THIS WEEK: No. 4 Stanford (4-1) remains on the road, traveling to Champaign, Illinois for the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge. The Cardinal will face host Illinois (6-0) on Friday at 5 p.m. PT and will have a rematch against No. 3 Penn State (5-0) on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats and live stream links for the matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Friday's match will be streamed via Big Ten Network plus, while Saturday's match will be streamed by Illinois Athletics.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
SCOUTING ILLINOIS: Illinois is 6-0 to start the 2017 season, including a sweep over then-No. 24 Western Kentucky, and is receiving votes in the AVCA poll. Under the guidance of first-year head coach Chris Tamas, the Illini are hitting .327 as a team, while holding their opponents to a .077 clip. Illinois also posts 3.79 blocks per set, which is tops in the nation. Junior setter Jordyn Poulter controls the offense with 10.89 assists per set. Sophomore outside hitter leads the team with 3.95 kills per set, while junior middle blocker Ali Bastianelli adds 3.00 kills and 2.26 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE ILLINI: Stanford is a perfect 7-0 all-time against Illinois. The Cardinal won the most recent meeting in five sets at the 2016 Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Boulder, Colorado. Stanford's Audriana Fitzmorris tallied a career-best 20 kills on a career-high .559 attack percentage in that match, earning AVCA National Player of the Week honors for her efforts.
SCOUTING PENN STATE: Penn State moved up to No. 3 in the rankings this week with an unblemished 5-0 record. The Nittany Lions are hitting .368 as a team and holding their opponents to a .144 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Simone Lee was named the MVP of the Aggie Classic and is averaging 4.11 killson .355 hitting. Senior middle blocker Haleigh Washington adds 2.50 kills and 1.22 blocks per set, while senior outside hitter Ali Frantti records 2.18 kills on a .315 attack percentage and 2.24 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE NITTANY LIONS: One of the greatest rivalries in collegiate volleyball, Penn State holds an 11-9 advantage over Stanford in the all-time series. The Nittany Lions won last week's meeting in College Station, 3-1. Stanford's Kathryn Plummer led all players with a career-high 27 kills on .440 hitting, while Michaela Keefe had a career-best 15 kills.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford split its matches last weekend at the Aggie Classic, falling in four sets to then-No. 5 Penn State before sweeping host Texas A&M. Sophomore Kathryn Plummer was named the tournament's 'Best Attacker' after averaging 7.00 kills per set on .426 hitting. Sophomore Morgan Hentz was tabbed the 'Best Libero' with 4.47 digs per set. Sophomore setter Jenna Gray turned in 11.71 assists per set.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Stanford plays 13 of its first 17 matches away from Maples Pavilion. In fact, nine of its first 11 matches will be played on the road or at a neutral site.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford fell to No. 4 in the AVCA Poll this week after splitting last week's matches. Minnesota took over the top spot, followed by Florida and Penn State. Texas rounds out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 20, including No. 8 Washington, No. 11 UCLA, No. 14 Oregon, No. 18 Utah and No. 19 USC.
MISSING LUTZ: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz has missed the Cardinal's first five matches due to an ankle injury suffered in the team's last preseason practice. The three-time All-American is tied for sixth all-time at Stanford with a .358 career hitting percentage and is 21 blocks away from entering the program's top 10.
LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 and ranks third nationally with 5.38 kills per set. The outside hitter/opposite also paces the league and is third in the nation in points per set at 6.16.
GOING HOME: It will be a homecoming of sorts for head coach Kevin Hambly and wife, Mary, who is Stanford's director of operations. Coach Hambly spent the previous eight seasons at the helm of the Illinois program, while Mary was a standout for the Illini from 1995-98.
PRESEASON All-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections. Merete Lutz is being recognized for the third time in her career, while Audriana Fitzmorris, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer were also tabbed to the list.
BY THE NUMBERS: The 2016 season marked Stanford's 36th 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 (115), made more Final Four appearances (20) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. It's seventh NCAA title also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.
PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished tied for second in the Pac-12 in 2016 with UCLA at 15-5. It marked the 28th top-2 standing in conference play in the past 31 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 11 Pac-12 titles.
HEAD COACH KEVIN HAMBLY: Kevin Hambly was named the head coach of the Cardinal on Jan. 30, 2017 after spending eight seasons at the helm at Illinois. The 2011 Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year, Hambly led the Illini to six NCAA regional appearances and the 2011 national title match. He coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois.
