The Stanford women’s volleyball team has endured a long and strenuous journey through the first half of conference play and it doesn’t look to be getting any easier down the stretch. But despite the tough competition and the physical and mental toll of being student-athletes, the No. 3 Cardinal sit atop the Pacific-10 Conference standings at the midway point.

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Alvin Chow

“If someone is tired or has aches and pains, there is someone ready to step in and do the job” — JOHN DUNNING, Stanford coach

With just a single loss to No. 6 Washington and seven straight conference wins, Stanford (17-2, 8-1 Pac-10) heads to Arizona this weekend ready to start its final push to the postseason. While their classmates worry about midterms, the players have even more on their minds.

“We are still trying hard to improve our health and it has gotten to the point in the season when school is pretty tough,” Head Coach John Dunning said. “We are trying to do the best we can and give the players the time to do everything, but it is definitely challenging right now.”

Nevertheless, the Cardinal are more than ready to close out the Pac-10 season strong and carry that momentum into the postseason. Stanford was picked to finish first in the conference in the preseason coaches’ poll and is currently tied with No. 4 UCLA for the top spot.

“At this point in the season, everybody gets run-down, but we have great depth,” Dunning said. “So if someone is tired or has aches and pains, there is someone else ready to step in and do their job. That is one advantage for us in the second half of the season — we have so many experienced people ready to play.”

Stanford will have the opportunity to use that depth on the road this weekend as they take on Arizona State (11-9, 3-6) and Arizona (10-11, 1-8), two teams that the Cardinal swept at home early in the conference season.

After losing five conference matches in a row, the Sun Devils have now won two of their last three, sweeping Oregon State and winning in four against Washington State. Nicole Morton leads the offense with 251 kills and Staci Smith is hitting a team-high .297 on the season. Marina Mercer has — appropriately enough for the weekend before Halloween — 666 assists. Libero Sydney Donahue’s 494 digs, at a rate of 6.86 per game, put her second in the nation.

“One player who has done a very good job against us in the past is Nina Reeves, their right side hitter,” Dunning said. “I think she had 11 kills in the first two games against us and she really kept them in the game from the back row and the front. And, of course, they have one of the better liberos in the country.”

Arizona State made the Cardinal work for their victory in September, but Stanford held on to win in three games. The Sun Devils came within three points of taking the first game, but the Cardinal’s superior hitting made the difference down the stretch.

“ASU has really stepped up their play to another level and they are a much better team than they have been in the past,” Dunning said. “They did not win last weekend, so I know they will be psyched up to play us.”

After Friday’s match in Tempe, the Cardinal will head to Tucson for a matchup with Arizona. The Wildcats have struggled in 2006 and, after being a top-10 team last year, have managed only a single conference win — a four-game victory against Oregon State two weeks ago.

When the Wildcats played at Maples Pavilion in the second week of the Pac-10 season, the hard-fought first game ended in Stanford’s favor, 35-33. The Cardinal powered to victory, allowing Arizona only 35 points total in the last two games.

Brooke Buringrud, who led her team with 15 kills against Stanford, spearheads the Wildcats offense with 288 kills. Middle blocker Dominique Lamb is third with 191 kills and has posted team highs in hitting percentage (.312) and blocks (118). Setter Stephanie Butkus has dished out 867 assists and libero Brittany Leonard leads with 282 digs.

“The one girl who really hurt us last time was Brooke Buringrud. She played very well and we did not block very well against her. She is definitely one that we will be looking out for,” Dunning said. “And Dominique Lamb is pretty high up in the statistics in the conference. She had a good year last year and is very good again.”

With the second half of conference play set to begin, the end is in sight for the Cardinal. As has been the theme all season, there is no such thing as an easy win in the Pac-10 — especially on the road. Stanford will need to fight, even against teams at the bottom of the standings.

“Arizona went to four games with Washington last week,” Dunning said. “Any time you go on the road in this conference, it is always so tough.”