To be frank, this Pac-12 rivalry hasn’t been much of a competitive rivalry… historically. The Cardinal have won the most NCAA championships of any DI volleyball team — nine — and have appeared in the NCAA tournament since its 1981 inception every year except 2020-21. On the contrary, Washington State has had just as many losing seasons as it has winning seasons and has never made it past the Elite Eight in the tournament. In 2018, the Cougars notably made a deep run in the tournament but were eliminated in the Sweet 16 round by the would-be national champions — you guessed it — Stanford.
So, it comes to no surprise that Stanford holds a 38-3 advantage over the Cougars. The Cardinal have secured 11 straight wins against WSU, dating back to 2016, and about 59% of their meetings have been three-set shutouts. And while history might not be on its side, preseason No. 21 Wazzu has been steadily climbing the 2023 rankings since Week 1, taking down ranked BYU, Baylor, Texas and Oregon, and now earning its highest AVCA ranking ever in program history this week: No. 4. Thus, Sunday’s matchup marks the first time that the Cougars and…
