Sept. 17, 1997

Stanford Ready for Conference Season

STANFORD SET TO BEGIN PAC-10 PLAY: Stanford begins its quest for its fourth consecutive Pacific-10 Conference title on Tuesday night when it visits the University of California at 7:30 p.m. at the Recreational Sports Facility. The Cardinal then plays host to the Stanford Showcase on Friday and Saturday, featuring No. 22 Colorado, Oklahoma and No. 7 UC Santa Barbara. The complete showcase schedule is as follows:

Friday, September 19:  No. 7 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 20 Colorado, 5 p.m.
                        Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Stanford, 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 20: No. 7 UC Santa Barbara vs. Oklahoma, 5 p.m.
                        No. 20 Colorado vs. No. 4 Stanford, 7 p.m.

MEDIA INFORMATION: All three of Stanford's matches this week will be broadcast by KZSU 90.1 FM. Tuesday's match against Cal, however, will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Both weekend matches will be aired live beginning with the Don Shaw Show at 6:50 p.m. Friday's Stanford-Oklahoma match will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by Palo Alto's Cable Co-op on Sunday, September 21 at 8:30 p.m. and Friday, September 26 at 8 p.m.

MATCH PROMOTIONS: The first 1,000 fans in attendance on Friday will receive a free Stanford magnet schedule courtesy of Taxi's, while Saturday is team poster and autograph night #1. The Cardinal's four-match homestand continues next weekend against Pac-10 rivals Oregon State (Fri. 9/26 @ 7:30 p.m.) and Oregon (Sat. 9/28 @ 1 p.m.).

THE RECORDS: Stanford is currently 7-2 overall after going 4-1 on an 11-day swing through the East Coast. The Cardinal finished second at the Ikon Husky Invitational in Storrs, Connecticut on September 5-6, defeating Missouri 15-2, 15-7, 15-5 and Connecticut 15-4, 15-0, 15-10 before falling to top-ranked Penn State 14-16, 15-6, 15-12, 15-7. Stanford concluded the East Coast swing by winning at Duke 15-9, 15-2, 15-5 on Wednesday and at North Carolina 15-7, 15-0, 15-4 on Friday. California is 5-2 overall following an 18-16, 9-15, 8-15, 15-6, 15-12 home loss to Sacramento State on Friday. UC Santa Barbara is 9-0 after going 4-0 at its own Bellomo Classic over the weekend. The Gauchos won the event by defeating Portland State 15-2, 15-9, 15-7, No. 11 Michigan State 12-15, 15-12, 15-6, 15-4, South Florida 15-10, 15-11, 15-3 and Arizona State 15-2, 15-12, 15-8. Oklahoma won the Texas San Antonio Classic last weekend to improve to 6-3. The Sooners beat Montana State 14-16, 15-7, 16-14, 15-9 and Texas San-Antonio 15-8, 15-0, 15-7 on Friday and Texas Pan-American 15-1, 15-6, 15-2 on Saturday. Colorado improved to 4-1 by winning its own three-team PowerBar Invitational. The Buffaloes beat Georgia 15-5, 10-15, 15-2, 15-11 on Friday and No. 21 Notre Dame 15-7, 15-9, 15-12 on Sunday.

THE COACH: In his 14 years on The Farm, Stanford head coach Don Shaw has amassed the best winning percentage in NCAA Division I history. Shaw, who served as co-head coach with Fred Sturm in 1984-85 before taking sole control in 1986, has a career mark of 356-63 (.850). Shaw has led Stanford to three NCAA titles, five Pac-10 titles and eight Final Four appearances. He has also guided the Cardinal to a 99-8 (.925) record in the last three-plus seasons, including a 52-2 (.963) mark in the Pac-10. The 1991 National Coach of the Year and 1992 and 1994 Regional Coach of the Year also coached four players - Barbara Fontana, Kristin Klein, Bev Oden and Nancy Reno - who participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. California's Sue Woodstra is 136-76 (.642) in her seventh season overall, Kathy Gregory of UC Santa Barbara is 548-252 (.685) in her 23rd campign and Oklahoma's Miles Pabst is 404-335-1 (.547) in his 20th season. Pi'i Aiu is in his first season at Colorado.

THE SERIES: Stanford is 39-3 all-time against California, including 28 wins in a row. The Cardinal has never lost a Pac-10 match to the Golden Bears (25-0). Last season, Stanford posted a come-from-behind 12-15, 15-7, 15-7, 13-15, 18-16 win at Maples Pavilion on October 4 and recorded a 15-9, 15-9, 15-3 victory in Berkeley on October 30. Stanford is 3-0 all-time against both Colorado and Oklahoma. The Cardinal last met the Buffaloes on September 6, 1991 when it posted a 15-7, 15-8, 15-8 win at the Colorado Invitational. Oklahoma was last on The Farm on November 9, 1990, when it dropped a 15-1, 15-7, 15-8 decision to the Cardinal.

THE RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 3 in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and No. 4 by the USA Today/AVCA. UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 7 by the USA Today/AVCA and No. 8 by Volleyball Magazine, while Colorado is No. 20 according to the USA Today/AVCA. California and Oklahoma are not ranked.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:
Match #5 - #3 Stanford d. Missouri 15-2, 15-7, 15-5 (September 5 @ Gampel Pavilion): The Cardinal held Missouri to a -.090 team hitting percentage in the opening match of Connecticut's Ikon Husky Invitational. Senior Kristin Folkl (St. Louis, MO/St. Joseph's Academy) hit .550 with 13 kills, while senior Debbie Lambert (Kaneohe, HI/Punahou HS) added 19 digs. Freshman Lindsay Kagawa (Albany, CA/Albany HS) had 30 assists in place of senior Lisa Sharpley (Los Altos, CA/Los Altos HS), who missed the match with a sore knee. In the other match of the night, No. 1 Penn State defeated Connecticut 15-5, 15-2, 15-4.

Match #6 - #3 Stanford d. Connecticut 15-4, 15-0, 15-10 (September 6 @ Gampel Pavilion): Stanford hit .500 as a team in an easy win over the host Huskies. The 15-0 win in game two was the first time the Cardinal had held an opponent scoreless since September 4, 1995 against Eastern Michigan at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal had 50 kills and just nine errors for the match, including a .700 hitting percentage and 15 kills from Kristin Folkl.

Match #7 - #1 Penn State d. #3 Stanford 14-16, 15-6, 15-12, 15-7 (September 6 @ Gampel Pavilion): Despite a career-high 29 kills and 14 digs from Kristin Folkl, the Nittany Lions defeated the Cardinal for the second time in 14 days to capture the Ikon Husky Invitational. Penn State also defeated Stanford on August 23 to capture the State Farm/NACWAA Classic at Maples Pavilion. Lisa Sharpley and Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS), both slowed by injury, played primarily in game one as Stanford held Penn State to a .150 hitting percentage. The Nittany Lions rebounded, however, to post the win in 2 hours, 30 minutes. Beside Folkl's career-best effort, senior Barbara Ifejika (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Mayfield Prep) added 13 kills, 11 digs and five blocks.

Match #8 - #4 Stanford d. Duke 15-9, 15-2, 15-5 (September 10 @ Riverside High School): Kristin Folkl hit .559 with 21 kills and eight digs to help Stanford overcome a slow start and post the easy win. Duke led 9-8 in the first game, but Stanford reeled off the final seven points in game one and the first nine in game two to take control. Setter Lisa Sharpley added 28 assists and 10 digs for the winners.

Match #9 - #4 Stanford d. North Carolina 15-7, 15-0, 5-4 (September 12 @ Carmichael Auditorium): Stanford ran off a remarkable 32 straight points to blow away the Tar Heels. North Carolina jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game one, but did not score again until Stanford jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game three. North Carolina hit .068, .000 and .024 in the three games, recording just 29 kills and 25 errors. Kristin Folkl once again led the Cardinal with 15 kills and a .462 hitting percentage, while Kerri Walsh had 11 kills, six digs and four blocks. The match was a reunion of sorts for North Carolina assistant Kim Oden, who was a four-time All-American on The Farm.

STANFORD TABBED AS PAC-10 FAVORITE: In the Pac-10 Preseason Coaches Poll released on August 18, Stanford was a unanimous choice to win the conference title for the fourth consecutive year. Stanford received all nine possible first place votes and 90 out of 90 possible points. USC was picked to finish second, followed by UCLA, Washington State, Washington, Arizona, Oregon State, California, Oregon and Arizona State.

SENIOR DOMINANCE: The five members of Stanford's senior class - Kristin Folkl, Barbara Ifejika, Debbie Lambert, Paula McNamee and Lisa Sharpley - have a chance to be the first NCAA women's volleyball players to win three titles in four years. The class of '98 has won NCAA titles in 1994 and 1996, and is 99-8 (.925) on The Farm. In addition, Folkl, Ifejika, Lambert, McNamee and Sharpley are 48-1 (.980) at Maples Pavilion and 62-7 (.899) against ranked opposition.

FOLKL LOOKS TO GO OUT IN STYLE: Two-sport standout and three-time women's volleyball All-American Kristin Folkl has her eyes on her third volleyball national title. The St. Louis, Missouri native has played three seasons of volleyball and two seasons of basketball on The Farm, and led the Cardinal to the Final Four on all five occasions. Folkl was a Second Team All-American and member of the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team in in 1996, en route to hitting .305 with 505 kills, 258 digs and 105 blocks. The Cardinal co-captain is currently fifth in school history with 1,384 kills, and is just 81 behind fourth place Teresa Smith (1984-87; 1,465). Folkl, who has two years of basketball eligibility remaining, is scheduled to join Tara VanDerveer's squad following the conclusion of the volleyball season.

WALSH LOOKS TO REPEAT FRESHMAN SUCCESS: First Team All-American and 1996 National Freshman of the Year Kerri Walsh has a tough act to follow in her second year on The Farm. Walsh needed just one season to establish herself as one of the top players in the country, and emerge as a top contender for a roster spot at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In addition to All-American and Freshman of the Year Honors, Walsh was named the 1996 Final Four Most Valuable Player, First Team All-Pac-10, All-Pacific Regional and AVCA National Player of the Week. Her 521 kills in 1996 was the second highest single season total in school history, behind only Teresa Smith's 563 in 1986. Walsh also ranks third in school history in single season service aces (47) and fifth in hitting percentage (.369). Walsh underwent surgery on her right shoulder in April, and missed the first two matches of 1997. Since her return, she is hitting .449 wih 47 kills, 40 digs and 19 blocks.

CARDINAL CORNER: Stanford is currently fourth in the Pac-10 with a .300 team hitting percentage, behind Arizona (.316), USC (.309) and UCLA (.301) ... Stanford has the three highest single match team hitting percentages in the Pac-10 this season. The Cardinal hit .500 at Connecticut on September 6, .455 at Duke on September 10 and .452 at Nevada on September 1.

Pac-10 Standings

                Conference          Overall
School          W   L   .Pct    GB  W   L   .Pct
Washington St.  0   0   .000    --  11  0   1.000
USC             0   0   .000    --  7   0   1.000
Arizona         0   0   .000    --  7   0   1.000
Arizona State   0   0   .000    --  9   2   .818
UCLA            0   0   .000    --  4   1   .800    
Stanford        0   0   .000    --  7   2   .778
Oregon          0   0   .000    --  6   2   .750
California      0   0   .000    --  5   2   .714
Oregon State    0   0   .000    --  7   4   .636
Washington      0   0   .000    --  5   4   .556

Stanford University Women's Volleyball