By John Reid

Daily News Staff Writer

The Stanford women”s volleyball team will spot the opposition an All-American every time it takes the floor this season. Senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, last year”s Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year, will miss the entire season after undergoing surgery for a knee injury suffered while playing with the U.S. National Team in Peru over the summer.

“Inky has made her mark on Stanford, college and international volleyball,” said Stanford coach John Dunning, in his 15th season. “Her injury has changed our team. It”s not a feeling any of us want and it is painful to think about. We”re proud of her and how she has reacted. She”s going through something very difficult. This goes in very different stages.”

Stanford, ranked No. 2 in the nation, opens the season Friday vs. Texas A&M at Maples Pavilion at 6 p.m.

The Cardinal still has plenty of firepower with AVCA first team All-American Jordan Burgess — 1,037 career kills — on the floor. Setter Madi Bugg, with 3,798 career assists, is one of the best setters in Cardinal history. Outside hitter Brittany Howard, a Mountain View High alum, has racked up 868 career kills. Howard was on the Final Four all-tourney team last year. Sophomore middle blocker Merete Lutz is 6-8 force at the net who had a hitting percentage of .441 in her first season.

With Ajanaku out, Dunning needs to fill a middle blocker position. He has three true freshmen to choose from — Tami Alade, Alexis Froistad and Courtney Bowen. Alade attended Old Scona Academic in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Froistad is a Salinas High grad, while Bowen is from the The Chapin School in New York, N.Y.

The true freshman on track to have the most impact is opposite Hayley Hodson, who attended Corona del Mar High in Newport Beach her first three years, but graduated online from Laurel Springs School in Ojai. Hodson, at 6-3, was the No. 1 recruit in the class and is a probable starter.

“Her team won Junior Olympics and she was the MVP, so she deserved being the No. 1 recruit,” Dunning said. “We”re lucky to have her. It”s a jump from one level to the next. She has handled the jump. She is ready. She is very skilled, experienced, talented and can easily find a way on to our court.”

In contrast, Alade (6-2) is inexperienced at high-level competition because she developed her chops in Canada. Despite that, Dunning said Alade will play a big role, while Froistad and Bowen have big upsides.

“I like the feel Tami gives when she is in the game,” Dunning said. “She can find a way. She has lots to learn like all middles do when they come into college, but I think she”s ready. Froistad is a real hard worker, a gut-it-out kind of player. The first thing I noticed about her is that she is willing to do the work. Bowen is a surprise for us and is a great addition to our team. She could be a super talent, but she has to get used to this level. She could be shockingly good.”

One freshman is vying for the open libero position — Halland McKenna, from Sage Hill High in Newport Coast. McKenna is competing against sophomore Sarah Benjamin. Another freshman, Payton Chang from Mater Dei in Los Angeles, is a converted defensive specialist who played setter in high school.

“Payton has a lot of experience and can help us right now,” Dunning said. “Halland has some really good skills. She is challenging to get on the court.”

As for Ajanaku, she has a lofty career hitting percentage of .415. The 6-foot-3 Ajanaku registered 435 blockers in her career, No. 9 all-time at Stanford. She will be missed.

“Inky is a huge presence when she is on the court,” Burgess said. “The entire team still feels her presence even though she isn”t on the court with us. That”s a very cool thing. She”s a good a leader right now as she was last year when she was playing.”

“We”ve always tried to win it for each other,” Ajanaku said. “That”s what we”ve tried to do since we were freshmen.”

The Cardinal has a chance to take over the No. 1 spot in the country early, playing No. 8 Illinois on Sept. 4 and top-ranked Penn State on Sept. 5. Both matches are in State College, Pa. The Pac-12 Conference starts Sept. 22 at Cal.

Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn.