Photos

The sixth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team opens the season Friday with a match against WCC rival St. Mary's at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational. Match time is 8 p.m.

Juniors Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat both secured AVCA All-America honorable mention honors in 2011. Wopat was also a Volleyball Magazine First Team All-American as a sophomore. The pair combined to produce 54 percent of the team's kills, 50 percent of the team's points and 75 percent of the team's blocks in 2011.

"We worked hard last season and put in a lot of time," Williams said. "We want to be there at the end."

Stanford's class of 2016 has been tabbed the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. It includes Inky Ajanaku (Tulsa, Okla.), Madi Bugg (Apex, N.C.), Jordan Burgess (Fort Myers, Fla.), Brittany Howard (Los Altos, Calif.) and Megan McGehee (Lee's Summit, Mo.). All five players were high school All-Americans and ranked among the Top 15 on PrepVolleyball's Senior Aces list.

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.