STANFORD, Calif. – Kathryn Plummer has been named the AVCA Pacific North Region Freshman of the Year, while a total of three Stanford women's volleyball players have earned all-region first team honors, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today.
Joining Plummer on the 14 player team were redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku and redshirt junior Merete Lutz. Additionally, freshman Audriana Fitzmorris earned all-region honorable mention honors. Stanford and Washington led all schools in the Pacific North Region with three selections each to the first team.
Ajanaku, a three-time AVCA All-American, is being honored for the fourth time in her career. Lutz, a two-time AVCA Second Team All-American, is garnering her third career honors, while Plummer and Fitzmorris are being recognized for the first time in their careers.
Stanford has had at least four all-region players for four consecutive seasons. Players named to the all-region teams are now in contention to become 2016 AVCA All-Americans.
Plummer, a native of Aliso Viejo, California, is the seventh Stanford player to earn AVCA Region Freshman of the Year honors, joining Logan Tom (1999), Ogonna Nnamani (2001), Kristin Richards (2003), Foluke Akinradewo (2005), Alix Klineman (2007) and Hayley Hodson (2015). The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, she ranks eighth in the Pac-12 in kills (3.31) and points per set (3.97) this season, pacing Stanford. She also leads the team with nine double-doubles and posted a team-high in kills in 21 of the 30 matches. A three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, Plummer also earned ESPNw and Pac-12 Offensive weekly honors this season. She was one of three Cardinal players named to the All-Pac-12 Conference Team.
Ajanaku is one of just six players in the nation, and the only player in the Pacific North Region to be named to the first team four times in her career. The four-time All-Pac-12 Conference selection is second in the Pac-12 in 2016 in hitting percentage (.402) and blocks per set (1.48), ranking in the top 15 nationally in both categories. She is also second on the team in kills (292) and points (381.5). A finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, Ajanaku's .412 career hitting percentage is the second-high in program history behind Foluke Akinradewo (.443). The Tulsa, Oklahoma native also ranks fourth on the Cardinal's career blocks list with 595.
Lutz, a native of Houston, Texas, is a three-time all-region and all-conference selection. Switching from the middle to opposite this season, she is averaging 2.30 kills and 1.07 blocks per set while hitting .285 this season. In Pac-12 matches, she ranked ninth in hitting percentage (.298) in the conference. Her .368 career hitting percentage is the fourth-best mark in program history. She is just three kills away from 900 for her career.
Fitzmorris was an All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention selection and a member of the conference's all-freshman team. She ranks third in the Pac-12 and 13thnationally with 1.45 blocks per set this season. The Overland Park, Kansas native is also listed in the top 10 in the conference in hitting percentage at .323. The middle blocker earned three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors this season, along with Offensive and Defensive nods earlier in the season. Additionally, she was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on Sept. 6 after the Cardinal defeated then-No. 17 Illinois and swept then-No. 13 Penn State in Boulder, Colorado.
Stanford, which earned the No. 6 overall seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, will travel to Madison, Wisconsin this week to face Florida State in the regional semifinals on Friday, Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m. PT. The other match features host and third-seeded Wisconsin against Ohio State. The winners will meet on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. PT for a chance to advance to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio.