STANFORD, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (13-2, 5-1 ACC) travels to Dallas on Wednesday to take on No. 12 SMU (13-4, 5-1 ACC) at 4 p.m. PT on ACC Network. The Cardinal will then head to No. 1 Pittsburgh (15-1, 5-1 ACC) on Sunday for a Noon PT matchup on ESPN.
SERIES AGAINST THE MUSTANGS: Wednesday marks the first meeting between Stanford and SMU.
SERIES AGAINST THE PANTHERS: Stanford is 4-0 all-time against Pittsburgh. The most recent meeting came on Sept. 7, 1994 - a sweep by the Cardinal in Pittsburgh. Stanford's last trip to the city of Pittsburgh resulted in the Cardinal capturing the 2019 NCAA title, its third in four years.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinal is coming off a pair of home sweeps over Syracuse and Boston College. Stanford hit a combined .346 in the two matches, while holding its opponents to .032 hitting. Outside hitter Ipar Kurt led the team with 3.83 kills per set on .381 hitting, 0.50 aces and 4.42 points per set. Setter Kami Miner controlled the offense with 11.50 assists per set, helping the Cardinal outscore its opponents 111.0 to 58.0 in the two matches.
STACKED SCHEDULE: Stanford is slated to play 12 matches against teams ranked in the AVCA Preseason Poll, including seven against top-10 opponents. The Cardinal faced No. 1 Texas (W, 3-0), No. 2 Nebraska (L, 3-0), No. 3 Wisconsin (W, 3-1), No. 9 Kentucky (W, 3-1), No. 18 Minnesota (W, 3-2) and No. 24 Marquette (W, 3-0) in the nonconference. Stanford will meet No. 4 Pittsburgh (Oct. 20), No. 6 Louisville (Sept. 29 & Nov. 30), No. 14 Georgia Tech (Nov. 9 & Nov. 27) and No. 20 Florida State (Nov. 3) in ACC play.
COACHES' PICK: In its inaugural ACC season, Stanford was picked to finish second by the league's coaches. The Cardinal captured three first-place votes and placed four on the Preseason All-ACC squad - middle blocker Sami Francis, setter Kami Miner, libero Elena Oglivie and outside hitter Elia Rubin.
MILESTONE UNLOCKED: Kami Miner recorded her 4,000th career assist on Sept. 2 in a four-set win over No. 6 Wisconsin. She became the seventh player in school history to reach the milestone. In the rally-scoring era to 25, Miner is third behind Jenna Gray (5,485) and Madi Bugg (5,014) with 4,453 assists. Her 11.39 career assists per set mark would be a program record in the rally-scoring era to 25.
UPCOMING MILESTONES: Outside hitter Elia Rubin is 14 kills away from 1,000 for her career. She will become the 23rd player in program history to accomplish that feat. Libero Elena Oglivie is 168 digs away from 2,000 for her career. She would be just the fourth player in school history to reach that milestone.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Kami Miner became the first Stanford player to be recognized by the ACC with a weekly honor, earning Setter of the Week. Combining with its Pac-12 selections, the Cardinal now boasts 180 players of the week all-time, including 31 Offensive, 38 Defensive, 3 Setter and 35 Freshman.
2024 ACC Weekly Selections
Sept. 9: Kami Miner (Setter)
Sept. 16: Sami Francis (Co-Defensive)
Oct. 7: Kami Miner (Setter)
Oct. 14: Kami Miner (Setter), Ipar Kurt (Freshman)
PACKED THE HOUSE: A record crowd in the Kevin Hambly era of 6,894 watched No. 2 Stanford sweep No. 6 Texas at Maples Pavilion on Sept. 15. The Cardinal held the Longhorns to .125 hitting - their lowest in a match in over 11 years.
OLYMPIC TRADITION: Stanford alumna Kathryn Plummer ('20) captured a silver medal with the United States at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Plummer, who won three national titles on The Farm (2016, 2018, 2019), is the 11th Olympian in program history. Her spot on the roster extended Stanford’s streak of having at least one former Cardinal player on each indoor U.S. Olympic Team since 1988. A school-record 59 Stanford-affiliated athletes qualified to compete in Paris, capturing a combined 39 medals (also a record). For the third consecutive edition of the Games, Stanford boasted more Team USA selections (37) than any other school.
BY THE NUMBERS: Stanford has won more NCAA titles (9), more NCAA Tournament matches (138), made more Final Four appearances (23) and been in the national championship match (17) more times than any other program in the nation. The Cardinal has qualified for 42 of the 43 NCAA Tournaments all-time.
COACHING EXCELLENCE: Kevin Hambly became the seventh head coach in Division I women’s volleyball to lead a school to back-to-back NCAA titles. Hambly is now 184-39 (.825) in eight seasons on The Farm, mentoring 13 AVCA All-Americans to 26 awards and six Academic All-Americans (eight awards).
THE HAMBLY FILE: Kevin Hambly coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois and has now mentored 25 All-Americans to 45 awards. He is the third head coach to lead Stanford to a national championship. The two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year became the first Cardinal head coach (any sport) to win an NCAA title in one of his first two seasons on The Farm since 2005.