SAN FRANCISCO- Eight Pac-12 teams earned a top-25 national ranking this week, the most of any conference in the country, including three in the top 10. This week features another clash between the nation’s top-two volleyball leagues with the second edition of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge hosted by No. 4 STANFORD. The Cardinal hosts No. 18 OREGON, while welcoming No. 1 Minnesota and No. 5 Penn State. Three of the matches will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

• All eyes will be on the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge at Stanford this week. There are plenty of storylines to tell - both conferences have the most ranked teams, the Pac-12 with eight and the Big Ten with seven; the two most storied programs in NCAA history, Stanford and Penn State, go head-to-head, both tying for the most national titles in the country (7); Minnesota took over the No. 1 spot, a place the Cardinal held for the first two weeks of the season; and four of the most efficient hitting teams in the nation will clash this weekend (Minnesota 4th, Penn State 5th, Stanford 8th, Oregon 17th).

• No. 10 USC has a couple of tough tests on Friday, facing No. 3 BYU and No. 25 Marquette in Milwaukee.

• Three Pac-12 teams remain undefeated. ARIZONA has won two tournaments in the first weekends of the season, going 6-0 to led the Conference with the most wins so far. No. 9 UCLA had back-to-back 3-2 wins over ranked opponents over the weekend to remain undefeated, and newly-ranked WASHINGTON STATE had a pair of upsets to get into the top 25 this week.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All Times Pacific)

Thursday, Sep. 6 TV/Stream Time #9 UCLA at #22 Cal Poly 7 p.m. PT Friday, Sep. 7 TV/Stream Time OREGON STATE vs. Nebraska Omaha (1) 10 a.m. CT #10 USC vs. #3 BYU (2) 10 a.m. CT ARIZONA vs. Montana (3) 10 a.m. MT ARIZONA STATE vs. Murray State (4) 10 a.m. MT #12 WASHINGTON vs. Dayton (5) 1 p.m. ET McNeese State at #2 WASHINGTON STATE (6) 12 p.m. PT CALIFORNIA vs. Gonzaga (7) 12:30 p.m. PT ARIZONA vs. UTEP (3) 4 p.m. MT #21 UTAH at Villanova (8) 7 p.m. ET Georgia at #24 COLORADO (9) Live Stream 6 p.m. MT #18 OREGON vs. #1 Minnesota (10) P12O 5 p.m. PT #10 USC at #25 Marquette (2) 7 p.m. CT OREGON STATE at Kansas State (1) 7:30 p.m. CT ARIZONA STATE at Wyoming (4) 7 p.m. MT #9 UCLA at #22 Cal Poly 7 p.m. PT CALIFORNIA at Portland State (7) 7:30 p.m. PT Illinois State at #23 WASHINGTON STATE (6) 7:30 p.m. PT #5 Penn State at #4 STANFORD (10) P12BA 8 p.m. PT Saturday, Sep. 8 TV/Stream Time #21 UTAH vs. Temple (8) 11 a.m. ET ARIZONA STATE vs. Binghamton (4) 10 a.m. MT OREGON STATE vs. North Texas (1) 11 a.m. CT CALIFORNIA vs. Fresno State (7) 10 a.m. PT ARIZONA at New Mexico State (3) 12 p.m. MT North Carolina at #24 COLORADO (9) Live Stream 12 p.m. MT #12 WASHINGTON at #13 Pittsburgh (5) 2 p.m. ET Stony Brook at #23 WASHINGTON STATE (6) 12 p.m. PT #18 OREGON vs. #5 Penn State (10) TBD #10 USC vs. Syracuse (2) 3 p.m. CT #21 UTAH vs. High Point (8) 7 p.m. ET #12 WASHINGTON vs. Kennesaw State (5) 7 p.m. ET Oklahoma at #24 COLORADO (9) Live Stream 7 p.m. MT Sunday, Sep. 9 TV/Stream Time #1 Minnesota at #4 STANFORD (10) P12N 12 p.m. PT

1 - K-State Invitational, Manhattan, Kan.; 2 - Marquette Tournament, Milwaukee, Wis.; 3 - Borderland Invitational, Las Cruces, N.M.; 4 - UNIWYO Invite, Laramie Wyo.; 5 - Panther Invitational, Pittsburgh, P.A.; 6 - Cougar Challenge Tournament, Pullman, Wash.; 7 - Portland State Tournament, Portland, Ore.; 8 - Villanova Volleyball Invitational, Villanova, P.A.; 9 - Buffs Invitational, Boulder, Colo.; 10 - Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, Stanford, Calif.

AVCA RANKINGS

• Eight teams are ranked in this week’s AVCA poll, the most for any conference in the nation. While Stanford has dropped out of the top spot, it is still in the top five at No. 4. The Conference claims two more top-10 teams in No. 9 UCLA and No. 10 USC. WASHINGTON is No. 12, Oregon is No. 18, UTAH is No. 21 and COLORADO is No. 24. Washington State makes its season debut in the polling after posting upset wins over then-No. 17 Northern Iowa, and comes in at No. 23. ARIZONA and OREGON STATE are receiving votes.

• The Pac-12 had seven teams ranked in the preseason AVCA poll. Since 2003, the Pac-12 has had at least five teams in the preseason poll with the exception of 2014 and 2007 when four teams were ranked.

WHAT’S TRENDING

• Two more Pac-12 volleyball players joined the 1,000-kills club last week. Stanford’s Kathryn Plummer went over the mark on Aug. 27 and Arizona’s Kendra Dahlke followed on Aug. 31. Along with USC’s Khalia Lanier and OREGON’s Lindsey Vander Weide, the quartet are the only active league players with 1,000 career kills. A total of 176 players in Pac-12 history have reached the 1,0000-kill plateau.

• Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors went to UCLA’s Mac May after leading the Bruins to a pair of wins over ranked opponents, including No. 12 Baylor and No. 19 San Diego. Washington State’s Claire Martin was tabbed the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Cougs to two upsets over then-No. 17 Northern Iowa on the road. Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors went to USC’s Raquel Lazaro for the second-straight week.

• All-tournament recognitions went to Arizona State’s Courtney Leffel and Ivana Jeremic at the Puerto Rico Clasico. California’s Mima Mirkovic and Preslie Anderson received nods at the South Dakota Classic. OREGON’s Sumeet Gill and Willow Johnson were all-tournament at the Oregon Classic, while Stanford’s Audriana Fitzmorris and Jenna Gray were named to the BYU Invitational all-tournament squad. Arizona’s Kendra Dhalke (Cactus Invitational) and UO’s August Raskie were tabbed MVPs.

• Five current players enter the season with a minimum 1,000 career digs, led by OSU’s Kayla Ellis, who ranks 64th all-time in Pac-12 history with over 1,200 digs.

• Pac-12 teams opened the season in dominant fashion, going 25-5 (.833) in the first weekend of play. League teams have posted a 385-91 (.809) record in the opening week of play dating back to 2002.

2018-19 IN A NUTSHELL

• Stanford returns as the defending Pac-12 Champion, also advancing to the NCAA semifinal. The Cardinal were also picked to win the 2018 league crown, followed by USC in second and Oregon in third. For a complete listing of the poll, click on the link below.

• Seven AVCA All-Americans return from last year, including 2017 AVCA National Player of the Year and Pac-12 Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer. Four of the seven are first team honorees and all are juniors, including USC’s Lanier, and Cardinal teammates Morgan Hentz and Jenna Gray. Plummer became the first player to win the national player of the year honor a year after garnering the AVCA National Freshman of the Year award.

• Nine of the 14 players named to the 2017 All-Pac-12 team return for 2018, including Stanford’s Morgan Hentz, the Pac-12 Libero of the Year last year, and Jenna Gray, the 2017 Pac-12 Setter of the Year.

• The Pac-12 welcomes new coaches to the sidelines, including California mentor Jennifer Dorr and USC’s Brent Crouch. Dorr has been with the Golden Bears program since 2009 when she joined the squad as the director of operations before moving to the role of assistant coach in 2011. Crouch was named the 2016 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year while with Portland.

• Pac-12 volleyball continues to attract marquee student-athletes. Five Pac-12 teams landed at least one Volleyball Magazine FAB 50 recruit with Oregon and UCLA pacing the league with four each. Thirteen named to the list will be donning a Pac-12 uniform this season.

PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL BROADCASTS

• In 2018, 91 Pac-12 regular-season volleyball matches will be televised this season, by far the most of any conference in the nation. Of those, 88 appear on the Pac-12 Networks beginning with the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge Friday, Aug. 31 doubleheader featuring Colorado and Washington taking on Illinois and Iowa.

• ESPN will also televise three Pac-12 matches, including the UCLA-USC rivalry matchup on Wednesday, Sept. 19 on ESPNU. ESPN2 will be the home of two Pac-12 matches: USC at STANFORD on Friday, Sept. 28 and Stanford at OREGON on Sunday, Oct. 21.

• For a full television schedule, visit pac-12.com.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS Expanded standings)

Teams Points Pac-12 Record Overall Record Arizona 0 0-0 6-0 UCLA 0 0-0 4-0 Washington State 0 0-0 4-0 Utah 0 0-0 5-1 Arizona State 0 0-0 5-1 California 0 0-0 5-1 USC 0 0-0 5-1 Oregon State 0 0-0 4-1 Stanford 0 0-0 4-1 Washington 0 0-0 3-1 Oregon 0 0-0 4-2 Colorado 0 0-0 3-2

PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

THIS WEEK:

Offensive: Mac May, UCLA

Defensive: Claire Martin, WSU

Goalkeeper: Raquel Lazaro, USC

ALSO NOMINATED

Offensive: Kendra Dahlke, ARIZ; Alyse Ford, ASU; Preslie Anderson, CAL; Alexa Smith, COLO; Sumeet Gill, ORE; Amy Underdown, OSU; Audriana Fitzmorris, STAN; Brooke Botkin, USC; Bailey Choy, UTAH; Kara Bajema, WASH; Taylor Mims, WSU.

Defensive: Courtney Leffel, ASU; Justine Spann, COLO; Ronika Stone, ORE; Grace Massey, OSU; Morgan Hentz, STAN; Madeline Gates, UCLA; Victoria Garrick, USC; Phoebe Grace, UTAH; Kara Bajema, WASH.

Freshman: Avital Jaloba, ASU; Brooke Nuneviller, ORE; Maddie Sheehan, OSU; Holly Campbell, STAN; Devon Chang, UCLA; Phoebe Grace, UTAH; Ella May Powell, WASH.

2018 PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

IN THE PRESEASON

Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll & All-Pac-12 Team | AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING