The No. 2 Stanford women’s volleyball team has had to work very hard for its wins lately, facing four top-ten programs in a row. The competition will likely be a bit less intense in Oregon this weekend, but the No. 19 Ducks should not be sold short.

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Senior setter Bryn Kehoe (left) and junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo (right) have been integral when it comes to No. 2 Stanford’s success so far this year. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/7917
Sammy Abusrur

Senior setter Bryn Kehoe (left) and junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo (right) have been integral when it comes to No. 2 Stanford’s success so far this year.

The undefeated Cardinal (14-0, 3-0 Pac-10) beat No. 3 Penn State (12-2) in five games to end the preseason, then started Pac-10 play with a four-game win at No. 10 Cal (10-4, 0-3) and back-to-back home sweeps of No. 4 USC (13-1, 3-1) and No. 5 UCLA (13-2, 3-1).

Junior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after tallying 30 kills, 10 blocks, 11 digs and two aces in wins over the Trojans and the Bruins. She currently has the second-best hitting percentage in the NCAA at .496, just below Penn State’s Christa Harmotto at .497; Akinradewo is three kills from the 1,000th of her career.

It will be the Cardinal’s first conference road trip outside California this weekend as the team travels to Oregon to face the Ducks and then Oregon State. Stanford opens the weekend on Thursday night with the Beavers (8-8, 1-3), whose only victory in conference came against last-place Washington State. In 44 meetings, the Cardinal has never lost to OSU.

KC Walsh, sister of Stanford alum and beach star Kerri, is setting for the Beavers after transferring from Loyola Marymount. Rachel Rourke is the top hitter and server on the roster, with 4.47 kills and 0.37 aces per game. Ashley Evans anchors the OSU back row, while Bree Knitter has already amassed nearly 100 blocks this season.

Last year in Maples, junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza led the Cardinal against the Beavers with 20 kills, two aces and 14 digs; Stanford hit over .400 for the match. In Corvallis later in the season, Barboza again tallied match highs with 12 kills and 11 digs.

Awaiting Stanford on Friday night will be the Ducks, who broke into the top 20 for the first time in 2007 in this week’s poll. For the first time in 20 years, Oregon beat both Arizona and Arizona State on the road last weekend. The Ducks’ only conference loss came at the hands of undefeated No. 8 Washington in their conference opener.

Gorana Maricic is averaging nearly five kills per game for the Ducks. Setting in a 6-2 offense, Nevena Djordjevic and Rachel Morris have combined for 13.25 assists per game and libero Katie Swoboda leads the defense with five digs per game.

The Cardinal have not lost to Oregon in Eugene since 1986, before most of Stanford’s players were even born.

In 2006, Akinradewo hit flawlessly with 10 kills on 21 swings and registered seven blocks in the Cardinal’s home sweep of the Ducks. On the road, then-senior Kristin Richards led Stanford offensively and Barboza was second with 14 kills. Akinradewo had eight blocks in that match and senior setter Bryn Kehoe had seven.

Following this road trip, the Cardinal will be back in the gym as it hosts Washington State and the No. 8 Huskies, who have opened the season with a 14-0 record identical to Stanford’s.