No. 3 Texas vs. No. 1 Stanford volleyball: Preview, how to watch

Two college volleyball powers meet in a No. 1 vs. No. 3 matchup as Stanford faces off against Texas on Sunday, Sept. 8 Check out our preview and how to watch information below.

The Cardinal are on a roll. The defending national champions have won 35 consecutive matches and are getting the Longhorns in the home opener. Stanford is also 20-7 against Texas all-time — and swept the Longhorns last season.

Stanford-Texas volleyball: Preview

It doesn't get much bigger than this, as Stanford's non-conference slate continues to give fans exciting matchups.

The Cardinal swept No. 7 Florida on the road Wednesday and now get the No. 3 Longhorns. But that's not all. Stanford is in a five-match stretch against top-10 teams: No. 7 Florida, No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 2 Nebraska (if PSU, Minnesota and Nebraska can remain there for the matches). And then Stanford gets a visit from 2018 semifinalist BYU, the last team to beat the Cardinal. That's a lot before going into Pac-12 play.

POLL: The latest Top 25 AVCA rankings

Stanford has looked like the No. 1 team in its 3-0 start. Two-time national player of the year Kathryn Plummer is hitting .435 on the season and just torched Florida with 21 kills while hitting .441 for the match.

	Tale of the Tape
No. 1	AVCA ranking	No. 3
3-0	Record	3-0
Kevin Hambly 67-5	Coach (Record at school)	Jerritt Elliott 456-101
38	NCAA tournament appearances	35
8	NCAA championships	2
Kathryn Plummer, 49	Kills leader	Micaya White and Logan Eggleston, 46
Jenna Gray, 103	Assists leader	Jhenna Gabriel, 119
Madeleine Gates, 13	Blocks leader	Asjia O'Neal, 14
Morgan Hentz, 45	Digs leader	Sydney Petersen, 42
.348	Team hitting	.327
.129	Opponent hitting	.232
def. No. 7 Florida, 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-19)	Previous match	def. No. 8 Minnesota, 3-0 (25-22, 29-27, 35-33)
at No. 6 Penn State 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13	Next match (times ET)	vs. No. 13 BYU (in Wichita, Kansas) 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13

The Cardinal took six of seven sets against Texas last year, with the Longhorns winning the third set in Austin to avoid the back-to-back sweeps.

But this year's Texas team has been almost as dominant as the Cardinal. After beating both UNI and Southern California in four sets, the Longhorns stepped up and swept No. 8 Minnesota on Wednesday. Though the Gophers hit .311, Texas hit a ridiculous .353, including .426 in the wild 35-33 clinching third set. Micaya White and Logan Eggleston combined for 31 kills.

SCOREBOARD: Track Top 25 teams and other matches here

However, though Texas has picked up impressive wins, defeating top-ranked Stanford is a big ask. Cardinal coach Kevin Hambly is 32-0 at Maples Pavilion — and his team has lost only 12 sets at home during that run.

Stanford's overall win streak is up to 35 in a row, which ties 2003 Hawai'i, 1998 Penn State and UCLA (September 1990 to September 1991) for the 10th longest winning streak of all-time. If the Cardinal beat Texas, it moved up to a tie for 7th all-time:

Longest consecutive win streaks in NCAA DI women's volleyball history:

• 1st at 109: Penn State from Sept. 21, 2007 to Sept. 10, 2010
• 2nd at 52: Southern California from Nov. 2, 2002 to Sept. 10, 2004
• 3rd at 44: Penn State from August 31 to Dec. 7, 1990
• 4th at 43: UCLA from Nov. 16, 1991 to Dec. 17, 1992
• 5th at 42: Long Beach State from Aug. 28, 1998 to Sept. 10, 1999
• 6th at 37: Florida from August 24 to Dec. 13, 1996
• 7th (tied) at 36: Florida (August 23 to Dec. 18, 2003), Nebraska (Sept. 1, 2000 to Aug. 25, 2001) and Penn State (August 28 to Dec. 18, 1999)
• 10th (tied) at 35: Hawai'i (August 29-Dec. 13, 2003), Penn State (September 4 to Dec. 17, 1998), UCLA (Sept. 7, 1990 to Sept. 6, 1991) and Stanford (Sept. 1, 2018 to present)

She's been the top player in the country for the past few years for a good reason! Kathryn Plummer had the hot hand for No. 1 @StanfordWVB with 21 kills on .441 hitting in the Cardinal's sweep of No. 7 Florida. #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/BbRz4GRJ7i

— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) September 5, 2019

Stanford-Texas volleyball: How to watch, time, TV channel

The 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) Stanford-Texas match on Sunday, Sept. 8 is on the Pac-12 Network. You can also watch it online here.

Stanford-Texas volleyball: Series history

The Cardinal have 20-7 record all-time against Texas.

Stanford beat Texas in a home-and-home series last year and has won the most recent four matches. The Longhorns haven't defeated the Cardinal since Sept. 8, 2013.