The No. 2 ranked Stanford women’s volleyball team (12-1, 4-0 Pac-12) embarks on a weekend road trip into the mountains to take on Pac-12 rivals No. 24 Utah (9-6, 1-3) and Colorado (9-6, 1-3). The Cardinal will take on the Utes on Friday before moving on to the Buffaloes on Sunday.

Stanford sits at the top of the Pac-12 at the moment, as they are the only remaining team in the division to be undefeated in division play. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon either, as the Cardinal show no signs of slowing down their unstoppable pace. Having won 10 straight games going into this weekend, the Cardinal enter every single one of their matches as a heavy favorite.

However, there’s no such thing as an unlosable game, as then-No. 13-ranked Washington found out last week when they were upset by Utah in a four-set match. They’ve shown resilience in the face of some talented matchups, and they have a strong serve and passing game. Their star outside hitter, Dani Drews, is sixth in the Pac-12 with 4.44 points per set.

The Cardinal shouldn’t be too worried, however. They boast the most terrifying lineup in college volleyball, with five All-American,s including the AVCA player of the year in junior outside hitter Kathryn Plummer, the Pac-12 setter of the year in junior Jenna Gray, and the Pac-12 libero of the year in junior Morgan Hentz.

We’ve seen Stanford’s core group of players pick up this year right where they left off, dominating opposing defenses week in and week out. Plummer boasts the second most kills per set with 4.67, and Gray leads the Pac-12 in assists per set with 12.66. When the offense is firing on all cylinders, they are practically unstoppable.

In all-time head-to-head matchups, Stanford is 14-2 against Utah and 18-1 against Colorado. If history can show us anything, it’s that the Cardinal should have no problem cleaning up their opposition on this road trip.

With two victories this weekend, the Cardinal will be well on their way to a second consecutive Pac-12 championship, which seems all but guaranteed at this point. The expectation for this team is to make it to the Final Four, and they won’t accept anything less.

The match against Utah begins at 5 p.m. PST on Friday, with Colorado on deck at 11 a.m. PST on Sunday.

 

 

Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada ‘at’ stanford.edu.