Three weeks into the conference season, there are only two undefeated volleyball teams left in the Pacific-10 Conference. And after this Friday, there will be only one, as the No. 2 Cardinal women square off against No. 8 Washington.

Stanford (16-0, 5-0) will host Washington State (9-10, 0-5 Pac-10) on Thursday, and Washington (16-0, 5-0) will play No. 10 California in Berkeley before Friday’s showdown of the respective 2004 and 2005 national champions. The Cardinal won its record sixth title the year before the Huskies notched their first. The teams last met in the 2006 national semifinal, where Stanford dismantled Washington en route to the final match.

Before facing off against the Huskies, however, the Cardinal will need to get past Washington State. The Cougars have yet to win a match in conference, though they lost a battle with Oregon State in their Pac-10 opener, falling 16-14 in the fifth game.

Washington State opened its season with six straight wins, but is still looking for its first Pac-10 victory, which will likely be hard to find against Stanford, Cal, UCLA and USC.

“I think Washington State is similar to everybody else in the Pac-10 in that they are better than last year,” Head Coach John Dunning said. “Just about everybody in this conference is. They have had a good number of wins and some success this year, though not as much as I am sure they would want. But they are a better team and will be a good challenge for us.”

The Cardinal swept the Cougars in both of their meetings last year, the first and last matches of the conference season. The second victory clinched Stanford’s first Pac-10 championship since 2001.

Jackie Albright is the top hitter for WSU in 2007, with 211 kills on the season. Libero Kelly Hyder has five digs per game, putting her fourth in the conference standings.

The Cardinal has only lost to the Cougars three times in the history of both programs; Stanford last lost to WSU in 2002.

After each team won at home during the conference season, Stanford held Washington to only 12 points in the first game of the match in Omaha. The Cardinal swept before finally falling to Nebraska in the championship.

The Huskies have cruised through the 2007 season so far, sweeping 14 of their 16 opponents and being pushed to a fifth game only once, at No. 19 Oregon. Aside from the Ducks, however, Washington has only played one other ranked team — Long Beach State took the Huskies to four games and has since dropped out of the top 25.

“The fact that they haven’t beat so-and-so and so-and-so doesn’t mean they can’t be the best team in the country,” Dunning said. “I am sure they will be terrific. Their program is always really strong, and they are going to be good every year. They are well coached and have some fine athletes.”

Washington will close out the first half of the conference season with a pair of brutal weekends, visiting Cal and Stanford before returning home to host No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 USC.

After All-American setter Courtney Thompson graduated last year, the Huskies have leaned heavily on four seniors and their freshman setter for their wins so far. Outside hitters Stevie Mussie and Christal Morrison are the focus of the offense with 182 and 181 kills, respectively. Redshirt freshman Becky Perry has kept pace and has 182 kills of her own.

Newcomer Jenna Hagglund has set for Washington from the get-go and is averaging 13.8 assists per game, second only to Stanford senior Bryn Kehoe in the conference.

“They have a girl on their team who is new to the program and hasn’t lost yet,” Dunning said. “So she probably believes that is what will continue to happen. Courtney Thompson won a lot, a whole lot, and now they have a new setter who is doing the same thing. I am sure she has a lot of confidence and I have heard very good things said about her.”

After the pounding they took in the NCAA semifinals last year, the Huskies will likely be looking for some revenge in Maples this week.

“It is a good rivalry we have with them,” Dunning said. “We have had some great matches over the last four years. The fact that we beat them in the Final Four — you just hate that. It’s the same way we feel about Nebraska. It’s motivating and they will want to come in and get us. And that should make for a great match. I hope that every seat is full because it will be a blast.”