The Big Ten Conference 2024 season has officially begun and Stanford Women’s Volleyball team will be taking up Louisville as their opponent in the Sunday match. Currently, at number 3, the Stanford Cardinal have had their first loss of the season just last week, courtesy of the Cornhuskers. But they are coming off a 3-1 tight win against Kentucky, which would have pumped up their spirits. On the other hand, once again, Nebraska showed the number 5 team, Louisville the door, who are looking to come back from their last 3-0 loss.

While this volleyball match is set to be a banger, it’s a given that Stanford, the side trailing behind Nebraska does look stronger by record and rank. Well, that takes us back to the rich history of the side, which is sure to clarify why they are considered a tall opposition to dethrone.

History of the NCAA Stanford Women’s Volleyball team

The Stanford volleyball team has been as historic as the NCAA tournament itself. This is because ever since 1981, when volleyball tournaments started being played on the collegiate level, Stanford has played every season! Also, they have won 9 NCAA National Championships, in the years 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Well, there were 8 instances when they lost the title by a hair’s breadth and ended up being runner-ups.

Their numbers bespeak excellence and that is undeniable. In fact, there’s more. The Stanford Women’s Volleyball team has made 20 NCAA final four appearances so far, 37 postseason tournament appearances, and has lifted the Pac-12 Conference Championships twice, in 2012 and 2014. Indeed, they have been among the most successful teams historically in NCAA women’s volleyball.

All about the Stanford Women’s Volleyball team’s home venue, and achievements

The Stanford Women’s volleyball team’s home venue is the Maples Pavilion, named after the principal donor, Roscoe Maples. It’s a 7,233-seat capacity facility, multi-purpose in nature for it houses various matches, from basketball to volleyball, and even gymnastics at times. The structure was first completed in the year 1969, and renovated in 2004-05. After a display upgrade in 2015, it now has LED tables and a lavish center-hung digital scoreboard that makes the matches a one-of-a-kind experience.

Speaking of achievements, currently, the Stanford team has the most NCAA titles of all time among all colleges. They also have 24 regular-season conference titles. Speaking of attendance records, Stanford stands sixth highest on the list. Their 2017 NCAA semifinal match against Florida had garnered a breakthrough attendance of 18,374, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. The 7th and 8th sports belong to them as well, for defeating Nebraska in the NCAA final from 2018 in front of 18,113 and BYU in 2018 at the semis with 17,808 in attendance, respectively.

Stanford Volleyball’s current team and coach

Stanford Women’s Volleyball current team comprises of the following players,

• Charity McDowell (Graduate Student)
• Elena Oglivie (Fifth Year)
• Taylor Beaven (Senior)
• Sami Francis (Senior)
• Kami Miner (Senior)
• Anna Pringle (Junior)
• Elia Rubin (Junior)
• Julia Blyashov (Sophomore)
• Jordyn Harvey (Sophomore)
• Koko Kirsch (Sophomore)
• Ipar Kurt (Redshirt Freshman)
• Lizzy Andrew (Freshman)
• Malyssa Cawa (Freshman)
• Sidney Duncan (Freshman)
• Taylor Yu (Freshman)

Speaking of the coaching staff, Kevin Hambly is the Montag Family Director of Women’s volleyball and the team coach. The sixth for the side, he’s been with the Cardinal since 2017 and holds a marvelous career record of 349-123. On the other hand, Alex Dunphy is Kimberly and Beverly Oden’s Assistant Coach, whereas Mike Johnson and Molly Lambillotte are also the other 2 assistant coaches. With such esteemed mentors and an impeccably talented side, do you think the Standford Women’s Volleyball team can dominate the Big Ten conference? Share your thoughts below!