Dec. 8, 1997

Stanford Set to Host Mountain Regional

Stanford University increased its streak of NCAA Tournament regional appearances to 17 (every year since the tournament began in 1981) with a 3-0 second round win over Oklahoma on Saturday night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal, the top seed in the Mountain Regional, will host the regionals semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal, which is seeking its fourth straight Final Four appearance and third national title in four years, will be joined at the regionals by Colorado, Texas and UC Santa Barbara. Here's this weekend's complete schedule:

Friday, December 12:
Semifinal #1: Texas (25-6) vs. UC Santa Barbara (30-4), 6 p.m.
Semifinal #2: Colorado (22-8) at Stanford (29-2), 8 p.m. (or 45 min. after first match)

Saturday, December 13:
Mountain Regional Final, 7 p.m. (winner advances to Final Four)

SENIOR DOMINANCE: The five members of Stanford's senior class - Kristin Folkl (St. Louis, MO/St. Josephs Academy), Barbara Ifejika (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Mayfield Secondary), 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 Ô98 has won NCAA titles in 1994 and 1996, and is 121-8 (.938) overall on The Farm. In addition, Folkl, Ifejika, Lambert, McNamee and Sharpley are 62-1 (.984) at Maples Pavilion, 70-2 (.972) in the Pac-10 and 74-7 (.914) against ranked opposition.

RADIO/TV SCHEDULE: Fox Sports Net will broadcast Saturday's Mountain Regional final on a tape-delayed basis on SportsChannel Pacific on Sunday, December 14 at 6 p.m.All Stanford matches will be broadcast live on KZSU 90.1 FM, beginning with ÒThe Don Shaw ShowÓ at 7:50 p.m. on Friday and 6:50 p.m. on Saturday if the Cardinal advances. In addition, ÒServe It Up With Don ShawÓ will air on Tuesday from 8:00-8:30 p.m. on KZSU at Old Pros Restaurant in Palo Alto (2865 El Camino Real).

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for this weekend's regional are currently on sale at the Stanford Ticket Office. Two-day passes are $16 for reserved seats, $12 for adult general admission and $9 for children, senior and student general admission. Single-day passes, which are only on sale the day of the match, are $9 for reserved, $7 for adult general admission and $5 for children, senior and student general admission. In addition, the first 100 Stanford students will be admitted free on both Friday and Saturday.

NCAA NOTES: Stanford is one of only four schools that has earned a berth in all 17 NCAA Tournaments (since 1981), along with only Pacific, Penn State and UC Santa Barbara ... The Cardinal holds the all-time record for most tournament wins with 45 ... UCLA is second with 44 ... This season, Stanford has played 11 tournament qualifiers and has won 16 of those 18 matches.

THE RECORDS: Stanford enters the weekend 29-2, and has won 24 straight overall and 13 in a row at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal has not lost an NCAA Tournament match at home since 1991 (vs. UCLA), a span of 11 straight. Last weekend on The Farm, Oklahoma defeated Houston 15-12, 15-9, 16-14 on Friday before falling to the Cardinal 15-2, 15-6, 15-7 on Saturday. Colorado is 22-8 after winning its subregional in Boulder, Colorado. On Saturday, Oral Roberts defeated Arizona 13-15, 15-8, 8-15, 15-1, 15-11 and Colorado beat Tennessee Tech 15-4, 15-3, 15-7. Colorado then defeated Oral Roberts 13-15, 15-10, 14-16, 15-6, 15-12 on Sunday. Texas is 25-6 after winning a pair of games in Austin. South Carolina defeated Illinois State 15-7, 15-7, 15-10 and Texas ousted Stephen F. Austin 15-8, 15-9, 15-12 on Thursday, and the Longhorns beat the Gamecocks 15-11, 15-3, 15-10 on Friday. UC Santa Barbara improved to 30-4 with a thrilling 15-8, 15-8, 6-15, 6-15, 16-14 home win over UCLA in second round action on Sunday. The Bruins had advanced with a 15-10, 15-12, 14-16, 15-9 win over Pepperdine 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 378-63 (.857). Shaw, the 1997 Pac-10 Co-Coach of the Year with USC's Lisa Love, has led Stanford to three NCAA titles, six Pac-10 titles and eight Final Four appearances. He has guided the Cardinal to a 121-8 (.938) record in the last three-plus seasons, including a 70-2 (.972) mark in the Pac-10. Pi'i Aiu is 22-8 (.733) in his first season at Colorado, UC Santa Barbara's Kathy Gregory is 569-256 (.690) in her 23rd season and Jim Moore, who is in his first year at Texas, is 209-95 (.688) in his ninth year overall.

THE SERIES: Stanford is 4-0 against Colorado, after a 15-10, 15-4, 15-4 win over the Buffaloes on September 20 of this season in the Stanford Showcase at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal outhit the Buffaloes .308-.070 in the 79-minute match, and were led by Kristin Folkl's 16 kills. Stanford is 12-5 vs. Texas and 4-7 vs. UC Santa Barbara after defeating both teams during the 1996 regular season. The Cardinal defeated the Longhorns 15-5, 15-7, 15-12 at the Goff/Michigan State Volleyball Classic on August 31 of last season to avenge a 15-13, 0-15, 15-17, 15-6, 15-12 loss in the 1995 National Semifinals in Springfield, Massachusetts. Stanford beat UCSB 15-3, 15-4, 7-15, 15-7 on September 12 of last season at Maples Pavilion.

THE RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 1 in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and No. 3 by the USA Today/AVCA. Colorado is ranked No. 20 by the USA Today/AVCA and is not ranked by Volleyball Magazine. UC Santa Barbara is No. 5 by the USA Today/AVCA and No. 7 by Volleyball Magazine, while Texas is No. 11 in Volleyball Magazine and No. 12 in the USA Today/AVCA.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Match #30 - #3 Stanford d. Oklahoma 15-2, 15-6, 15-7 (December 6 @ Maples Pavilion): Stanford opened its national title defense with a second round win over Oklahoma. The Cardinal ended matters in 70 minutes, outhitting the Sooners .340-.010. Sophomore Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) hit .500 with a match-high 15 kills to lead Stanford, while senior Lisa Sharpley added 38 assists. Oklahoma advanced to the second round with a 15-12, 15-9, 16-14 win over Houston on Friday.

FOLKL NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR; SHAW CO-COACH OF THE YEAR: Senior outside hitter Kristin Folkl was named Pac-10 Player of the Year on November 25 after leading Stanford to its fourth straight conference title. Folkl ranks second in the conference in attack percentage (.369) and kills per game (5.46), and also earned Pac-10 and National Player of the Week honors on November 3. Cardinal head coach Don Shaw shared conference coach of the year honors with USC's Lisa Love after leading Stanford to its sixth Pac-10 title. Shaw also earned conference coach of the year honors in 1987 and 1991. Folkl was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team along with Barbara Ifejika, Lisa Sharpley and Kerri Walsh, while Jennifer Detmer (Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS) was named to the All-Freshman Team. On the Pac-10 All-Academic Team, Folkl and Sharpley were named to the First Team, Ifejika the Second Team and Debbie Lambert and Sarah Neal (Pacific Palisades, CA/Brentwood HS) Honorable Mention.

FOLKL ENJOYING CAREER YEAR: Kristin Folkl's great season continues to get even better. Stanford's all-everything two-sport star was named Pac-10 Player the Year on November 25. The Cardinal co-captain has also moved into second on the all-time school kill list with 1,763 behind only Kristin Klein's (1988-91) 1,909. She has 535 kills in 1997, which puts her 28 behind the school single season mark set by Teresa Smith (1986; 563). Folkl also ranks tied for eighth on the all-time Pac-10 list with Shelly Smith of Oregon State (1991-94). 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, who has two years of basketball eligibility remaining, is scheduled to join Tara VanDerveer's squad following the conclusion of the volleyball season. 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 98    535  113  1144  .369    12    250    21    64 
TOT. 377   1763 512  3706  .338    104   901    90    237

WALSH BACK ON TRACK: First Team All-American and 1996 National Freshman of the Year Kerri Walsh has had a tough act to follow in her second year on The Farm. 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. Walsh underwent surgery on her right shoulder in April, however, and has been limited to 82 games played and 507 attacks this season. Walsh had her best weekend of the 1997 season on November 14-15, including 13 kills in 19 errorless attempts against WSU that helped her earn Pac-10 Player of the Week honors. The sophomore also hit .500 with a match-high 15 kills in Stanford's NCAA second round win over Oklahoma.

OFFENSE THRIVES UNDER SHARPLEY: 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 has served as the primary setter the last two seasons. Sharpley has 4,074 career assists and 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 for the third time in her career on October 6 after recording 71 assists (11.83 pg), 19 digs and four blocks in road wins at USC and UCLA.

CARDINAL CORNER: Stanford has won 25 of its 29 matches in three games ... The Cardinal has also not played a five-game match in 1997 ... Senior middle blocker Barbara Ifejika had five blocks on Saturday to give her 102 for the season, marking the third straight season she's broken the 100 barrier.

USA Today/AVCA (As of November 30)
1. Long Beach State (30-1)
2. Penn State (30-1)
3. STANFORD (28-2)
4. Wisconsin (30-2)
5. UC Santa Barbara (30-4)
6. BYU (27-5)
7. USC (21-5)
8. Florida (31-3) 
9. Nebraska (25-6)
10. Arizona (20-6)
11. Washington State (24-6)
12. Texas (23-6)
13. Washington (18-9)
14. Pacific (22-8)
15. Hawaii (25-7)
16. Texas A&M (24-7)
17. Pepperdine (23-5)
18. Arkansas (29-5)
19. Maryland (26-1)
20. Colorado (20-8)
21. Colorado State (26-5)
22. Loyola Marymount (21-6)
23. San Diego (25-3)
24. UCLA (16-12)
25. Ohio State (21-9)

Volleyball Magazine (As of November 24)
1. STANFORD (28-2)
2. Long Beach State (28-1)
3. Penn State (28-1)
4. Wisconsin (26-2)
5. Florida (30-2)
6. BYU (24-5)
7. UC Santa Barbara (28-4)
8. USC (21-5)
9. Arizona (20-6)
10. Nebraska (23-6)
11. Texas (23-4)
12. Hawaii  (23-6)
13. Washington State (24-6)
14. Pepperdine (23-3)
15. Texas A&M (22-6)
16. Washington (18-9)
17. Pacific (20-8)
18. San Diego (25-3)
20. Arkansas (28-5)
20. Maryland (26-1)
NOTE: Stanford opponents are in italics

Stanford University Women's Volleyball