Sept. 23, 1997

Stanford Volleyball Hosts Oregon Schools

STANFORD LOOKS TO EXTEND PAC-10 HOME WINNING STREAK: Stanford University looks to extend its 27-match Pacific-10 Conference home winning streak this weekend when it takes on Oregon State and Oregon at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal meets Oregon State in a nationally-televised match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Cardinal have not lost a home conference match since it fell to UCLA in five games on November 17, 1993.

Lisa Sharpley

MEDIA INFORMATION: Friday's match with Oregon State will be aired on a tape-delayed basis by San Francisco's Bay TV on Saturday at 10 a.m. Sunday's contest against Oregon will be aired on a tape-delayed basis by Palo Alto's Cable Co-op on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 4 at 8 p.m. Both matches will also be aired live on KZSU 90.1 FM. In addition, "Serve It Up With Don Shaw" will premiere on KZSU on Tuesday from 8:00-8:30 p.m.

THE RECORDS: Stanford has won five straight matches to improve to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Cardinal won all three of its matches by a 3-0 margin last week. Stanford won at California 15-5, 15-6, 15-3 on Tuesday, and went 2-0 at the Stanford Showcase by defeating Oklahoma 15-12, 15-10, 15-6 on Friday and No. 20 Colorado 15-10, 15-4, 15-4 on Saturday. Oregon State is 7-6 overall and 0-2 in the Pac-10 following a 15-5, 11-15, 12-15, 15-4, 15-12 loss to Washington State on Friday and a 15-8, 15-6, 15-10 loss to Washington on Saturday. Oregon is 7-4 and 0-2 after also losing at home to Washington (15-10, 15-9, 15-9; Friday) and Washington State (10-15, 15-10, 15-9, 15-9; Sunday).

MATCH PROMOTIONS: The Oregon State match is Nike Cap Night, with the first 500 fans receiving a free Nike hat. On Sunday against Oregon, the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a 1996 Championship Flag Pin. Also, all children 14-and-under who wear their volleyball team jersey will get in for $1 at all regular season home matches.

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 359-63 (.851). 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 102-8 (.927) record in the last three-plus seasons, including a 53-2 (.964) 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. Oregon State's Jeff Mozzochi is 372-140 (.727) in his 14th season overall, while Oregon's Cathy Nelson is 86-62 (.581) in her fifth campaign.

THE SERIES: Stanford is a combined 48-2 (.960) all-time against Oregon and Oregon State. The Beavers have not beaten the Cardinal in 24 tries dating back to 1982 when Gerry Gregory, father of Stanford sophomore Jaimi Gregory, was OSU's head coach. Stanford is 24-2 against Oregon, and has won 17 straight over the Ducks dating back to 1989.

THE RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and No. 4 by the USA Today/AVCA. Oregon and Oregon State are not ranked.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

Match #10 - #4 Stanford d. California 15-5, 15-6, 15-3 (September 16 @ Recreational Sports Facility): Stanford improved to 26-0 against California in Pacific-10 Conference matches with the easy victory. The Cardinal needed just 1 hour and 10 minutes to post the win behind 12 kills and six blocks from fifth-year senior Paula McNamee (Wheaton, MD/Sidwell Friends HS). The Golden Bears did jump out to a 5-2 lead in game two, but Stanford scored of 17 of the next 18 points to win the Pac-10 opener for both teams. Senior Lisa Sharpley (Los Altos, CA/Los Altos HS) added 24 assists and seven digs for the winners.

Match #11 - #4 Stanford d. Oklahoma 15-12, 15-10, 15-6 (September 19 @ Maples Pavilion): Stanford embarked on a new home winning streak with a three-game win over Oklahoma on day one of the Stanford Showcase. The Cardinal hit .476 in the match, which is the third highest single match hitting percentage in the Pac-10 this season. Senior Kristin Folkl (St. Louis, MO/St. Josephs Academy) hit .581 with 19 kills to lead the Cardinal, while sophomore Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) hit .552 with 19 kills. Lisa Sharpley added 56 assists, seven blocks and seven kills for the Cardinal. In the opening match, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara beat No. 20 Colorado 11-15, 15-13, 15-8, 15-6.

Match #12 - #4 Stanford d. #20 Colorado 15-10, 15-4, 15-4 (September 20 @ Maples Pavilion): The Cardinal needed just 79 minutes to improve to 2-2 against ranked opposition. Colorado hit .070 in the match, marking the fifth time this season Stanford has held an opponent to a sub-.100 hitting percentage. The Cardinal never trailed in the match, jumping out to 7-0 leads in game one and two and 10-2 in game three. Kristin Folkl had 16 kills and six digs, while Kerri Walsh contributed 13 digs and 10 kills.

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 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 102-8 (.927) overall on The Farm. In addition, Folkl, Ifejika, Lambert, McNamee and Sharpley are 50-1 (.980) at Maples Pavilion, 53-2 in the Pac-10 (.964) and 63-7 (.900) against ranked opposition. Those five players are playing a big part in Stanford's success in 1997, collecting 455 of the Cardinal's 632 kills (72 percent) and 154 of 222 team blocks (69 percent).

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 1,423 kills, and is just 42 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. Folkl is off to a quick start in 1997, hitting .397 with 195 kills in 38 games (5.13 k/pg). She has also hit over .500 in five of the Cardinal's first 12 contests. Here's a look at Folkl's career statistics:

Year    GP   K   E    TA .PCT  SA DIGS  BS  BA
1994   102  478 147  947 .350  36  228  34  52
1995    66  245  90  491 .316  22  165  13  38
1996   111  505 162 1124 .305  34  258  22  83
1997    38  195  36  401 .397   4   93   9  22 
TOT.   317 1423 435 2963 .333  96  744  78 195

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 .429 wih 80 kills, 66 digs and 32 blocks. Here's a look at Walsh's career statistics:

Year    GP    K  E   TA  .PCT  SA DIGS  BS   BA
1996   109  521 137 1042 .369  47  309  14  105
1997    26   80  14  154 .429   2   66   4   28 
TOT.   135  601 151 1196 .376  49  375  18  133

SHARPLEY RUNNING THE SHOW - AGAIN: Senior setter Lisa Sharpley is running the Cardinal offense for the fourth straight year, and the second in the 5-1 set. Sharpley shared setting and hitting duties with two-time National Player of the Year Cary Wendell in 1994 and 1995, but served as the primary setter last season. Sharpley immediately thrived in the 5-1 offense. Stanford was among the best in the nation with a .301 team hitting percentage in 1996, and hit .350 in the national title match vs. Hawaii. Sharpley has 3,300 career assists and currently ranks third in school history behind Wendy Rush (5,003; 1984-87) and Carrie Feldman (4,461; 1989-92).

CARDINAL CORNER: Stanford is currently second in the Pac-10 with a .321 team hitting percentage, behind only USC (.329) ... Stanford has the four highest single match team hitting percentages in the Pac-10 this season. The Cardinal hit .500 at Connecticut on September 6, .476 vs. Oklahoma on September 20, .455 at Duke on September 10 and .452 at Nevada on September 1 ... Stanford has played host to three of the four highest attendances in Pac-10 this season, led by the 2,048 that attended the Oklahoma match on September 20 ... Stanford currently has three players in the top four in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage - Kerri Walsh (2nd, .429), Kristin Folkl (3rd, .397) and Barbara Ifejika (4th, .391).

THE NEWCOMERS: The Cardinal has five freshmen on its 1997 roster, including highly touted setters Robyn Lewis (Long Beach, CA) and Lindsay Kagawa (Albany, CA) and starting middle blocker candidate Jennifer Detmer (Thousand Oaks, CA). The trio is joined by a pair of walk-ons - Alex Newell (London, England) and Monica Sergott (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) - who are also expected to contribute this season. Lewis and Kagawa will battle for time at setter behind senior All-American Lisa Sharpley. Kagawa was a two-time North Coast Section Athlete of the Year, while Lewis joined the Cardinal last week after touring Brazil with the U.S. Youth National Team. Detmer will challenge Paula McNamee for the starting middle blocker slot vacated by All-American Eileen Murfee, while Newell will see time at middle blocker and Sergott in the back row.

THE SCHEDULE: Stanford once again will face one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, facing 11 of the schools in the USA Today/AVCA top 25. Stanford will also face national runner-up Hawaii and 1996 regional finalists Penn State and Brigham Young. The Pac-10 schedule also expects to be a rigorous one against the likes of No. 7 Washington State, No. 19 Washington, No. 20 Arizona and No. 21 UCLA. Stanford opens the season with eight of its first 10 matches on the road, but later concludes the year with six of its final eight matches on The Farm.

Pac-10 Standings

                Conference          Overall
School          W   L   .Pct  GB    W   L  Pct
Washington St.  2   0   .000  --    14  0  1.000
USC             2   0   .000  --     9  0  1.000
Washington      2   0   .000  --     7  4   .692
Stanford        1   0   .000  .5    10  2   .833
Arizona         1   1   .500   1     9  1   .900
UCLA            1   1   .500   1     5  2   .714    
California      0   1   .000 1.5     5  5   .714
Arizona State   0   2   .000   2     9  4   .692
Oregon          0   2   .000   2     7  4   .692
Oregon State    0   2   .000   2     7  6   .538

Volleyball Polls

Printer-friendly format	Email this article