TOURNEY TIME: The No. 1 Stanford women’s volleyball team (33-1) began its quest for a seventh national championship at home in Maples Pavilion defeating CSU Bakersfield and Michigan State. The tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, the Cardinal then won the Ames Regional by defeating Oregon State (3-1) and No. 8 seed Florida (3-0). Stanford now faces No. 5 seed Penn State, the defending national champion and winners of five of the last seven titles, on Thursday, Dec. 18 in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. PT at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
Thursday, Dec. 18
Match #1 - 4 p.m. PT | ESPN2
BYU (29-4) vs. No. 2 Texas (27-2), 3-1
Chesapeake Energy Arena | Oklahoma City, Okla.
Match #2 - 6:30 p.m. PT | ESPN2
No. 5 Penn State (34-3) vs. No. 1 Stanford (33-1)
Chesapeake Energy Arena | Oklahoma City, Okla.
Saturday, Dec. 20
Match #3 - 4:30 p.m. PT | ESPN2
Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2
Chesapeake Energy Arena | Oklahoma City, Okla.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Thursday’s national semifinal will be televised on ESPN2 or on the WatchESPN app. 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).
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
SCOUTING PENN STATE: Penn State (34-3) has reached the NCAA semifinals for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, winning five national championships. The Nittany Lions lead the nation with a .348 team hitting percentage. Penn State is on an 18-match winning streak, and had won 48 straight sets until dropping the first set of the Louisville Regional Final against Wisconsin. Senior setter Micha Hancock, who is from Edmond, Okla., controls the offense with 11.53 assists per set. She also averages 1.16 kills, 1.03 aces and 1.86 digs per set. Freshman Ali Frantti leads the team with 3.21 kills per set on a .313 attack percentage, while senior middle Nia Grant is hitting .442 and averages 2.34 kills and 1.11 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE NITTANY LIONS: Stanford evened the all-time series against Penn State at 8-8 with a five-set win over the Nittany Lions on Sept. 5 at Maples Pavilion. Senior Morgan Boukather led the team with 15 kills, 12 digs and four blocks, while Inky Ajanaku added 14 kills and four blocks. Penn State freshman Ali Frantti had a match-high 22 kills. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This marks Stanford’s 34th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance. The Cardinal is one of only two programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA Championship began in 1981 (Penn State is the other). Stanford has won more NCAA Tournament matches (108), made more Final Four appearances (19) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation. The Cardinal has captured 19 conference championships and produced 30 or more wins on 17 occasions. Stanford, along with Penn State, has won the most NCAA titles (6).
IN THE NATIONAL SEMIS: John Dunning is making his 11th NCAA semifinal appearance as a head coach. He is 9-1 in national semifinal matches, falling to Penn State in 1999 as the head coach at Pacific. He is 6-0 in the semifinals as the head coach of the Cardinal.
IT’S A BUGG’S LIFE, AGAIN: Junior Madi Bugg was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year for the second straight season. The Apex, N.C., native leads the nation with 12.11 assists per set. She is second on the team with 14 double-doubles this season.
ALL-REGION: Stanford placed a program record six players on the AVCA All-Pacific North Region teams. Three-time honoree junior Inky Ajanaku was joined on the all-region team by senior libero Kyle Gilbert, junior Madi Bugg, junior Jordan Burgess and redshirt freshman Merete Lutz. Senior opposite Morgan Boukather received honorable mention recognition.
PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 earned 10 berths into the 2014 NCAA Tournament, a league record and the most by any conference in the nation. It is the 15th consecutive year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason and the 23rd overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 113-19 (.856) record versus other conferences during the regular season and are 17-9 in the NCAA tournament.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal played 24 matches against the 2014 NCAA field, posting a 23-1 record during the regular season. Stanford went 16-1 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up non-conference wins over Iowa State, Nebraska, Penn State, Illinois, Duke, Santa Clara and San Diego.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal secured the Pac-12 title outright after sweeping Cal in the regular season finale for its 16th conference championship in the Pac-10/12 era, and the 19th overall for the program. Stanford has claimed seven of the past nine Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning. Since 1986, the Cardinal has finished either first or second in the conference in 27 of 29 seasons.
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.
HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford enjoyed the confines of Maples Pavilion this season, going 17-0 at home. Since 2012, Stanford holds a 47-1 record in Maples Pavilion.
1000 CLUB: Junior Jordan Burgess became the 15th Stanford women’s volleyball player to reach the 1,000 career kills milestone, doing so in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Michigan State. She also has collected 1,000 career digs, only the ninth player in school history to hit both marks. Teammate Inky Ajanaku joined her in the 1,000 career kills club during the Cardinal’s regional final sweep over Florida.
LEADING THE NATION: Junior setter Madi Bugg’s 12.11 assists per set are a nation-best. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Merete Lutz is third nationally with a .445 hitting percentage, while junior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku is fifth with a .438 clip.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sophomore setter Kelsey Humphreys, used primarily as a serving specialist this season, is the daughter of former Cardinal Wendy Rush (1984-87). Rush was a four-time All-American at Stanford and has been inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.
DIGS RECORD: Senior libero Kyle Gilbert (1,999) 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. Gilbert has 589 digs this season, ranking second on the school’s single season list.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Junior setter Madi Bugg recently moved into fifth place on the Cardinal’s career assists list (3,751), passing Lindsay Kagawa (3,407). She is tied for fourth all-time with 10.69 assists per set. Junior Inky Ajanaku moved into ninth on the Cardinal’s career blocks list with 432, passing Nancy Reno (1984-87) and Barbara Ifejika (1994-97).
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 (2.54 kps), digs (2.14 dps), points (3.07 pps) and hitting percentage (.278).
TAKING ON THE BEST: Once again, head coach John Dunning lined up one of the most challenging schedules in the nation for the Cardinal. Stanford played 10 regular-season matches against teams ranked in the preseason poll, and 22 against teams that appeared in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Overall, Stanford is 18-1 against ranked opponents this season.
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 11 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, and his 400th win at Stanford on Dec. 12, 2014 versus Oregon State. In 30 years as a head coach, he is 838-170 (.831), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top-5 all-time for Division I coaches. Dunning is 401-68 in his 14 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.855).
