun Devils will have their toughest test of the season as they travel to the Bay Area on Friday for a battle with No. 3 Stanford at 6 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Insider. ASU has only won once in 27 previous meeting at Maples Pavilion, but the Sun Devils do have some recent history on their side as that one victory came in 2020 and ASU has captured wins in two of the last five matches overall. Arizona and California will face off on Friday at 7 p.m. PT followed by California hosting Arizona State on Sunday at Noon and Stanford hosting Arizona, also on Sunday, at 1 p.m. PT.
  • The final weekend pairings feature Colorado and UCLA and Utah and USC going head-to-head on Friday night at 7 p.m. PT in Los Angeles, with the Buffs and Bruins on Pac-12 Los Angeles and the Utes and Trojans on Pac-12 Mountain. The teams will swap opponents for Sunday's weekend finale, with Utah visiting UCLA at Pauley Pavilion at Noon and Colorado heading to USC for a 1 p.m. PT matchup at the Galen Center.

FOUR IN LATEST AVCA TOP 25

  • For the first time since the initial preseason poll, four Pac-12 teams appear in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 poll, with three still sitting in the top 10 - No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Washington State - and No. 25 Arizona State joining the ranks for the first time since 2018.
  • The three top-10 teams are the most of any conference in the nation.
  • The Cardinal moved up one spot to No. 3 after a 2-0 start to league play with road wins over California and Colorado.
  • Oregon and Washington State stayed steady at No. 6 and No. 7 this week, respectively. The Ducks took care of business against Oregon State and UCLA, while Washington State took down its rival Washington and survived a valiant upset effort by Arizona on the road.
  • After starting the season at No. 17, the Cougars have made the biggest jump of any team this season, moving up 10 spots over the first five weeks. Last week's jump from No. 11 to No. 7 was the Cougars' first time in the top 10 since 2016.
  • USC, winners of seven straight, received 30 votes, while Washington failed to receive votes for the first time this season.

NCAA D1 TOP 10 RANKINGS

  • The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee revealed its first top-10 in-season rankings of 2023 on Sunday, Sept. 24. Three Pac-12 teams appeared in the top-10 with Stanford at No. 4, Washington State at No. 6 and Oregon at No. 7.
  • The Big 10 also has three teams in the top-10 in No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 Nebraska and No. 10 Minnesota.
  • Sunday's reveal was one of two in-season rankings scheduled for this year. The next top 10 will be announced during an Oct. 29 match between Washington and Oregon on ESPN2.

AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS (Team)

  • Through five weeks, five Pac-12 teams rank in the top 16 in hitting percentage, including four in the top 10, which is two more than any other conference in the country. Arizona State leads the nation (.343), Washington State is third (.316), Stanford is fifth (.306), Oregon is sixth (.303) and Colorado is 16th (.281).
  • Four teams are in the top 25 in kills per set, led by Stanford in fourth (14.39), Oregon in 16th (13.94), Arizona State in 21st (13.87) and California in 24th (13.81).
  • Stanford is the league's top-ranked blocks per set squad at seventh (2.92), with Oregon the next best at 10th (2.87) followed by Colorado in 15th (2.77).
  • Arizona State is third in the country with 2.56 aces per set, followed by Washington in seventh at 2.20 per set.
  • Stanford ranks third in assists per set (13.61) with Oregon in 14th (13.02), USC in 20th (12.89) and California in 25th (12.83).
  • Defensively, California and Arizona State are top 10 in opponent hitting percentage with the Bears in fifth (.136) and the Sun Devils in ninth (.143) in the country.

AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS (Individual)

  • Colorado's Avery Bolles ranks 26th in aces per set at 0.53 while Arizona State's Marta Levinska ranks 29th at 0.52.
  • Four rank in the top-25 in assists per set - Stanford's Kami Miner leads the country (11.55), Oregon's Hannah Pukis is 13th (10.72), Washington State's Argentina Ung is 17th (10.69) and Arizona State's Shannon Shields is 22nd (10.63).
  • USC's Skylar Fields is third in the country in attacks per set (12.96).
  • Oregon's Kara McGhee and Washington State's Magda Jehlarova rank 15th and 16th, respectively, in the country in blocks per set at 1.43 and 1.42. Stanford's McKenna Vicini is 23rd at 1.39.
  • Jehlarova ranks eighth in hitting percentage (.458) followed by in Colorado's Skyy Howard in 17th (.430).
  • USC's Fields owns the Pac-12's top kills per set average at 5.16, which ranks third in the country. Oregon's Mimi Colyer is 16th (4.36).
  • Fields (5.64) also has the conference's top points per set marl at 5.64, which is fourth in the nation, while Colyer ranks 13th at 5.12 and ASU's Levinska is 17th at 5.04.

BY THE NUMBERS

  • Arizona State (14-0) is one of just four teams in the country that remain unbeaten. The Big 10 has two in Nebraska (11-0) and Wisconsin (11-0) with SoCon's The Citadel (14-0) the other unbeaten program. The Sun Devils are tied with The Citadel for most wins in the country.
  • Stanford, who played six ranked teams out of nine non-conference games, has the fifth-toughest schedule in the country through the first five weeks. Utah is the next highest with the 13th-toughest schedule.
  • Washington State fifth year senior Magda Jehlarova is the NCAA's active career leader for total blocks with 661. Earlier this season, Jehlarova officially became Washington State's all-time blocks leader, breaking the old mark of 615 set by former Cougar Carrie Couturier from 1988-91. With 661, Jehlarova now sits alone in third place in Pac-12 history and needs just 96 to break the conference's all-time career record for blocks. Oregon's Kara McGhee , a transfer from Baylor, is second on the active list with 592.
  • On Sept. 18, Jehlarova earned her ninth career Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week award, giving her 10 combined defensive and offensive weekly awards to tie the conference record for most career weekly honors, matching former Washington standout Krista Vansant (2011-14).
  • USC's Skyar Fields ranks third on the active career leader list for kills with 1,756 total.
  • Oregon's Hannah Pukis ranks second on the active career list for total assists with 4,499, while Stanford's Kami Miner is currently fifth in the NCAA with an 11.45 career assists per set mark.
  • USC's Ellie Snook is fifth on the active career digs list with 2,246.
  • Cal freshman Maggie Li became the first freshman in Pac-12 history to start the season with three consecutive Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards. She is also the first ever Bear to earn a weekly award in three consecutive weeks.

NON-CONFERENCE WRAP

  • Pac-12 programs closed non-conference play at 96-31 (.756), the best mark among all leagues in 2023 (ACC .741, SEC .731; Big 12 .707; Big 10 .671), and a marked improvement over the last two seasons - 84-37 (.694) in 2022 and 78-36 (.684) in 2021.
  • The Pac-12 went 11-8 overall against opponents ranked in the Top-25 of the AVCA Poll, with its top-three ranked teams - Stanford, Oregon and Washington State, going 10-4 against ranked foes. The four losses all came against top-10 opponents, while eight of the 10 wins came on the road or at neutral sites.
  • USC added a ranked win on the road, taking down No. 17 Purdue on the final weekend of non-conference play.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

  • The Pac-12 announced the 2023 Women's Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team ahead of the upcoming season. 14 of the 15 members of the team were All-Pac-12 or All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selections in 2022.
  • Stanford led the way with six selections - three of which were individual award winners a year ago, reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year Kendall Kipp , Setter of the Year Kami Miner and Libero of the Year Elena Oglivie . Caitie Baird , Elia Rubin and Sami Francis rounded on the Cardinal on the list.
  • Washington State saw three voted onto the team in Magda Jehlarova , Pia Timmer and Arizona State transfer Iman Isanovic .
  • Oregon ( Mimi Colyer , Hannah Pukis ) and USC ( Skylar Fields, Mia Tuaniga ) collected two selections apiece while Arizona State ( Marta Levinska ) and UCLA ( Anna Dodson ) had one each.

STAR POWER RETURNING

  • Every 2022 Pac-12 individual award winner is back in 2023 - Player of the year Kendall Kipp (Stanford) ; Freshman of the Year Mimi Colyer (Oregon) ; Setter of the Year Kami Miner (Stanford) ; and Libero of the Year Elena Oglivie (Stanford) .
  • 12 of 18 All-Pac-12 selections return highlighted by four-time All-Pac-12 honoree Magda Jehlrov (Washington State).
  • Four of five 2022 AVCA First Team All-Americans return in 2023 ( Skylar Fields , USC; Magda Jehlarova , WSU; Kendall Kipp , STAN; Kami Miner (STAN); 2022 AVCA Second Team All-American Hannah Pukis (ORE) and third-team selection and AVCA National Freshman of the Year Mimi Colyer is also back for the Ducks. 2022 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selections Elena Oglivie (STAN) and Mia Tuaniga (USC) return as well.

NEW COACHING FACES

Half the league has a new face on the sideline as the Pac-12 will have six new head coaches in 2023 - two of which are alums of the programs they are taking over.

  • Arizona: Charita Stubbs , who played at Arizona from 1992-94, takes over after the retirement of longtime head coach Dave Rubio. Stubbs was the first player in Arizona history to record 300 kills, 300 digs and 100 blocks in one season and helped the program to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances.
  • Arizona State: JJ Van Niel comes to Tempe after servicing as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Utah and USC for the past eight years.
  • California: Crissy Jones Schoonderwoerd takes over as the interim head coach after former head man Sam Crosson resigned in July. Jones Schoonderwoerd is no stranger to the Pac-12 as she was an AVCA All-American and a three-time All-Pac-12 performer at Washington (2014-17), helping the Huskies to a pair of Elite Eight appearances.
  • Oregon State: Lindsey Behonick is new to the Pac-12 but brings a wealth of experience after serving as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh for the last 10 years. Pitt is fresh off back-to-back Final Four appearances and Behonick helped the program win four ACC Championships and compile a 258-62 record during her time there.
  • UCLA: After helping guide San Diego to a Final Four appearance last season as an assistant coach, Alfee Reft becomes just the fourth Bruin head coach in UCLA history. He previously served as an assistant coach at Illinois and Minnesota and currently serves as a season assistant coach for the U.S. Womens National Team.
  • Washington: Leslie Gabriel is the other alum to take over the program where she played. From 1995-1998 Gabriel was one of the best blockers in Pac-12 history and is third all-time in the Huskies record book with 613. Gabriel will get the chance to lead the Huskies after being on UWs staff through multiple head coaches since 2001, helping the Huskies to 21 straight NCAA tournament appearances and the 2005 National Championship.

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HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

  • Pac-12 institutions have won 17 of the 42 all-time NCAA championships in womens volleyball, four more than the next closest conference (Big Ten), and four of the past 12.
  • The Conference has had at least five teams earn NCAA Tournament bids in 24 consecutive seasons and eight postseason berths in five of the past 10 tournaments.
  • Four different Pac-12 teams have won at least one NCAA title (UCLA, USC, Stanford, Washington), double any other conference. The Big Ten (Nebraska, Penn State) and Big West (Hawaii, Long Beach State) are the only other leagues with multiple NCAA champions.
  • Seven different Pac-12 programs have made NCAA semifinal appearances since 2001 and 14 of the past 22 NCAA championship matches have included at least one Pac-12 program.
  • At least one Pac-12 team has played in 27 of the 42 NCAA title matches all-time, the most of any league. At least one Big Ten team has been in 22 NCAA finals all-time and a Big West team has played in the title match nine times.
  • Five NCAA title matches have been between two Pac-12 teams (2002, 1994, 1992, 1984, 1981). The only other conference to have an all-conference NCAA title match is the Big Ten, which has done so three times (2021, 2013, 2000).
  • A Pac-12 team has been one of the final four teams in all but six years of the NCAA tournament.
  • Since 2010, the Pac-12 has the second-most NCAA Tournament berths of any league with 94.
  • The Pac-12 has had 10 or more first, second and third-team All-America selections in 13 of the last 18 seasons. Thirteen former Pac-12 players have earned first, second or third-team All-America honors four times, while 30 players have earned All-America honors three times, with Magda Jehlarova (Washington State) garnering her third nod last season.
  • Since 1990, Pac-12 players garnered AVCA Player of the Year honors 15 times, including the seven of the last 12  - Californias Carli Lloyd (2010), USCs Alex Jupiter (2011), Oregons Alaina Bergsma (2012), Washingtons Krista Vansant (2013), USCs Samantha Bricio (2015) and Stanfords Kathryn Plummer (2017 and 2018). Overall, the Pac-12 has produced 16 student-athletes that have won AVCA Player of the Year, the most of any league. Thirteen Big Ten student-athletes have earned the honor, along with 10 from the Big West and one each from the Big 12 and WCC.
  • The Honda Sports Award for volleyball has been bestowed upon a Pac-12 athlete 21 times in its 47 years of existence, including eight of the past 12. The Big Ten has had 11 student-athletes earn the honor, the Big West seven, the SEC two and the Big 12, WCC, A-10 and MWC each one.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS ( Expanded Standings )

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
#25 Arizona State 2-0 14-0
#6 Oregon 2-0 12-1
#7 Washington State 2-0 12-1
#3 Stanford 2-0 9-2
(RV) USC 2-0 8-4
Colorado 1-1 9-4
Utah 1-1 6-6
California 0-2 11-2
Washington 0-2 9-4
UCLA 0-2 8-4
Oregon State 0-2 5-7
Arizona 0-2 5-8

UPCOMING SCHEDULE ( Full Schedule )

Thursday, Sept. 28 TV/Stream Time (PT)
No. 7 Washington State at Oregon State 7:00 p.m. PT
Friday, Sept. 29
No. 25 Arizona State at No. 3 Stanford Pac-12 Insider 6:00 p.m. PT
Washington at No. 6 Oregon Pac-12 Network/Oregon/Washington 6:00 p.m. PT
Arizona at California CAL Live Stream 7:00 p.m. PT
Colorado at UCLA Pac-12 Los Angeles 7:00 p.m. PT
Utah at (RV) USC Pac-12 Mountain 7:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, Oct. 1
No. 25 Arizona State at California CAL Live Stream 12:00 p.m. PT
Utah at UCLA UCLA Live Stream 12:00 p.m. PT
No. 7 Washington State at No. 6 Oregon Pac-12 Insider 12:00 p.m. PT
Washington at Oregon State Pac-12 Oregon 12:00 p.m. PT
Arizona at No. 3 Stanford STAN Live Stream 1:00 p.m. PT
Colorado at (RV) USC USC Live Stream 1:00 p.m. PT

2023 PAC-12 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

Offensive Defensive Freshman
Aug. 28 Mimi Colyer, ORE Karson Bacon, ORE Maggie Li, CAL
Sept. 4 Kendall Kipp, STAN Kami Miner, STAN Maggie Li, CAL
Sept. 11 Skylar Fields, USC Elena Oglivie, STAN Maggie Li, CAL
Sept. 18 Marta Levinska, ASU Magda Jehlrov, WSU London Wijay, USC
Sept. 25 Marta Levinska, ASU Karson Bacon, ORE London Wijay, USC