Oct. 7, 1997

Stanford Returns Home to Face Arizona Schools

Pac-10 Player of the Week Lisa Sharpley

FIRST PLACE STANFORD RETURNS HOME: Fourth-ranked Stanford University looks to extend its nine-match winning streak this weekend when No. 15 Arizona and Arizona State visit Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal takes on the Wildcats on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Sun Devils on Saturday at 7 p.m. Stanford has won 29 straight Pac-10 home matches at Maples Pavilion dating back to 1993. The Cardinal lead the conference by one-half game heading into the weekend, after Arizona upset previously unbeaten Washington State last Friday night in Tucson.

MEDIA INFORMATION: Friday night's match will be aired on a tape-delayed basis by Palo Alto's Cable Co-op on Sunday, October 12 at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 19 at 8:30 p.m. Both weekend matches will also be broadcast live on KZSU 90.1 FM beginning with the "Don Shaw Show" at 6:50 p.m. In addition, "Serve It Up With Don Shaw" will air on Tuesday from 8:00-8:30 p.m. on KZSU at Old Pros Restaurant in Palo Alto (2865 El Camino Real).

MATCH PROMOTIONS: The first 1,000 fans in attendance on Friday night will receive a free water bottle courtesy of Taxi's. Saturday's match with Arizona State is half price night with all general admission tickets only $3.

MAKE A NOTE OF IT: The starting time for the November 7 match between Stanford and Arizona State in Tempe has been changed. The match has been moved from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m., and will no longer be televised by the Fox Sports Network.

THE RECORDS: Stanford is 14-2 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-10 after winning at No. 7 USC and No. 21 UCLA over the weekend. The Cardinal is now 8-0 on the road, with all eight wins coming in three games. The Cardinal defeated the Trojans 15-13, 15-0, 15-13 on Friday and the Bruins 15-10, 15-6, 15-10 on Sunday. Arizona is 11-2 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10 after upsetting Washington State 15-12, 11-15, 7-15, 15-10, 16-14 on Friday and falling to Washington 15-5, 6-15, 15-12, 15-8 on Sunday. Arizona State is 10-6 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-10 following a 14-16, 15-3, 15-12, 10-15, 15-12 win over Washington on Friday and a 13-15, 15-10, 16-14, 15-6 loss to Washington State on Saturday.

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 363-63 (.852). Shaw has led Stanford to three NCAA titles, five Pac-10 titles and eight Final Four appearances. He has guided the Cardinal to a 106-8 (.930) record in the last three-plus seasons, including a 57-2 (.966) 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. David Rubio is 212-139 (.604) in his 10th year overall, while Patti Snyder-Park is 145-104 (.582) in her ninth season at ASU.

THE SERIES: The Cardinal is 31-2 all-time against Arizona. Last season, Stanford defeated the Wildcats 9-15, 15-13, 15-10, 15-9 on September 20 in Tucson and 15-8, 15-2, 15-7 on November 21 at Maples Pavilion. Stanford is 31-3 against Arizona State, including a 2-0 mark in 1996. Stanford defeated ASU 16-14, 15-10, 15-2 in Tempe on September 22 and 15-6, 15-4, 15-8 on The Farm on November 22.

THE RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and No. 4 by the USA Today/AVCA. Arizona is ranked No. 15 by the USA Today/AVCA and No. 16 by Volleyball Magazine. Arizona State is not ranked.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

Match #15 - #4 Stanford d. #7 USC 15-13, 15-0, 15-13 (October 3 @ North Gym): Senior Barbara Ifejika (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Mayfield Secondary) hit .588 with 11 kills and six blocks to help Stanford post the key road win over USC. The Cardinal held USC to a -.231 hitting percentage in game two (4 k-10 e-26 ta) en route to posting its third game shutout of the season (September 6 vs. Connecticut & September 12 at North Carolina). Senior Kristin Folkl (St. Louis, MO/St. Josephs Academy) recorded 14 kills to up her career total to 1,466 and pass Teresa Smith (1984-87; 1,465) for fourth place on the school's all-time list.

Match #16 - #4 Stanford d. #21 UCLA 15-10, 15-6, 15-10 (October 5 @ Pauley Pavilion): Stanford continued to rewrite the UCLA record book with its second consecutive convincing win at Pauley Pavilion. The Cardinal held the Bruins to their second lowet hitting percentage ever - .010 - which trails only the -.008 UCLA hit against Stanford on November 15, 1996. The Cardinal hit just .198 in the three-game win, but outblocked the Bruins 12-3 in the 75-minute match. Sophomore Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) led the way with 10 kills, seven digs and five blocks.

SHARPLEY NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior setter Lisa Sharpley (Los Altos, CA/Los Altos HS) was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Tuesday, the third such honor of her career. In the wins at USC ad UCLA, Sharpley had 71 assists (11.83 pg), 19 digs, four blocks and two kills. Sharpley also earned Pac-10 POW honors on November 14, 1994 and October 30, 1995.

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 (Kaneohe, HI/Punahou HS), Paula McNamee (Wheaton, MD/Sidwell Friends HS) 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 106-8 (.930) overall on The Farm. In addition, Folkl, Ifejika, Lambert, McNamee and Sharpley are 53-1 (.981) at Maples Pavilion, 57-2 (.966) in the Pac-10 and 65-7 (.903) against ranked opposition. Those five players are playing a big part in Stanford's success in 1997, collecting 583 of the Cardinal's 815 kills (72 percent) and 207 of 296 team blocks (70 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 fourth in school history with 1,474 kills, and is 277 behind third place Kim Oden (1982-85; 1,751). 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 .384 with 246 kills in 50 games (4.92 k/pg). She has also hit over .500 in six of the Cardinal's first 16 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    50  246  51  508  .384   5   117  12  33 
TOT.   329 1474 450 3070  .334  97   768  81 206

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 .374 with 116 kills (3.05 k/pg), 95 digs and 45 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    38  116  28  235  .429   4    95   7  38 
TOT.   147  637 165 1277  .370  51   404  21 143

SHARPLEY RUNNING THE SHOW - AGAIN: Senior setter Lisa Sharpley, the current Pac-10 Player of the Week, 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 3,431 career assists and currently ranks third in school history behind Wendy Rush (5,003; 1984-87) and Carrie Feldman (4,461; 1989-92). The two-time All-American has played in just 35 of 50 games in 1997, however, while recovering from surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear in July.

CARDINAL CORNER: Stanford currently leads the Pac-10 with a .320 team hitting percentage, well ahead of second place USC's (.281) ... Stanford has the five highest single match team hitting percentages in the Pac-10 this season. The Cardinal hit .538 vs. Oregon on September 28, .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 currently has three players in the top four in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage - Kristin Folkl (2nd, .412), Barbara Ifejika (3rd, .404) and Kerri Walsh (4th, .402) ... Stanford is four victories away from clinching a winning regular season record. The Cardinal has not had a losing campaign since the program began in 1976, which spans 21 seasons ... Stanford currently ranks 12th in the nation in average home attendance at 1,789 per match. The Cardinal has drawn 10,736 fans to Maples Pavilion for six home matches.

Pac-10 Standings

                Conference          Overall
School          W   L   .Pct   GB   W   L   .Pct
Stanford        5   0  1.000   --   14  2   .875
Washington St.  5   1   .833   .5   17  1   .944
USC             4   2   .667  1.5   11  2   .846
Washington      4   2   .667  1.5    9  6   .600
Arizona         3   2   .600   2    11  2   .846
Oregon State    2   3   .400   3    10  7   .588
UCLA            2   4   .333  3.5    6  5   .545    
Arizona State   1   4   .200   4    10  6   .625
California      1   4   .200   4     6  8   .429
Oregon          0   5   .000   5     7  9   .438

Volleyball Polls

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