Women’s volleyball
Angie Forburger, assistant Sports editor
Women’s volleyball has begun the second half of Pac-12 play.
No. 2 Stanford (20-1, 12-0 Pac-12) remains ranked at the top of the conference, still yet to lose a conference match. The Cardinal most recently swept No. 15 USC (16-7, 8-4) and No. 22 UCLA (11-8, 6-6), and will face Colorado (14-10, 6-7) and Utah (13-10, 5-7) this weekend.
The Trojans are tied with the No. 18 Washington State Cougars (17-5, 8-4) and No. 16 Oregon Ducks (15-7, 8-4) for second in the conference. The Cougars are coming off four straight wins and will host No. 21 Arizona (17-7, 6-6) and Arizona State (13-11, 4-8) on Friday and Sunday respectively. The Ducks have won six of their last eight matches and will take on USC and UCLA this weekend.
After winning four straight, the Bruins have been swept in three straight matches as they prepare to face Oregon and Oregon State (11-13, 1-11). UCLA is tied for fifth in the Pac-12 alongside Arizona, who won three straight matchups before falling to Oregon on Sunday.
At sixth is Colorado, with Washington (13-9, 5-7) and Utah tied for seventh. The Huskies have lost five straight matches and will next battle the Arizona State Sun Devils – a team that has dropped six straight games.
Utah and Colorado are both coming off a loss against Washington State and a win over Washington. Colorado most recently defeated California on Wednesday – a team Utah will face Friday.
Arizona State, California (12-12, 4-9) and Oregon State sit at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. The Beavers took home their first conference win Sunday against the Sun Devils.
Conference play will continue until the end of November.
Women’s soccer
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor
Three teams are heading into the final weekend of Pac-12 play with the title up in the air.
No. 6 UCLA women’s soccer (13-3-1, 8-2-0 Pac-12) is one point behind No. 1 Stanford (15-0-2, 8-0-1) and No. 2 USC (15-1-2, 8-1-1) in the Pac-12 standings with one to two games left to play.
The Cardinal tied with Washington State (11-5-1, 4-5-1) in their last game. Stanford has been undefeated so far this season, only tying with No. 5 Santa Clara and Washington State. The Cardinal will face the California Golden Bears and Arizona State Sun Devils this weekend with a chance to claim a share of the conference title with one win.
Stanford is ranked fourth in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 2.65 goals per game, with forward Catarina Macario leading the team with 12 goals, tied for top conference goal scorer.
UCLA will clinch the conference title outright if it defeatss USC and Stanford loses both of its matches.
The Trojans are tied with the Cardinal at the top of the Pac-12 standings and face the Bruins this weekend with leading conference goal scorer forward Penelope Hocking, who has 12 goals. USC will claim a share of the conference title with a win against UCLA and a Stanford loss to Arizona State.
The match between the crosstown rivals drew an NCAA women’s soccer regular season-record crowd of 11,925 fans last season at Drake Stadium, where the Bruins claimed a 3-2 victory in overtime.
Men’s soccer
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor
The Pac-12 may have a new men’s soccer champion in 2018.
Stanford (9-2-4, 5-1-1 Pac-12) has won the last three NCAA championships, but the Cardinal are currently three points behind the Oregon State Beavers (10-4-3, 6-2-1) with three games remaining on their schedule.
Stanford defeated Denver in its final nonconference match last weekend, and will face off against fifth-place San Diego State on Thursday.
The Beavers took sole possession of first place last week when they beat the Bruins 4-3 in overtime. The Bruins dropped back to fourth place and are now three points behind Washington, who shut out UCLA on Thursday.
California and San Diego State are tied for fifth behind UCLA with three points; nine points behind the Bruins. UCLA will have a chance to complete season sweeps against both squads this weekend at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.
First-place Oregon State has one game remaining on its schedule this season – a matchup with Washington.