Oct. 14, 1997
Stanford Hits Road Full Speed Ahead
STANFORD FACES TOUGHEST ROAD TRIP OF 1997:
Pacific-10 Conference leader Stanford University begins a four-match road trip this weekend when it visits No. 10 Washington State on Friday and No. 21 Washington on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. The Cardinal has opened Pac-10 play with a bang for the fourth straight year. Stanford opened 12-0 in 1994, 18-0 in 1995, 10-0 in 1996 and is 7-0 in 1997.
MEDIA INFORMATION:
Friday's match at Washington State is the Fox Sports Network Pac-10 Match of the Week. It will be aired on a tape-delayed basis in the Bay Area by Bay TV on Saturday from 10 a.m.-noon. The Stanford-Washington match will be broadcast by Fox Sports Northwest on Saturday, but will not be aired in the Bay Area. 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).
NEXT HOMESTAND:
UCLA makes its only Maples Pavilion appearance on Friday, October 31 at 7 p.m. with the first 500 fans receiving a free mini-volleyball courtesy of Spalding. The Cardinal then hosts USC on Sunday, November 2 at 1 p.m. on Buck/Cardinal Athletic Scholarship $1 Day with all general admission tickets available for only a buck.
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, winners of 11 straight, improved to 16-2 overall and 7-0 in the Pac-10 with home wins over Arizona and Arizona State. The Cardinal defeated Arizona 15-11, 15-12, 11-15, 15-8 on Friday and Arizona State 15-11, 15-12, 15-10 on Saturday. The 3-1 win over Arizona marked the first time Stanford lost a game since September 6 (3-1 loss to Penn State), a span of 29 straight. Washington State is 17-2 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-10, while Washington is 10-6 and 5-2. The Huskies beat the Cougars 10-15, 15-4, 16-14, 15-9 on Friday in Pullman.
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 365-63 (.853). Shaw has led Stanford to three NCAA titles, five Pac-10 titles and eight Final Four appearances. He has guided the Cardinal to a 108-8 (.931) record in the last three-plus seasons, including a 57-2 (.967) 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. Washington State's Cindy Fredrick is 261-168 (.608) in her 12th year, while Bill Neville of Washington is 228-195 (.539) in his 14th season.
THE SERIES:
Stanford has won 22 of its 23 meetings against Washington State, including a 2-1 mark last season. The Cardinal beat the Cougars 15-4, 15-13, 15-13 on September 27, but was handed its only Pac-10 loss by WSU in Pullman on October 27 (15-6, 11-15, 15-7, 17-15). Host Stanford then beat Washington State in the Pacific Regional Final 15-12, 15-13, 15-9 on December 14 en route to its third national title in five years. The Cardinal is 24-2 against the Huskies, after beating Washington 3-0 twice last season. Stanford won 15-7, 15-9, 16-14 on September 28 on The Farm and 15-5, 15-9, 15-12 on October 25 at Washington.
THE RANKINGS:
Stanford is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and No. 4 by the USA Today/AVCA. Washington State is ranked No. 9 by the Volleyball Magazine and No. 10 by the USA Today/AVCA, while Washington is No. 21 by the USA Today/AVCA and not ranked by Volleyball Magazine.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW:
Match #16 - #4 Stanford d. #15 Arizona 15-11, 15-12, 11-15, 15-8 (October 10 @ Maples Pavilion):
Senior Kristin Folkl (St. Louis, MO/St. Josephs Academy) and sophomore Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) combined for 45 kills and a .398 hitting percentage to lead Stanford to the hard-fought win. Arizona averted the sweep by taking game three, marking the first time Stanford had lost a game since September 6 (29 straight). The Cardinal rebounded, however, to hit .429 in game four and remain unbeaten in conference play. Walsh also added eight digs, six blocks, five assists and two aces for the winners, while senior Barbara Ifejika (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Mayfield Secondary) had 14 kills and 10 digs.
Match #17 - #4 Stanford d. Arizona State 15-11, 15-12, 15-10 (October 11 @ Maples Pavilion):
Kristin Folkl became just the fourth player in Stanford history to record 1,500 career kills as the Cardinal posted its 31st straight Pac-10 home win. Folkl hit .395 with a match-high 17 kills to raise her career total to 1,514. Sophomore Sarah Clark (Kamuela, HI/Hawaii Prep) added nine kills and six digs as Stanford posted its 11th straight win.
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 (Los Altos, CA/Los Altos HS) - 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 108-8 (.931) overall on The Farm. In addition, Folkl, Ifejika, Lambert, McNamee and Sharpley are 55-1 (.982) at Maples Pavilion, 59-2 (.967) in the Pac-10 and 66-7 (.904) against ranked opposition. Those five players are a big part of Stanford's success in 1997, collecting 671 of the Cardinal's 948 kills (71 percent) and 231 of 339 team blocks (68 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. Folkl had 17 kills on Saturday against Arizona State to become just the fourth player in school history to surpass the 1,500 mark. The Cardinal co-captain is currently fourth in school history with 1,514 kills, and is 237 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 .385 with 286 kills in 57 games (5.02 k/pg). 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 57 286 55 600 .385 5 130 12 37
TOT. 336 1514 454 3162 .335 97 781 81 210
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 has missed three matches in 1997. So far this season, she is hitting .380 with 138 kills (3.29 k/pg), 103 digs and 51 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 42 138 32 279 .429 6 103 8 43
TOT. 151 659 169 1321 .371 53 412 22 148
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 3,520 career assists and currently ranks third in school history behind Wendy Rush (5,003; 1984-87) and Carrie Feldman (4,461; 1989-92). Sharpley was also named Pac-10 Player of the Week fr the third time in her career on October 6 after recording 71 asssits (11.83 pg), 19 digs and four blocks in road wins at USC and UCLA. The Los Altos native also earned Pac-10 POW honors on November 14, 1994 and October 30, 1995.
CARDINAL CORNER:
Stanford currently leads the Pac-10 with a .320 team hitting percentage, well ahead of second place USC's (.286) ... 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.
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.
Standings
Conference Overall
School W L .Pct GB W L .Pct
Stanford 7 0 1.000 -- 16 2 .889
USC 6 2 .750 1.5 13 2 .867
Washington St. 5 2 .714 2 17 2 .895
Washington 5 2 .714 2 10 6 .625
Arizona 4 3 .571 3 12 3 .800
UCLA 4 4 .500 3.5 8 5 .615
Arizona State 2 5 .286 5 11 7 .611
Oregon State 2 5 .286 5 10 9 .526
California 1 6 .143 6 6 10 .375
Oregon 0 7 .000 7 7 11 .389
POLLS
USA Today/AVCA
(As of October 14)
1. Penn State (17-0)
2. Long Beach State (14-1)
3. Florida (17-1)
4. STANFORD (16-2)
5. USC (13-2)
6. BYU (14-4)
7. UC Santa Barbara (16-2)
8. Wisconsin (14-2)
9. Nebraska (13-4)
10. Washington State (17-2)
11. Texas (11-3)
12. Texas A&M (13-3)
13. Pacific (11-4)
14. Pepperdine (14-1)
15. Arizona (12-3)
16. Hawaii (13-4)
17. Maryland (15-0)
18. Colorado State (15-3)
19. Colorado (9-4)
20. Loyola Marymount (13-4)
21. Washington (10-6)
22. UCLA (9-5)
23. San Diego (15-2)
24. Arkansas (14-5)
25. Michigan State (13-6)
Volleyball Magazine
(As of October 13)
1. Penn State (17-0)
2. STANFORD (16-2)
3. Long Beach State (14-1)
4. Florida (17-1)
5. UC Santa Barbara (16-2)
6. USC (13-2)
7. BYU (14-4)
8. Wisconsin (14-2)
9. Washington State (17-2)
10. Nebraska (13-4)
11. Texas (11-3)
12. Texas A&M (13-3)
13. Pepperdine (14-1)
14. Pacific (11-4)
15. Arizona (12-3)
16. UCLA (8-5)
17. Hawaii (13-4)
18. Michigan State (13-6)
19. Loyola Marymount (13-4)
20. Maryland (15-0)
