Lead Image by Walt Middleton
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sixth-seeded Stanford completed its championship run with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21) victory against fourth-seeded Texas on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Cardinal (27-7) was the youngest team ever to play in an NCAA Final Four in women's volleyball but played like experienced veterans to claim Stanford's first national title since 2004 and the seventh in program history. The Cardinal's seven championships ties Penn State for the most of any program all-time.
It is the 111th NCAA team title for Stanford and 134th national team title overall. It is the second NCAA team title this year, coming less than a week after the men's soccer team won the championship this past Sunday. The Cardinal has won 47 national championships since 2000.
The Cardinal finished the season on a 10-match winning streak – the team's longest winning-streak since reeling off 28 straight victories to open the 2014 campaign.
Stanford was terrific offensively, hitting .277 on the match including going .366 in the first set and .318 in the fourth. Kathryn Plummer, the AVCA Freshman of the Year, led the Cardinal with 18 kills. She was followed by fifth-year senior Inky Ajanaku with 16 kills.
"We are just so happy," said an excited Ajanaku to ESPN's Holly Rowe after the match. "Stanford is such a great program and we had so many great people come through the program, and they didn't have this moment. For us to have that moment, it's so, so humbling."
Stanford's defense was excellent, producing 12 blocks on the match and holding Texas' potent offense to a .217 hit-percentage. Morgan Hentz made her presence known throughout the match, making multiple highlight-worthy digs to keep rallies going and steal points for the Cardinal.
"Texas is a great team and their hitters put a lot of power on the ball, and they know how to place it extremely well," Hentz said to Rowe. "I think our block did a really great job of setting up on them so our defense was able to read around them, which makes it a lot easier for us. So, thanks to the block."
It was the 24th meeting between the two storied programs but the first matchup in the national championship game. Stanford entered the match with a 16-7 record against the Longhorns.
It was a streaky first set for both teams, with both sides producing points in bunches. Texas opened the match with a 7-4 advantage before Stanford head coach John Dunning called timeout. The Cardinal responded by going on a 9-3 run to take a 14-12 lead.
Texas called its first timeout of the match and proceeded to go on a 6-1 run to retake the lead, 18-15. Stanford regained momentum after another timeout to close the set on a 10-3 run. Ivana Vanjak and Ajanaku capped the set with a powerful block to secure the first set, 25-21.
Stanford took a 2-0 advantage for the second straight match and fourth time in six NCAA Tournament games this postseason, winning the second set 25-19. The Cardinal hit .366 and was led by Ajanaku with a .533 percentage. Stanford was outstanding defensively, limiting Texas to a .182 hit-percentage.
The teams traded points to start the second frame until the Cardinal went on an 8-1 run to jump out to a 12-7 lead.
Stanford had its momentum halted when the Longhorns took a timeout and responded with an 8-2 run to take a 15-14 lead. Stanford took two timeouts during the run to try to stop the rally but Texas continued to roll.
A failed video replay challenge by the Cardinal gave Texas a 17-15 lead and seemingly all of the momentum. However, Audriana Fitzmorris provided an emphatic block on the following play to close the gap to 17-16 and fuel a late comeback.
Stanford rallied for 10 of the final 12 points to secure the second set, 25-19.
The Cardinal ran into a bit of adversity in the third set. The teams traded blows back-and-forth with the score either being tied or separated by a point until Texas went on a 6-0 run to take a commanding 14-9 lead.
The Longhorns continued to dominate and secured the set victory, 25-18, cutting Stanford's lead in the match to 2-1.
Stanford jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the fourth set and forced Texas to use both of its timeouts. The Longhorns cut the lead to 6-3 but the Cardinal rallied to extend its lead to 12-4 and took control of the set.
Texas continued to battle and closed in on Stanford multiple times, cutting significant deficits to 20-16 and 24-21 but it was too little, too late, for the Longhorns.
On the following play, Plummer took a rip from the left side of the net, powering a shot through the block to secure Stanford's 25th and championship point.
"We grew so much this year," said Ajanaku. "I grew – they [the freshmen] taught me so much. And just to be able to get this win, I knew we could do it. Just from the beginning of the season and now that everyone believes in themselves, it's something remarkable."