In its final road trip of the regular season, No. 12 Stanford women’s volleyball (17-7, 11-5 Pac-12) will head down to Arizona, taking on conference opponents Arizona State (9-19, 2-14) on Friday and Arizona (16-12, 8-8) on Sunday.

The last time Stanford faced Arizona State, it resulted in a 3-0 Stanford sweep in Maples Pavilion. In that match, the Cardinal hit a season-high .422, and freshman libero Morgan Hentz totaled a match-high 13 digs to lead the defense in a dominant Stanford win.  

Stanford’s previous matchup with Arizona was not as successful. The Cardinal had won 19 matches in a row against Arizona before the 1-3 loss at home on Oct. 14. Arizona had three players rack up double-doubles as the Wildcats earned their first win in Maples Pavilion since 2005. Stanford has a chance to tie up the season series in this rematch. 

The Cardinal needs to make up ground after last Saturday’s 2-3 loss against then-No.13 UCLA.  Career-best performances from senior outside hitter Ivana Vanjak and senior opposite Merete Lutz, combined with freshman outside hitter Kathryn Plummer’s team-best seventh double-double of the season, were not enough to take down the Bruins. The loss dropped Stanford from a first-place tie in the conference, and the team fell to No. 12 in the AVCA Top 25.  

With only four matches left in the regular season, these next two weeks will be crucial as the Cardinal fight for a strong seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.        

Stanford will face Arizona State on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Arizona on Sunday at 11 a.m.  Both matches will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.   

Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.