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Al Chang/Stanford Athletics
Women's Volleyball

Back on The Farm

No. 2 Stanford (15-2, 8-0 Pac-12)
vs. No. 14 Washington (15-4, 5-3 Pac-12) | Thurs. • 8 p.m. PT
vs. Washington State (13-7, 2-6 Pac-12) | Sat. • 7 p.m. PT
Television • ESPNU | Live Stream
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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PROMOTIONS: Thursday is Stanford's pink match presented by Stanford Medicine to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Cardinal is auctioning off game-worn pink jerseys with all proceeds being donated to the Stanford Women's Cancer Center – Breast Cancer Program. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show their support. Saturday is Hometown Heroes' Day as all first responders will receive free admission with a valid ID. More information at gostanford.com/wvbpromotions.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington enters the week tied for fourth in the Pac-12 standings at 5-3. The Huskies played two five-set matches last week without starting setter Bailey Tanner (10.67 aps), defeating Oregon before falling to Oregon State at home. Washington paces the Pac-12 in blocks (3.22) and ranks second in aces (1.51) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.181). Senior Tia Scambray, who has played the majority of the season at libero, switched back to outside hitter last week and recorded two double-doubles for the Huskies.

THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford leads the all-time series against Washington 53-14. The Cardinal won both matches against the Huskies last season, including a sweep at Maples Pavilion on Oct. 26. Washington's most recent win over Stanford was on Nov. 12, 2015 in Seattle.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: The Cougars are tied for ninth in the Pac-12 with California and Arizona at 2-6. Washington State is second in the league in blocks (3.10) and opponent hitting percentage (.170). Junior outside hitter Taylor Mims leads the team and ranks seventh in the Pac-12 with 3.72 kills and 4.34 points per set. Junior McKenna Woodford adds 2.81 kills and 1.79 digs per set, while junior Ella Lajos is fifth in the Pac-12 with a .342 attack percentage and averages 1.16 blocks per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 58-4 overall against Washington State, splitting the season series in 2016. The Cardinal's fourth loss in program history came on Sept. 30, 2016 in five sets in Pullman. Prior to last season, the Cougars had defeated the Cardinal since Nov. 16, 2002.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford has won 10 straight matches after defeating UCLA and USC on the road last week. Kathryn Plummer averaged 4.25 kills and 5.63 points per set in the two matches, while serving a career-best eight aces against the Bruins. Merete Lutz led all players with 15 kills on .609 hitting in the win over the Trojans.
 


ROAD TESTED: The Cardinal played 13 of its first 17 matches away from Maples Pavilion. In fact, nine of its first 11 matches were played on the road or at a neutral site. Stanford is 9-0 this season in road matches. Seven of its final 12 matches will be at Maples Pavilion.

STRAIGHT SETS: Twelve of Stanford's first 15 wins of the season have come in straight sets. The only sets the Cardinal has lost in a win were at No. 25 Colorado (Sept. 24), at No. 12 UCLA (Oct. 13) and at No. 19 USC (Oct. 15).

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved back up to No. 2 in the AVCA Poll this week, earning 12 first-place votes. Penn State is the new No. 1, while Texas, Florida and Minnesota round out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 20, including No. 12 Utah, No. 13 UCLA, No. 14 Washington, No. 15 Oregon and No. 19 USC.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz 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 seventh all-time at Stanford with a .356 career hitting percentage and moved into the program's top 10 in career blocks with 443.

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 and ranks ninth nationally with 4.69 kills per set, and also paces the league and is fourth in the nation in points per set at 5.47. Sophomore Jenna Gray leads the conference with 11.74 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is tops in the Pac-12 with a .401 attack percentage.
 


SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATE: Fifth-year senior Merete Lutz has been named a top 30 candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz set a single season Stanford record as a rookie with 630 total digs (4.88 dps). She leads the Cardinal this season and is seventh in the Pac-12, averaging 3.62 digs per set and has tallied double-digit digs in 11 of the team's first 17 matches.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Twins Caitlin and Michaela Keefe are the daughters of Stanford Hall of Famers Adam Keefe and Kristin (Klein) Keefe. Their father played basketball (1988-1991) and volleyball (1988-1990), and was the 10th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1992 NBA draft, playing professionally for the Hawks, Jazz, Warriors and overseas in Spain. Their mother was a four-time AVCA All-American (1988-1992) and a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz recorded her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 27 against Arizona State. She became just the 18th Cardinal player since 1986 to accomplish that feat.
 


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.