Able willing

Sports
Kevin Hogan’s status for Friday’s Pac-12 game at Oregon State is
questionable after he sprained an ankle at USC.
Stanford football
(continued from previous page)
pares and cheers on the guy who
has a great game.”
McCaffrey remains the cornerstone
of the rushing attack; he’s
carried the ball 58 times this season
while seven others have combined
to carry it 59 times. Given
the circumstance, Shaw is not
afraid to throw any one in there,
thus the three touchdown runs
from Wright and a big play from
Sanders that set up one of those
scoring runs.
“We have a definite plan for
him,” Shaw said of Wright. “He
plays physically. He could be a
guard, tackle or tight end. I am
inspired by his growth.”
He’s become the short-yardage
specialist and scores even when
everybody knows he’s getting the
ball.
“He has a lot of weight blocking
for him up front,” McCaffrey said.
“But he’s also big and strong and
can jump.”
Shaw had all but Sanders on
the field for one play against the
Trojans, a play that appeared to be
an option.
“We just put that in that week,”
McCaffrey said. “All three of us
in the same backfield, and Love
has a lot of speed on the edge.”
Would McCaffrey be willing to
throw the ball?
“I was 3-for-3 in high school,”
he said. “Two of them were picks,
but none of them hit the ground.”
Stanford, which accumulated
471 offensive yards against
USC, will need another big effort
against the Beavers, who are
coming off a 35-21 victory over
San Jose State last weekend. Oregon
State, playing its third home
game, is 2-0 at home. The Cardinal
owns a five-game winning
streak over the Beavers but is 4-5
in its past nine games in Corvallis.
Stanford’s elusive backfield
foursome averages a combined
128.3 rushing yards and 135.7
receiving yards a game this season.
Will the magic of the running
back rotation remain successful?
“One can assume it would be
tough, but when you practice with
these guys and you form a bond
with these guys and you realize
they can help your team win, at
the end of the day, it’s all about
winning and losing games for us,”
McCaffrey said. “We understand
if a coach thinks a guy should be
in and he’ll help us win, we want
to do it. It’s definitely something
we’ve come to grips with. We appreciate
each other.”
Hogan, another member of the
backfield, sustained an ankle injury
early in the second half of
Saturday’s somewhat surprising
victory. He was to test the ankle
during Thursday’s practice before
Shaw made a decision on the
starting quarterback.
“I have no idea if he’ll play or
not, but I feel confident with the
second- and third-string guys,”
McCaffrey said. “You always prepare
like you’re a starter.”
Outside linebacker Joey Alfieri
may also see a little more action
after Peter Kalambayi got banged
up last week. He responded
against the Trojans by securing
his first career sack and recorded
six tackles, four solo. Kalambayi
and Alfieri each have a pair of
quarterback hurries, tying them
for the team lead.
“I got a couple of series on defense,”
said Alfrieri, also a member
of the kickoff coverage team.
“The sack felt good. It was a big
one for me.”
It was likely a big one for the
family, too. His father Phil Alfieri
was a defensive end for Oregon
State in the 80s. His mother,
Kelly, also attended Oregon State
and ran hurdles on the track and
field team.
Alfrieri attended high school
in Portland and expects a large
contingent of family and friends
at Reser Stadium.
Don Feria/isiphotos.com
Stanford roundup
(continued from previous page)
Bordoni, 2013 USATF junior national
1,500-meter champion Justin
Brinkley, sub-4 miler Thomas
Coyle, Will Drinkwater, Steven
Fahy, Cameron Miller, Patrick
Perrier, and Ryan Silva.
Division I teams ranked regionally
are Stanford (No. 1 West), Cal
(No. 6 West), UCSB (No. 9 West),
Cal Poly (No. 11 West), San Jose
State (No. 14 West), Baylor (No.
14, South Central), and North
Dakota State (No. 15 Midwest).
Though they will be combined
in the same race, the Division I
and non-Division I teams will be
scored separately. Chico State, the
2014 non-Division I team winner,
is ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division
II, Cal Poly Pomona is No.
10 and Simon Fraser is No. 21,
and Southern Oregon is No. 1 in
NAIA.
The Stanford women will not
race at full strength, splitting its
squad between this meet and the
Washington Invitational in Seattle
on Oct. 2. Stanford individuals
have won the 6K distance 11 of
the past 13 years, including the
past five.
Stanford enters four who were
part of the lineup team that
placed 14th at the NCAA Championships:
Sophie Chase, Claire
Howlett, Abbie McNulty, and
Molly McNamara. California also
is nationally ranked, at No. 30,
and Chico State, last year’s Invite
non-Division I runner-up, is No. 6
in Division II and Simon Fraser
is No. 10.
Division I teams ranked in the
West Region are: Stanford (No.
1), Cal (No. 5), UC Davis (No. 8),
and Cal Poly (No. 11). Division
II teams ranked in the West are:
Chico State (No. 1), Simon Fraser
(No. 3), Central Washington (No.
6), Azusa Pacific (No. 8).
The Stanford men had their 19-
year winning streak snapped last
year by Washington State, but the
Cardinal women have an 11-year
winning streak. The meet began
in 1974 with a men’s race, and
the women’s race began in 1977.
Among the men’s winners have
been two-time U.S. cross country
champion Chris Derrick and
Olympians such as Ryan Hall,
Gabe Jennings, Meb Keflezighi,
and Ian Dobson. Past women’s
winners have included Regina
Jacobs, Ceci Hopp, Sara Bei, and
Amy Yoder.
Women’s volleyball
The eighth-ranked Cardinal
navigated a tough nonconference
schedule and it only gets harder
now that Pac-12 Conference season
has commenced.
Stanford (1-0, 7-2) opened conference
play with a convincing
victory at California. Sunday’s
home match against No. 3 USC (4
p.m.) should serve as an indicator
of sorts.
The Trojans (1-0, 13-0) are one
of three undefeated teams in the
talent-laden Pac-12. Arizona State
(11-0) and Washington (10-0) open
conference play this weekend.
With the unbalanced scheduling,
this is the only match between
the two perennial national
contending teams. The Cardinal
finish the conference season at
UCLA, their only match.
USC swept the Bruins in its
conference opener.
The Trojans are second in the
conference in hitting percentage
at .330. Stanford ranks fourth at
. 263. USC is the team leader in
assists (13.78 per set) and kills
(14.83) while the Cardinal top the
Pac-12 in blocks (3.13).
USC’s Elise Ruddins leads the
conference with a .478 hitting percentage
and Alicia Ogoms is fifth
at .427. Samantha Bricio averages
a Pac-12 best 4.90 kills. Cardinal
freshman Hayley Hodson, who recorded
18 kills against Cal, ranks
tenth at 3.55.
Ogoms and Stanford’s Ivana
Vanjak rank 1-2 in blocks, 1.71
and 1.55 respectively.
Women’s soccer
No. 8 Stanford opens Pac-12
Conference play at Utah for a second
straight season. The Cardinal
(6-2) and Utes (3-3-3) meet at 3
p.m. (PT) on Friday, to be televised
by the Pac-12 Networks.
Stanford is coming off a 1-0
loss at Santa Clara on Sunday.
The Cardinal also dropped a
home nonconference game to
Penn State.
The Cardinal will be looking
to extend its unbeaten conference-opening
streak to 15 years.
Stanford is 11-0-3 since losing to
Washington in 2000.
Stanford leads the series with
Utah, 5-1-1, and has an active fivematch
unbeaten streak. The teams
tied, 1-1, last year.
Stanford has not allowed more
than two goals in a match over its
past 242 contests, not since a 4-0
loss to North Carolina in 2005.
The Cardinal hasn’t allowed more
than two goals in a match at home
since 1998, in a 3-2 overtime loss
to BYU.
The Cardinal holds a 152-42
edge in shots and 66-11 in corner
kicks over its opponents. Freshman
Michelle Xiao leads the
team with three goals on 27 shots.
Sophomore Andi Sullivan has a
pair of goals, while senior Haley
Rosen has a goal and three assists.
Every conference team, with the
exception of Oregon has a .500
record or better, and the Ducks
are 3-5. Washington State enters
the weekend at 7-1, followed by
Washington at 7-1-1. Arizona (6-1-
1), California (6-1-2) and Oregon
State (4-1-2) are other teams with
one loss.
Men’s water polo
No. 2 Stanford travels to Davis
for the Aggie Roundup this weekend.
The Cardinal (8-1) will face
Concordia (noon) and the host
Aggies (4 p.m.) on Saturday, and
Santa Clara (noon) and San Jose
State (4 p.m.) on Sunday.
Senior Bret Bonanni enters this
weekend’s Aggie Roundup just 34
goals from tying Tony Azevedo’s
Stanford and MPSF record of
332 from 2001-04. After concluding
his junior season with a
conference-leading 96 goals, he
has a team-leading 32 goals in
Stanford’s first nine games. The
senior recorded a career-best nine
goals in the season-opening victory
over MIT on Sept. 5. Bonanni
is the only Cardinal in history to
post multiple 90-goal seasons. He
recorded five goals in Stanford’s
four games in the Kap7 NorCal
Invitational last weekend.
Stanford finished second in
the 16-team Kap7 NorCal Invitational
last weekend. The Cardinal
opened with convincing wins
over Santa Clara (18-0) and No. 7
Long Beach State (11-4) to reach
the semifinals. In the semifinal
round, Stanford defeated No. 2
USC, 6-5, before dropping an 8-7
decision to No. 1 UCLA in the
Championship game.
(Dave Kiefer is a member of the
Stanford Sports Information
Department)
Stanford senior Bret Bonanni will continue his assault on the record
books at the Aggie Roundup.
Hector Garcia-Molina/stanfordphoto.com
Page 62 • September 25, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com