TOURNEY TIME: The No. 6 Stanford women’s volleyball team (23-6) began its quest for a seventh national championship by hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Maples Pavilion. The tournament’s eighth overall seed, the Cardinal swept New Mexico State in the opening round before falling in straight sets to Loyola Marymount in the second round.
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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: 2015 marked Stanford’s 35th 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 (109), made more Final Four appearances (19) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation.
A BUGG’S LIFE: Senior Madi Bugg was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year for the third straight season. The Apex, N.C., native led the Pac-12 with 11.05 assists per set and finished her career second on the program’s assists list (5,014). She joins Bryn Kehoe (5,956) and Wendy Rush (5,003) as the only Cardinal players to reach the 5,000 assists plateau.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Freshman opposite Hayley Hodson became the first Stanford player to be named the AVCA Freshman of the Year and is the 11th Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (first since Alix Klineman in 2007). She led the Cardinal in kills (3.82), aces (0.34) and points (4.52) per set this season, becoming the first freshman to lead the team in kills since Klineman.
AVCA ALL-AMERICANS: Four Cardinal players were named All-Americans by the AVCA, bringing Stanford’s total AVCA award count to 85 honors spread over 35 players. Freshman Hayley Hodson and redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz earned second team recognition, while seniors Madi Bugg and Brittany Howard were selected to the third team. It marks the third straight season in which the Cardinal has produced at least four All-Americans.
AVCA ALL-REGION: Hayley Hodson was tabbed the AVCA All-Pacfic North Region Freshman of the Year, while a total of four Stanford players earned all-region first team honors. Joining Hodson on the 14 player team were seniors Madi Bugg and Brittany Howard and redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz. Stanford led all schools in the Pacfic North Region with four selections to the first team.
PAC-12 HONORS: Five Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Seniors Brittany Howard and Madi Bugg were joined by redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz and freshman Hayley Hodson on the 18-player all-conference team. Hodson was also named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, while libero Halland McKenna nabbed all-freshman honorable mention honors.
PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 earned seven berths into the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the second-most behind the Big Ten (9). It is the 16th consecutive year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason and the 24th overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 106-38 (.736) record versus other conferences in 2015.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal had played 15 matches against the 2015 NCAA field, posting a 10-5 record prior to the postseason. Stanford went 7-3 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up non-conference wins over Final Four participant Minnesota, Illinois and Texas A&M.
CAREER MILESTONES: Senior outside hitter Brittany Howard, a four-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 averaged a career-best 3.05 kills and 3.56 points per set on a .304 attack percentage.
THE BURGESS FILE: A two-time All-American, Jordan Burgess became just the ninth Cardinal player to accumulate more than 1,000 career kills and digs. Burgess finished her career with 1,255 kills and moved into the top-10 in career digs with 1,320, which placed her fifth on the program’s career digs list.
BLOCKING DUO: Redshirt sophomores Ivana Vanjak, who transitioned to a middle blocker from an outside hitter at the beginning of the season, and Merete Lutz ranked sixth in the Pac-12 with 1.24 blocks per set each. Washington was the only other school in the conference with two players in the top-10 in blocks this season.
AJANAKU OUT: Stanford played the 2015 campaign without senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, the 2014 Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year. She missed the season after having surgery for an injury suffered playing with the U.S. National Team over the summer.
HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford’s senior class was 61-3 at Maples Pavilion during their careers. Two of the Cardinal’s three losses on its home court since 2012 came at the hands of USC, both in five sets (Oct. 30, 2013 and Sept. 27, 2015). Traditionally, Stanford has always protected its home court. The Cardinal is 210-20 at home under head coach John Dunning.
A STANFORD FIRST: For the first time in program history, three Stanford classmates, Inky Ajanaku (1,010), Jordan Burgess (1,255) and Brittany Howard (1,204), 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).
ALL-CENTURY TEAM: Stanford was well represented when the Pac-12 Networks revealed its Women’s Volleyball All-Century team, leading all schools with nine representative including the Player of the Century Logan Tom (1999-02). Also named to the list were Foluke Akinradewo (middle blocker, 2005-08), Kristin Folkl (outside hitter, 1994-97), Kristin Klein (outside hitter, 1988-91), Ogonna Nnamani (outside hitter, 2001-04), Bev Oden (middle blocker, 1989-92), Kim Oden (middle blocker, 1982-85), Lisa Sharpley (setter, 1994-97), and Kerri Walsh (outside hitter, 1996-99).
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford came in at No. 14 in the final AVCA poll of 2015 after dropping its second round NCAA match to Loyola Marymount. Nebraska claimed the top spot after taking home the NCAA title, while Texas, Minnesota, Kansas and USC round out the top 5. Four Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25 with Washington at No. 6 and UCLA coming in at No. 12.
PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Jordan Burgess was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the second Cardinal player to receive the honor since the award’s inception in 2008-09 when Cynthia Barboza won the inaugural award.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Hayley Hodson was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week five times this season, including three times in October (Aug. 31, Oct. 5, Oct. 12, Oct. 26, Nov. 30). Libero Halland McKenna nabbed the honor on Nov. 2, bringing the Cardinal’s total award count to 15 since the award’s inception in 2011 (the most all-time).
PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished third in the Pac-12 this season for the first time in program history. It marks the 28th top-3 standing in conference play in the past 30 seasons. Stanford has won 16 conference championships in the Pac-10/12 era, and 19 overall in program history. Stanford has claimed seven of the past 10 Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning.
TOP SENIOR: Jordan Burgess was 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. She was named to the Senior CLASS Award All-American First Team.
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 seven players garnered Pac-12 All-Academic accolades this season. Additionally, senior Jordan Burgess was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American (2014, 2015).
2015 IN REVIEW: Stanford went 23-7 this season and made its nation-best 35th NCAA Tournament appearance. Stanford had four players earn AVCA All-America honors - Hayley Hodson (Second Team), Merete Lutz (Second Team), Madi Bugg (Third Team) and Brittany Howard (Third Team). Additionally, Hodson was tabbed the AVCA Freshman of the Year, Volleyball Magazine Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-Pacific North Region Freshman of the Year and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Competing 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 15 Stanford teams to the national title match.
DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 30 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 861-178 (.829), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 424-76 in his 15 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.848).
