Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
THIS WEEK: The sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (17-5, 11-3 Pac-12) continues its four-match road trip at No. 3 Washington (22-2, 12-2 Pac-12) on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. PT and at Washington State (14-12, 3-11 Pac-12) on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. PT.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday's match will air on ESPNU while Sunday's match will air only on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Washington.
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SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington enters the week in second place in the Pac-12 with a 12-2 mark. The Huskies lead the conference in hitting percentage (.311), opponent hitting percentage (.133) and blocks (3.03). Senior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon leads the nation with a .480 attack percentage and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with 1.31 blocks per set. Senior Melanie Wade (.363) and sophomores Carly DeHoog (.352) and Courtney Schwan (.350) all rank in the top-10 in the conference in hitting percentage. Senior libero Cassie Strickland is fourth in the Pac-12 with 4.32 digs and sixth with 0.30 aces per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford leads the all-time series against Washington, 51-13. The Cardinal handed the Huskies their second loss of the season on Oct. 21, outlasting Washington in a five-set thriller. Freshman Hayley Hodson recorded a career-high 25 kills, while Merete Lutz added 13 kills and seven blocks for the Cardinal.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars (14-12, 3-11) have dropped their last seven matches, including at the Arizona schools last week. Washington State is second in the Pac-12 with 1.44 aces per set and ranks fourth in blocks (2.85) and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.176). Junior outside hitter Kyra Holt paces the squad and is fourth in the conference with 4.63 points and fifth with 4.04 kills per set. Junior setter Haley MacDonald is fourth with 10.18 assists per set and fifth with 0.31 aces per set. Freshman outside hitter McKenna Woodford adds 3.20 kills and 1.67 digs per set, while senior libero Kate Sommer is third in the conference with 4.51 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 56-3 overall against Washington State. The Cardinal has won 25 straight versus the Cougars, including a 3-0 sweep at Maples on Oct. 23. Senior Brittany Howard led the team with 12 kills, hitting .370. However, the Cougars were playing without junior outside hitter Kyra Holt. The last time WSU defeated the Cardinal was in 2002 in Pullman.
A BUGG'S LIFE: Senior Madi Bugg was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year for the second straight season in 2014. The Apex, N.C., native leads the Pac-12 with 10.95 assists per set and recently passed Carrie Feldman (1989-92) for third place on the program's career assists list (4,674).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: Senior outside hitter Jordan Burgess racked up 19 double-doubles to lead the team in 2014. The human biology major became just the ninth Cardinal player to accumulate more than 1,000 career kills and digs. Burgess now has 1,190 kills and moved into the top-10 in career digs with 1,264 digs. She needs just 22 digs to pass Kerri Walsh for sixth on the program's career digs list.
CAREER MILESTONES: Senior outside hitter Brittany Howard, a three-year starter and all-conference selection, registered her 1,000th career kill at Arizona State (Oct. 2), becoming the 17th player in program history to accomplish that feat. At Utah (Oct. 16), she became the 10th Cardinal player to accumulate 1,000 career kills and digs. This season, Howard is averaging a career-best 3.99 kills per set on a .299 attack percentage.
TOP RECRUIT: Freshman opposite Hayley Hodson begins her career at Stanford after being tabbed the No. 1 overall recruit in the nation in 2015 by Volleyball Magazine. Hodson already has national team experience, most recently winning a gold medal at the 2015 Pan America Cup in Lima, Peru. She leads the Cardinal in kills (3.85) and points (4.56) per set this season. She is the first freshman to lead the team in kills since Alix Klineman, who was the 2007 Volleyball Magazine National Freshman of the Year.
A STANFORD FIRST: For the first time in program history, three Stanford classmates, Inky Ajanaku (1,010), Jordan Burgess (1,190) and Brittany Howard (1,115), have each registered 1,000 career kills. Other classmates to reach the milestone include Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza ('09) and Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat ('14).
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 6 in the AVCA poll this week after sweeping the Oregon schools on the road last week. The top 5 remained unchanged: No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Texas. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 10.
TOP SENIOR: Jordan Burgess is one of 10 finalists in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award, which is based on notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Hayley Hodson has been named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four out of the 10 weeks this season, including three times in October (Aug. 31, Oct. 5, Oct. 12, Oct. 26). Libero Halland McKenna nabbed the honor on Nov. 2, bringing the Cardinal's total award count to 14 since the award's inception in 2011 (the most all-time).
DEFENDING PAC-12 CHAMPS: The Cardinal secured the Pac-12 title outright after sweeping Cal in the 2014 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.
IN THE CLASSROOM: Not only does the team perform well on the court, but the Cardinal also represents in the classroom. Stanford was one of three Pac-12 teams to earn the AVCA's Team Academic Award, while all five returning starters earned Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention in 2014. Additionally, senior Jordan Burgess was a CoSIDA Academic All-American last season and earned Academic All-District First Team honors this season.
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Now in his 15th 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 10 Final Fours and carried six of his 14 Stanford teams to the national title match.
DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 30 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 855-176 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 418-74 in his 14-plus seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.850).