Postseason ContinuesPostseason Continues
Al Chang/Stanford Athletics
Women's Volleyball

Postseason Continues

NCAA Stanford Regional

No. 8 Penn State (25-7) vs. Washington (20-12)
Friday • 3 p.m.
Television • ESPNU
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Penn State Notes • Washington Notes
 
No. 1 Stanford (30-1) vs. No. 16 Washington State (23-9)
Friday • 5:30 p.m.
Television • ESPN3
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Stanford Notes • Washington State Notes
 


TOURNEY TIME: No. 1 seed Stanford (30-1) continues its quest for a record eighth national title this week, hosting the NCAA Stanford Regional at Maples Pavilion. The tournament's top seed will face No. 16 seed Washington State (23-9) in the regional semifinal on Friday night.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this week, the Final Four will be held Dec. 13-15 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stat links for regional matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Friday's match will be streamed on ESPN3.com. If the Cardinal advances to the regional final, ESPNU will televise its match against either Washington or Penn State.
 


SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE: No. 16 seed Washington State (23-9) opened the tournament with a pair of four-set wins at home last against Northern Arizona and Tennessee. The Cougars are hitting .237 as a team and are led by senior outside hitter Taylor Mims, who averages 3.79 kills per set. Middle blocker Jocelyn Urias leads the team with a .328 attack percentage, while junior libero Alexis Dirige anchors the defense with 4.33 digs per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 62-4 all-time against Washington State. The Cardinal has won five in a row, including a sweep over the Cougars on Oct. 12 and a four-set victory in Pullman earlier this season. The Cougars most recent win came on Sept. 30, 2016, a five-set victory in Pullman.

SCOUTING PENN STATE: No. 8 seed Penn State (25-7) posted a pair of sweeps over Howard and Syracuse at home to start the tournament. The Nittany Lions are hitting .265 on the season and average 2.87 blocks per set. Penn State is led by junior libero Kendall White, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jonni Parker. White recently set a school single season record in the rally-scoring era in digs (531). Parker leads the team with 330 kills and 396.5 points on the season. Setter Bryanna Weiskircher runs the offense with 10.89 assists per set, while outside hitter Nia Reed averages a team-high 3.24 kills per set. The Nittany Lions are coached by Russ Rose, who is in his 40th season at the helm of the program and registered his 100th career NCAA Tournament win last week - the most in DI women's vollyeball history.

THE SERIES WITH THE NITTANY LIONS: Penn State holds a 12-10 advantage in the all-time series against Stanford. The Cardinal swept Penn State in its home opener on Sept. 7. Kathryn Plummer led all players with 15 kills on .382 hitting, while freshman Holly Campbell posted eight blocks. The Nittany Lions won the previous two meetings against Stanford - in four sets in College Station, Texas and five sets in Champaign, Illinois, both in 2017.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON: Washington (20-12) defeated Saint Mary's before knocking off No. 9 seed Creighton on the road in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last week. The Huskies are hitting .230 ont he season and average a Pac-12-best 1.61 aces per set. Junior outside hitter Kara Bajema paces the team and is sixth in the Pac-12 with 3.85 kills per set and averages a team-leading 4.33 points per set. Freshman setter Ella May Powell controls the offense with 10.67 assists per set, while junior libero Shayne McPherson collects 4.07 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: Stanford holds a 56-15 lead in the all-time series with Washington. The Cardinal swept the Huskies in both meetings this season. Washington was the last Pac-12 team to defeat Stanford, picking up a four-set win over the Cardinal in Seattle on Nov. 8, 2017. 

BY THE NUMBERS: The 2018 season marks Stanford's 38th 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 (121), 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.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal won its 18th Pac-12 title outright on Nov. 9 with a 3-0 win over Oregon State. It was the program's 21st conference championship overall and second straight. It marked the 30th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 33 seasons. Stanford has claimed nine of the past 13 Pac-12 titles.
 


ALL-REGION RECOGNITION: For the second consecutive season, Kathryn Plummer was named the AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year. Joining Plummer on the all-region team were Tami Alade, Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Meghan McClure. Kevin Hambly was tabbed the region Coach of the Year.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 34-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 15-0 in 2018. Under head coach Kevin Hambly, Stanford has only dropped 10 sets at Maples Pavilion. Over the past six seasons, the Cardinal is 86-8 (.915) at home. 

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford, which began the season at No. 1 for the first time since 2002, found its way back into the top spot of the latest AVCA poll. The Cardinal collected 63 of a possible 64 first-place votes. Minnesota and Illinois both moved up a spot, while BYU dropped to No. 4 and Texas rounded out the top 5.
 


TOP 25 WINS: Stanford is the only Division I women's volleyball program to have 15 wins against teams ranked in the AVCA top 25 this season. Stanford is 15-1 against ranked opponents in 2018.

WIN STREAKS: For the 11th time in program history, the Cardinal has recorded a win streak of 20 or more matches. A win on Friday against Washington State would be the longest winning streak in school history at 29.

28 - Sept. 1, 2018 - current
28 - Aug. 29, 2014 - Nov. 22, 2014
28 - Sept. 10, 1997 - Dec. 20, 1997
27 - Oct. 19, 2001 - Sept. 13, 2002
27 - Sept. 4, 1991 - Nov. 23, 1991
26 - Sept. 9, 1995 - Dec. 9, 1995
23 - Sept. 5, 1998 - Nov. 20, 1998
22 - Sept. 1, 2012 - Nov. 8, 2012
20 - Oct. 8, 1999 - Dec. 16, 1999
20 - Sept. 3, 1994 - Oct. 29, 1994
20 - Sept. 17, 1988 - Nov. 12, 1988
 


PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: For the 16th time, a Cardinal was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. Junior Kathryn Plummer is Stanford's firs repeat honoree since Foluke Akinradewo (2007-08). The outside hitter ranks 11th in the nation in kills per set (4.67) and sixth in points per set (5.37), and has produced 30 percent of the team's kills this season.
 


SETTER OF THE YEAR: Jenna Gray is the second Stanford player to earn consecutive 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 paces the league and is second nationally with 12.36 assists per set. She is also second in the conference with 0.37 aces per set this season. As a team, the Cardinal is the only Pac-12 squad hitting over .300 on the year at .311 – the third-best mark in the nation. 
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: A repeat Libero of the Year winner, Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal to earn the honor since the award's inception in 2011. The junior leads the team with 4.72 digs per set and has just 13 reception errors on the season. Her 4.72 digs per set would be the fifth-best single season mark in school history. She was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week five times this season. The Lakeside Park, Kentucky, native has registered double-digit digs in 30 of 31 matches this season, reaching the 20-dig plateau on seven occasions.
 


COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hambly, now in his second season on The Farm, was tabbed the Pac-12 Coach of the Year - the first for the Cardinal since 2012. He led Stanford to its second consecutive conference title and is now 39-1 in Pac-12 play. The 2018 Cardinal became the first Pac-12 team to go undefeated in conference play since 2003.
 


PAC-12 HONORS: Seven Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Juniors Kathryn Plummer (three-time), Audriana Fitzmorris (two-time), Jenna Gray (two-time) and Morgan Hentz (two-time) are repeat honorees, while senior Tami Alade and sophomore Meghan McClure joined them on the 18-player All-Pac-12 Team. Middle blocker Holly Campbell landed on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
 


PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 led the nation with eight berths into the NCAA Tournament. It marks the 19th consecutive year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason, and the 27th overall. 

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: Entering the tournament, the Cardinal had played 19 matches against this year's NCAA field, posting an 18-1 record. Stanford was 13-0 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up nonconference wins over Howard, No. 8 seed Penn State, No. 2 seed Minnesota and No. 5 seed Texas (twice).
 


SENIOR CLASS FINALIST: Middle blocker Tami Alade is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 


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.