Regular Season Finales
THIS WEEK: The top-ranked Stanford women’s volleyball team (28-0, 18-0 Pac-12) travels to Seattle to face No. 5 Washington (27-2, 16-2 Pac-12) on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m. PT and to Berkeley, Calif., on Nov. 28 to take on rival California (9-19, 1-17 Pac-12) on Friday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. PT
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Both matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Live stats for the matches can be found on the women’s volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Live updates will also be available on Twitter (@StanfordWVB).
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SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington (27-2, 16-2 Pac-12) is coming off sweeps at home over the Arizona schools last week after falling in five sets at both Colorado and Utah the week before. The Huskies lead the conference in blocks (3.02), aces (1.53) and opponent hitting percentage (.172) on the season. Senior outside hitter Krista Vansant, the reigning AVCA National Player of the Year, is third in the Pac-12 in points (5.26), fourth in kills (4.62) and eighth in aces (0.26). Senior Kaleigh Nelson adds 2.40 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while freshman Tia Scambray averages 2.37 kills and 2.03 digs. Junior Lianna Sybeldon leads the conference in blocks (1.60) and ranks third in hitting percentage (.389).
THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford is 50-12 all-time against Washington. Wednesday marks the lone meeting of the season between the two programs. The teams split the season series in 2013, as Washington won in five on its home court, while Stanford got the sweep in Maples Pavilion. Since 2011, the Stanford-Washington match in Seattle has gone to five sets.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA: Cal enters the week with a 9-19 overall record and a 1-17 mark in the Pac-12 with its lone win coming at then-No. 21 USC on Nov. 14. The Bears are hitting .213 as a team and registering 2.04 blocks per set. Senior Christina Higgins leads the squad and ranks eighth in the conference with 3.78 kills per set and ninth with 4.03 points per set. Sophomore setter Alyssa Jensen is third in the Pac-12 with 11.21 assists per set, while sophomore libero Maddy Kerr anchors the defense with 4.11 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE GOLDEN BEARS: The Cardinal holds a 66-11 overall record versus the Golden Bears. Stanford swept Cal in the first edition of the Big Spike this season. Junior Inky Ajanaku led the Cardinal with 14 kills on a .632 attack percentage in the first meeting. Cal senior Christina Higgins had 13 kills for the Bears.
HOT START: This season, Stanford went undefeated in nonconference regular season matches for the seventh time since 1986. The Cardinal (28-0) set a new program record for consecutive wins to start a season, breaking the previous mark of 27 set by the 1991 team.
LEADING THE NATION: Junior setter Madi Bugg’s 12.01 assists per set are a nation-best. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Merete Lutz is third nationally with a .451 hitting percentage, while junior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku is fifth with a .446 clip.
RPI: The Cardinal continues to hold the No. 1 spot in the RPI this week. In total, 10 Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 50 (No. 4 Washington, No. 8 Oregon, No. 13 Arizona, No. 17 UCLA, No. 23 USC, No. 24 Colorado, No. 35 Oregon State, No. 41 Arizona State and No. 46 Utah).
IT’S OUR ANNIVERSARY: The 2014 season marks the 10-year anniversary of the Cardinal’s most recent NCAA title (2004), the 20th anniversary of the 1994 NCAA championship and the 30th anniversary of its 1984 Final Four squad.
DIGS RECORD: Senior libero Kyle Gilbert (1,901) moved into second place on the Cardinal’s career digs list past Kristin Richards (2003-06) with 16 digs against Oregon on Oct. 3. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the Stanford record and ranks fifth all-time in the Pac-12 with 2,147 career digs.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Junior setter Madi Bugg recently moved into fifth place on the Cardinal’s career assists list (3,487), passing Lindsay Kagawa (3,407). She is also sixth all-time with 10.57 assists per set. Junior Inky Ajanaku moved into the Cardinal’s top-10 for career blocks (406), passing Nancy Reno (1984-87) who had 403.
SENIOR STATEMENT: After playing sparingly her first three seasons on The Farm, opposite Morgan Boukather (human biology) is making the most of her senior season. She is posting career highs in kills (2.58 kps), digs (2.19 dps), points (3.09 pps) and hitting percentage (.292).
PAC-12 NUMBERS: Stanford leads the Pac-12 in conference matches this season in hitting percentage (.305), opponent hitting percentate (.182) and kills (15.10). The Cardinal also ranks second in Pac-12 matches in assists (14.03), blocks (2.50) and digs (17.22).
BY THE NUMBERS: The Stanford women’s volleyball program has won more NCAA Tournament matches (104), made more Final Four appearances (18) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation. The Cardinal has captured 18 conference championships and produced 30 or more wins on 16 occasions. Stanford, along with Penn State, has won the most NCAA titles (6) and appeared in all 33 NCAA Tournaments, having won all 33 of its first-round matches.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford continues to hold the top spot in the AVCA poll, garnering all 60 first-place votes. Wisconsin, Texas, Penn State and Washington round our the top 5. Eight Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25 (No. 1 Stanford, No. 5 Washington, No. 13 Oregon , No. 14 Arizona, No. 17 UCLA, No. 18 Colorado, No. 22 Arizona State and No. 23 Utah).
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Now in his 14th season at the helm of the Cardinal program, head coach John Dunning is one of the most accomplished coaches in the collegiate volleyball world. Dunning has four national championships under his belt, has taken teams to nine Final Fours and carried six of his 13 Stanford teams to the national title match.
MILESTONE FOR DUNNING: John Dunning secured his 800th career win on Nov. 22, 2013 against Washington State. In 29 years as a head coach, he is 833-169 (.831), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top-5 all-time for Division I coaches. Dunning is 396-67 in his 13 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.855).