Four-Match Road Swing AheadFour-Match Road Swing Ahead
Karen Ambrose Hickey
Women's Volleyball

Four-Match Road Swing Ahead

No. 2 Stanford (11-2, 4-0 Pac-12)
at No. 16 Oregon (9-3, 2-2 Pac-12) | Fri. • 8 p.m. PT
at Oregon State (10-6, 0-4 Pac-12) | Sun. • 1 p.m. PT
Television • ESPNU | Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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SCOUTING OREGON: Oregon is coming off a split on the road last week, defeating Utah in five sets before falling at Colorado in four. The Ducks are third in the Pac-12 with a .284 team hitting percentage. They are also third with 14.36 kills per set and 1.39 aces per set. Sophomore Ronika Stone is second in the conference with a .410 attack percentage and fifth with 0.39 aces per set. Junior Lindsey Vander Weide is eighth in the league with 3.50 kills and 3.97 points per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE DUCKS: Stanford holds a 57-4 all-time record against Oregon. The Cardinal has won nine in a row over the Ducks, including a sweep in the lone meeting in 2016. Oregon's most recent win came on Nov. 18, 2011, a five-setter at Stanford.

SCOUTING OREGON STATE: Oregon State is still searching for its first Pac-12 Conference win. The Beavers dropped a five-setter at Colorado before being swept by Utah last week. OSU is third in the league in digs (15.02) and fifth in hitting percentage (.265) and aces (1.24). Senior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall leads the team and is third in the Pac-12 with 4.54 kills and 5.16 points per set. Freshman setter Kylee McLaughlin controls the offense with 10.63 assists per set, while junior libero Kayla Ellis is sixth in the conference with 3.61 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE BEAVERS: Stanford is a perfect 64-0 all-time against Oregon State. The Cardinal swept the Beavers in Corvallis in the only meeting between the two squads in 2016.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford posted sweeps over Arizona State and Arizona at home last week. Kathryn Plummer led the team with 4.17 kills per set on .353 hitting, while Tami Alade had 2.67 kills and 2.00 blocks per set. Setter Jenna Gray dished out 11.83 assists per set while leading Stanford to a .391 team attack percentage.
 


ROAD TESTED: Stanford played its first home match of the season on September 15. The Cardinal is slated to play 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 5-0 this season in road matches.

STRAIGHT SETS: Ten of Stanford's first 11 wins of the season have come in straight sets. The only sets the Cardinal has lost in a win were at then-No. 25 Colorado on Sept. 24.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 2 in the AVCA Poll this week after sweeping the Arizona schools at home last week. Florida held on to the No. 1 spot, while Penn State, Nebraska and Texas round out the top 5. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including No. 9 Washington, No. 13 UCLA, No. 15 USC, No. 16 Oregon, No. 17 Utah and No. 25 Colorado.

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 .357 career hitting percentage and moved into the program's top 10 in career blocks with 429.

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 and ranks ninth nationally with 4.73 kills per set, and also paces the league and is sixth in the nation in points per set at 5.41. Sophomore Jenna Gray leads the conference with 11.61 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is tops in the Pac-12 with a .417 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 ninth in the Pac-12, averaging 3.48 digs per set and has tallied double-digit digs in eight of the team's first 13 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.