Season in ReviewSeason in Review
Women's Volleyball

Season in Review

Final 2017 Notes

A LOOK BACK: Stanford's 2017 NCAA run ended in the national semifinals with a 3-2 loss to No. 2 seed Florida. The No. 3 overall seed, Stanford (30-4, 19-1 Pac-12) hit .357 in the postseason and recorded 3.14 blocks and 1.28 aces per set. AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer led the team with 4.44 kills on .357 hitting and 0.94 blocks per set in the tournament. Sophomore setter Jenna Gray (12.04 aps) and sophomore libero Morgan Hentz (4.08 dps) joined Plummer as AVCA First Team All-Americans.

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS: The Cardinal advanced to its 21st national semifinal in program history in 2017 - the most in the nation. Stanford made its third appearance in the past four seasons, and made back-to-back trips for the first time since going to three straight in 2006-08.


BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marked Stanford's 38th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance. The Cardinal is one of only two programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA Championship began in 1981 (Penn State is the other). Stanford has won more NCAA Tournament matches (119), made more Final Four appearances (21) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seventh NCAA title also tied Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

STANFORD REGIONAL: Stanford defeated 11th-ranked Wisconsin in the regional semifinals, 3-1, before sweeping No. 6 seed Texas in the finals at home at Maples Pavilion. Kathryn Plummer was named the Stanford Regional Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz. Plummer hit .360 and tallied 5.86 kills, 2.00 digs and 1.00 blocks per set in the two matches. Gray dished out 13.14 assists per set as the Cardinal hit .368 as a team, while Hentz collected 4.71 digs per set.
 


AVCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kathryn Plummer became the first player in AVCA Division I history to earn Player of the Year honors after being named the National Freshman of the Year the previous season. She is the first Cardinal player to bring home the honor since 2007 (Foluke Akinradewo) and the ninth overall.
 


ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal secured three AVCA First Team All-Americans in Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer, and two on the second team – Audriana Fitzmorris and Merete Lutz. Junior Tami Alade was an honorable mention honoree. Stanford's five players on the first and second teams were a program-best and its six overall tied Penn State and Texas for the most in the nation in 2017. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 95 honors spread over 40 players. It marks the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal has produced at least four All-Americans. 


AVCA ALL-REGION: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer was tabbed the AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year and was joined on the all-region team by redshirt senior Merete Lutz and sophomores Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz. Additionally, junior Tami Alade earned all-region honorable mention.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer became the 15th Cardinal player and first since Alix Klineman in 2010 to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in kills (4.66) and points per set (5.39). The outside hitter is the first conference player to win Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since Stanford's Bev Oden in 1989 and 1990.
 


SETTER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Jenna Gray is the second Stanford player to earn Pac-12 Setter of the Year honors since the award began in 2011, joining Madi Bugg who took home the honor three times (2013, 2014, 2015). The Shawnee, Kansas native paced the league and was fourth nationally with 12.04 assists per set, and had the Cardinal hitting .319 as a team - the third-best mark in the nation.
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Morgan Hentz is the first Cardinal to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She led the team with 4.08 digs per set, upping that mark to 4.39 digs per set in NCAA Tournament matches, and had just 15 reception errors on the season.
 


PAC-12 HONORS: Seven Cardinal players were recognized by the conference this season. Redshirt senior Merete Lutz (four-time) and sophomore Kathryn Plummer (two-time) were repeat honorees, while sophomores Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz joined them on the 18-player All-Pac-12 team. Junior Tami Alade was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection for the first time in her career, while outside hitter Meghan McClure landed on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It was the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.
 


SINGLE SEASON MARKS: Four Stanford players made their way into Cardinal's single season record books in 2017:
Tami Alade - .416 hitting percentage (9th)
Jenna Gray - 1,433 assists (t-8th); 44 service aces (10th)
Morgan Hentz - 486 digs (10th); 4.08 digs per set (8th)
Kathryn Plummer - 555 kills (7th)

IN THE CLASSROOM: Led by first team selection Michaela Keefe, seven Cardinal earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors. Four-time honoree Merete Lutz was joined by junior Tami Alade and sophomores Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer on the honorable mention list.

HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches in 2017. Dating back to last season, Stanford has now won 19 consecutive matches at Maples Pavilion. Over the past five seasons, the Cardinal is 71-8 (.899) at home. Overall, Stanford is 69-5 (.932) at home in NCAA Tournament matches.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford closed out the year at No. 4 in the AVCA Poll, never dropping lower than No. 4 all season. NCAA champion Nebraska took over the top spot, while Florida and Penn State sat ahead of the Cardinal. Texas rounded out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads were ranked in the final poll, including No. 7 USC, No. 11 Utah, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Washington and No. 19 Colorado.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz missed the Cardinal's first five matches due to an ankle injury suffered in the team's last preseason practice. The four-time All-American finished her career seventh all-time at Stanford with a .350 career hitting percentage and moved past Kerri Walsh in career blocks with 504 (7th).
 


PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Stanford boasts 105 Pac-12 players of the week all-time, including five in 2017. Morgan Hentz picked up her first career Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 23 after averaging 4.50 digs per set in wins over No. 14 Washington and Washington State. Merete Lutz collected Offensive Player of the Week honors on Nov. 6 for her efforts (4.00 kps, .526 hitting percentage) against the Oregon schools. Kathryn Plummer has been tabbed the Offensive Player of the Week twice (Oct. 30 and Nov. 20), while Audriana Fitzmorris is the reigning Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 20). 

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer led the Pac-12 with 4.66 kills per set, ranking 11th in the nation, and was the conference leader and sixth nationally with 5.39 points per set. Sophomore Jenna Gray paced the conference and was fourth nationally with 12.04 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade was the only Pac-12 player hitting over .400 on the season (.416). Sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris was the conference's blocks leader, averaging 1.48 per set (12th nationally).
 


1,000 KILLS CLUB: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz recorded her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 27 against Arizona State. She became just the 18th Cardinal player since 1986 to accomplish that feat. Kathryn Plummer is just 14 kills away from the milestone.
 


1,000 DIGS CLUB: Sophomore Morgan Hentz became the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to register 1,000 digs, doing so against No. 18 UCLA on Nov. 16. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the career record at Stanford with 2,147 digs, the fifth-most in Pac-12 history.
 


HEAD COACH KEVIN HAMBLY: Kevin Hambly was named the head coach of the Cardinal on Jan. 30, 2017 after spending eight seasons at the helm at Illinois. The 2011 Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year, Hambly led the Illini to six NCAA regional appearances and the 2011 national title match. He coached 12 AVCA All-Americans to 19 honors during his time at Illinois.