Nov. 28, 2012

Complete Release | Tournament Central

Friday, Nov. 30
Match #1 - 5:30 p.m. PT
Loyola Marymount (18-12) vs. Western Kentucky (32-3)
Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.

Match #2 - 8 p.m. PT
Jackson State (24-11) vs. No. 2 Stanford (27-3)
Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.

Saturday, Dec. 1
Match #3 - 7 p.m. PT
Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2
Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.

TOURNEY TIME: The second-ranked Stanford women’s volleyball team (27-3) begins its quest for a seventh national title this week, hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Maples Pavilion. The tournament’s overall No. 2 seed, the Cardinal will face Jackson State in the opening round on Friday night.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this weekend, the team will tavel across The Bay to Berkeley, Calif., for the Berkeley Regional Dec. 7-8. The Final Four will be held Dec. 13-15 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Fans can catch both matches on Gametracker available via gostanford.com. KZSU radio will also be broadcasting both matches at 90.1 FM or online at http://kzsu.stanford.edu/. Additionally, a free webcast will be available online at http://pac-12.com/live/gostanford.aspx

SCOUTING JACKSON STATE: Jackson State (24-11) is making its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship. The Lady Tigers ended the regular season with a 22-match winning streak. As a team, JSU leads the nation in aces per set (2.15) with senior Christine Edwards leading the way with a nation-best 0.98 per set. Edwards leads the team with 4.12 kills per set and averages 2.45 digs per set. Freshman setter Jenna Siddiqui controls the offense with 8.66 assists per set, while freshman middle blocker Mikayla Rolle leads the team with 118 blocks this season.

SCOUTING WESTERN KENTUCKY: WKU (32-3) will be making its seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament and third-consecutive appearance after sweeping the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. In its six trips, The Lady Toppers have never made it past the first match of the NCAA Tournament. As a team, they are hitting .299 on the year and holding oppoenents to a .140 clip. Junior setter Melanie Stutsman leads the offense with 11.35 assists per set. WKU has four different players averaging more than 2.00 kills per set and four players hitting over .300 on the year. Junior libero Ashley Potts leads the Lady Topper defense with 4.71 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE LADY TOPPERS: Stanford is 1-0 overall against Western Kentucky, but has not faced the Lady Toppers in NCAA postseason play. The teams last met at the Northwestern Tournament in Evanston, Ill., on Sept. 17, 2004.

SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: LMU (18-12) is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and is one of six West Coast Conference teams to earn berths into the postseason. The Lions are hitting .239 on the season and putting down 1.43 aces per set. Co-WCC Player of the Year Betsi Metter is a junior libero averaging 4.60 digs per set. All-WCC junior outside hitter Kathleen Luft leads the team with 4.14 kills per set, while sophomore middle blocker Litara Keil, who earned All-WCC honorable mention, is averaging 3.13 kills, 1.04 blocks and hitting .314 on the year.

THE SERIES WITH LIONS: The Cardinal is 3-0 all-time against the Lions, with all three meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament. Stanford last defeated LMU on Nov. 20, 2000 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif.

SOCIAL NETWORKING: Become a fan of the Cardinal on Facebook by searching for the “Stanford Women’s Volleyball” page. Follow the Cardinal on Twitter @StanfordWVB to get updates on the team this season. Both sites will be updated live during matches this year and will feature unique content on the team.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This year marks Stanford’s 32nd consecutive NCAA postseason appearance. The Cardinal is one of only two programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA Championship began in 1981 (Penn State is the other). Stanford has won more NCAA Championships (6), made more Final Four appearances (18), competed in more national championships matches (14) and won more NCAA Tournament matches (98) than any program in the nation.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Stanford head coach John Dunning has been voted the 2012 Pac-12 Coach of the Year by his peers in the conference. It marks his fourth Pac-12 award and his eighth conference coach of the year award in his career. He has guided the Cardinal to the team’s 15th Pac-12 title and the program’s 18th conference championship overall. Stanford has claimed the conference crown in six of the last seven years.

PAC-12 HONORS: Five Cardinal have been recognized on the All-Pac-12 Conference teams. Junior Carly Wopat and freshmen Inky Ajanaku, Jordan Burgess and Brittany Howard were all selected to the 14-player all-conference team. Junior Rachel Williams was an honorable mention selection. Wopat and Williams are being honored for the third times in their careers as they were both all-freshman picks in 2010 and earned all-conference in 2011.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Four Cardinal rookies were named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team - Inky Ajanaku, Madi Bugg, Jordan Burgess and Brittany Howard. It marks the most selections to the all-freshman team in a single season in school history.

PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 earned seven berths into the 2012 NCAA Tournament, tied for the most by any conference with the Big Ten. It’s the 13th straight yesar in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason and the 21st overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 110-22 (.833) record versus other conferences this season.

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 18 matches against the 2012 NCAA field, posting a 15-3 record. Stanford defeated all of its Pac-12 foes twice except for USC, and picked up non-conference wins over Florida, Saint Mary’s (twice) and Santa Clara.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Junior Carly Wopat has begun to write her name into the Cardinal record books. Her .378 career hitting percentage is the second-best mark in school history. She sits at eighth on the career blocks list with 439 and her 1.35 career blocks per set is tied for fourth all-time.

SINGLE SEASON MARKS: Sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert has racked up 516 digs so far this season, marking the third-highest total in school history behind Gabi Ailes (617 in 2009 and 533 in 2007). Gilbert’s 4.61 digs per set this season is also the third-best mark in program history.

20-WIN SEASONS: Stanford has reached the 20-win plateau in each of head coach John Dunning’s 12 seasons on The Farm. It is the longest such streak in program history dating back to 1976.

HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford is a perfect 14-0 at Maples Pavilion this season. Its last loss on its home court came on Nov. 25, 2011, a four-set loss to rival California. The Cardinal is 64-8 in Maples Pavilion over the last five seasons.

RPI: The Cardinal remained at No. 1 in the latest RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) poll this week, its sixth straight week in that spot. Western Kentucky comes in at No. 28, Loyola Marymount is No. 46 and Jackson State stood at No. 252.

BURGESS HONORED AGAIN: Freshman Jordan Burgess picked up her second Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 26. The rookie posted two solid performances against Colorado and California, averaging 2.57 kills and 2.71 digs per set.

MILESTONE FOR DUNNING: In 2010, Dunning secured his 700th career win. In 27 years as a head coach, he is 775-162 (.827), giving him a winning percentage that ranks amongst the top-5 all-time for Division I coaches. Dunning is 338-60 in his 12 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.849).