UCLA, USC Up NextUCLA, USC Up Next
Stanford Athletics
Women's Volleyball

UCLA, USC Up Next


No. 2 Stanford (10-1, 2-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 18 UCLA (6-3, 1-1 Pac-12)
Wednesday • 7 p.m.
Television • Pac-12 Network
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com


No. 2 Stanford (10-1, 2-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 13 USC (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12)
Friday • 8 p.m. 
Television • ESPN2
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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PROMOTIONS: The team will be taking postmatch selfies after Wednesday's match and will sign postmatch autographs after Friday's contest. Friday's match will also be dedicated to One Love, a foundation that raises awareness about relationship abuse. For all of this season's promotions, click here.
 


SCOUTING UCLA: UCLA is 6-3 overall and 1-1 to start Pac-12 play. The Bruins have ranked wins over No. 12 Baylor, at No. 19 San Diego and at No. 23 Utah. UCLA leads the Pac-12 in digs per set (17.62) and is fourth in blocks (2.62). Sophomore Mac May leads the team with 3.38 kills and 1.59 digs per set. Junior middle blocker Madeleine Gates is seventh in the league with a .348 hitting percentage and 10th with 1.19 blocks per set. Junior libero Savvy Simo anchors the defense with 3.87 digs per set, good for eighth in the Pac-12.

THE SERIES WITH THE BRUINS: Stanford is 50-37 all-time against UCLA. The Cardinal won both meetings against the Bruins last season. UCLA's most recent win came on Nov. 12, 2016 - the last time Stanford dropped a match at Maples Pavilion.

SCOUTING USC: USC enters the week with a 10-3 overall record and is one of four teams tied atop the Pac-12 standings at 2-0. The Trojans are hitting .261 as a team and are led by sophomore Brooke Botkin and junior Khalia Lanier. Botkin is third in the Pac-12 with 4.34 kills and 4.70 points per set, while Lanier is fouth in kills (4.06), fifth in points (4.56) and sixth in aces (0.36). Freshman setter Raquel Lazaro controls the offense with 11.14 assists per set, while senior libero Victoria Garrick is third in the conference with 4.70 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE TROJANS: Stanford holds a 63-24 lead in the all-time series against USC. The Cardinal has won four in a row against the Trojans. USC's last win came on Sept. 27, 2015 at Maples Pavilion.

LAST WEEK: Stanford opened Pac-12 play with a sweep at California and a four-set victory against Arizona at Maples Pavilion. Junior Kathryn Plummer averaged 5.00 kills per set, while Meghan McClure added 2.57 kills and 3.14 digs per set. Junior libero Morgan Hentz moved into seventh place on the Cardinal's career digs list with 1,298.
 


HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 23-match home winning streak is the longest in the nation. The Cardinal went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches in 2017, and is 3-0 to start this season. Over the past five-plus seasons, the Cardinal is 75-8 (.904) at home. 

BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marked Stanford's 37th 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 (119), made more Final Four appearances (21) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seven NCAA titles also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections - Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer. Fitzmorris, Hentz and Plummer are repeat honorees, while Gray earns the nod for the first time.

ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal returns five AVCA All-Americans to its 2018 roster. Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer were all first team picks as sophomores, while Audriana Fitzmorris earned a spot on the second team. Senior Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list. Stanford's five players on the first and second teams in 2017 were a program-best. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 95 honors spread over 40 players. It marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal had produced at least four All-Americans.
 


PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: In 2017, Kathryn Plummer became the 15th Cardinal player and first since Alix Klineman in 2010 to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in kills (4.66) and points per set (5.39). She was also the first conference player to win Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since Stanford's Bev Oden in 1989 and 1990.

SETTER OF THE YEAR: Jenna Gray was the second Stanford player to earn Pac-12 Setter of the Year honors since the award began in 2011, joining Madi Bugg who took home the honor three times (2013, 2014, 2015). The Shawnee, Kansas native paced the league and was fourth nationally in 2017 with 12.04 assists per set, and had the Cardinal hitting .319 as a team - the third-best mark in the nation.
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She led the team with 4.08 digs per set in 2017, upping that mark to 4.39 digs per set in NCAA Tournament matches, and had just 15 reception errors on the season.
 


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It was the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: At Howard on Aug. 27, junior Kathryn Plummer became the 19th Stanford player to register 1,000 career kills just half way through her collegiate career. Only two Cardinal players have reached the 2,000 career kills milestone - Ogonna Nnamani (2,450) and Alix Klineman (2,008).
 


1,000 DIGS CLUB: JuniorMorgan Hentz became the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to register 1,000 career digs, doing so against No. 18 UCLA on Nov. 16. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the career record at Stanford with 2,147 digs, the fifth-most in Pac-12 history.
 


CARD IN EUROPE: In June, the Cardinal embarked on a 12-day European Tour, including stops in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. The Cardinal played matches versus the Slovenia National Team, twice, the Slovenia U19 National Team and the Serbian U19 Team while in Slovenia. Stanford also played the Croatian Federation Team and Italy's Menca's U17 National Team. Freshmen Holly Campbell and Mackenzie Fidelak, and outgoing senior Merete Lutz joined the team on the tour. The trip was the Cardinal's first international journey since visiting China in 2011.
 


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, and has added six more at Stanford.