NOTES
Friday, Dec. 9
Match #1 - 11 a.m. PT | ESPNU
Ohio State (22-12) at (3) Wisconsin (27-4)
UW Field House | Madison, Wis.
Match #2 - 1:30 p.m. PT | ESPN3
Florida State (26-5) vs. (6) Stanford (23-7)
UW Field House | Madison, Wis.
Saturday, Dec. 10
Match #3 - 3 p.m. PT | ESPNU
Winner Match #1 vs. Winner Match #2
UW Field House | Madison, Wis.
TOURNEY TIME: The ninth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (23-7) continues its quest for a seventh national title this week, travelling to Madison, Wisconsin for NCAA Regional action. The tournament's sixth overall seed, the Cardinal will face 16th-ranked Florida State (26-5) in the regional semifinals on Friday night.
LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this week, the team would head directly to Columbus, Ohio for the final site of competition. The NCAA semifinals and finals match will be played in Nationwide Arena on Thursday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 17, respectively.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Stanford's match against Florida State can be seen on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App. Saturday's regional final will be televised on ESPNU.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
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SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE: Florida State defeated Cincinnati (3-1) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before upsetting 11th-seeded Florida (3-2) to advance to the Madison Regional. A veteran squad, the Seminoles are hitting .252 as a team on the season, and are on an eight-match winning streak. Four players earned AVCA All-East Region, including Milica Kubura, Katie Horton, Mara Green and Melanie Keil. Kubura, a junior outside hitter, paces the team with 2.99 kills per set on .330 hitting, while senior outside hitter Horton adds 2.90 kills and 3.30 digs per set. Green leads the team with a .368 hitting percentage, while Keil is first with 1.59 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE SEMINOLES: Stanford and Florida State will be meeting for the first time in women's volleyball action on Friday.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN: Wisconsin swept Howard and 25th-ranked Washington State to earn the right to host regionals this weekend. The Badgers are under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Kelly Sheffield, who was named the AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year. Wisconsin is led by senior setter Lauren Carlini, who controls the offense with 11.80 assists per set. She was joined on the all-region team by senior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson, sophomore middle blocker Tionna Williams and freshman outside hitter Molly Haggerty. Haggerty, who was the region freshman of the year, leads the team with 3.45 kills per set on .240 hitting. Nelson adds 2.47 kills and 1.13 blocks per set, while Williams is averaging 2.28 kills and 1.27 blocks per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE BADGERS: Stanford is 2-0 all-time against Wisconsin. The most recent meeting came during the 2004 postseason when the Cardinal swept the Badgers in the NCAA Regional Final in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes defeated Missouri State and 14th-seeded Kansas State last weekend to advance to their third straight NCAA Regional. Ohio State is hitting .253 as a team, while averaging 14.08 kills and 1.28 aces per set. Senior middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe, a three-time AVCA all-region honoree, leads the team with 3.88 kills per set on .321 hitting and 1.06 blocks per set. Sophomore setter Taylor Hughes, who also earned AVCA all-region accolades, adds 9.59 assists, 1.70 kills and 1.88 digs per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE BUCKEYES: Stanford holds a 5-0 record in the all-time series with Ohio State. The teams last met in the 2010 NCAA Regional Semifinals in Dayton, Ohio, where the Cardinal posted a 3-1 victory. Wisconsin swept Howard and 25th-ranked Washington State to earn the right to host regionals this weekend. The Badgers are under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Kelly Sheffield, who was named the AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year. Wisconsin is led by senior setter Lauren Carlini, who controls the offense with 11.80 assists per set. She was joined on the all-region team by senior middle blocker Haleigh Nelson, sophomore middle blocker Tionna Williams and freshman outside hitter Molly Haggerty. Haggerty, who was the region freshman of the year, leads the team with 3.45 kills per set on .240 hitting. Nelson adds 2.47 kills and 1.13 blocks per set, while Williams is averaging 2.28 kills and 1.27 blocks per set.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This marks Stanford's 36th 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 (111), made more Final Four appearances (19) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Freshman outside hitter Kathryn Plummer is the 12th Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the second in as many seasons as Hayley Hodson snagged the honor in 2015. She ranks eighth in the Pac-12 in kills (3.31) and points per set (3.97), pacing Stanford. She also leads the team with nine double-doubles and posted a team-high in kills in 21 of the 30 matches.
ALL-REGION: Four Stanford players earned AVCA All-Pacific North Region honors, including Region Freshman of the Year Kathryn Plummer. She was joined on the first team by Inky Ajanaku and Merete Lutz, while Audriana Fitzmorris secured honorable mention accolades. Ajanaku was one of just six players in the nation to be a four-time all-region honoree.
PAC-12 HONORS: Five Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku (four-time) and redshirt junior Merete Lutz (three-time) are repeat honorees, while freshman Kathryn Plummer joined them on the 18-player all-conference team. Freshmen Audriana Fitzmorris and Morgan Hentz were both All-Pac-12 honorable mention selections. Plummer, Fitzmorris and Hentz were also tabbed to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 earned eight berths into the 2016 NCAA Tournament, tied for the most by any league with the Big Ten. It is the 17th straight year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason, and the 25th overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 95-31 (.754) record versus other conferences during the regular season.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 19 matches against the 2016 NCAA field, posting a 12-7 record. Stanford went 8-5 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up non-conference wins over No. 2 seed Minnesota, No. 16 seed Penn State, Denver and Boise State.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford swept Denver and Boise State in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at home last week. The Cardinal has won six matches in a row, a season-high, for the third time this season. As a team, Stanford hit .361 during the first weekend of the postseason. Freshman Kathryn Plummer led the team with 4.67 kills, 2.83 digs and 5.58 points per set, while redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku hit .515 and was second on the squad with 3.50 kills and 1.00 blocks per set.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 9 in the AVCA top 25 on Nov. 28. Minnesota collected 36 first-place votes to take over the top spot. Nebraska came in second with 27 first-place votes, while Wisconsin was third with one. Kansas and Texas, both in the Big 12, rounded out the top 5. The Cardinal was one of six Pac-12 squads ranked, joined by No. 7 Washington, No. 8 UCLA, No. 19 Oregon, No. 22 Utah and No. 25 Washington State.
MAKING THE SWITCH: Since switching from a 6-2 to a 5-1 system, Stanford is 13-2 and has lost just eight out of 50 sets. In that 15-match span, the Cardinal is hitting .311 as a team, led by Kathryn Plummer (4.26 kps, 4.92 pps) and Inky Ajanaku (.424, 2.80 kps). In fact, all five hitters are averaging at least 2.25 kills per set (Audriana Fitzmorris - 2.44 kps; Merete Lutz - 2.30 kps; Ivana Vanjak - 2.26 kps). Freshman setter Jenna Gray is notching 11.94 assists per set.
IN THE NATION: Stanford leads the country with 3.34 blocks per set, thanks in large part to its middle blockers Inky Ajanaku and Audriana Fitzmorris. Ajanaku (1.48 bps) is second in the Pac-12 and eighth in the nation, while Fitzmorris (1.45) is third in the conference and 13th in the country. Redshirt junior opposite Merete Lutz adds 1.07 blocks per set.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku began her final season on The Farm ranked ninth in program history in total blocks. She is currently in fourth place with 595, passing the likes of Kerri Walsh (1996-99) and Foluke Akinradewo (2005-08). With five more blocks, she will become just the fourth player in Stanford history to reach the 600 blocks plateau, joining Kim Oden (665), Bev Oden (650) and Carly Wopat (614).
SINGLE-SEASON MARK: Freshman libero Morgan Hentz has collected 519 digs this season, ranking sixth on the Cardinal's single season list. Her 4.63 season average is the fifth-best mark in a single season in program history. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the school's single season records with 617 digs and 5.23 digs per set in 2009.
PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished tied for second in the Pac-12 with UCLA with a 15-5 record. It marked the 28th top-2 standing in conference play in the past 31 seasons. Stanford has won 16 conference championships in the Pac-10/12 era, and 19 overall in program history. Stanford has claimed seven of the past 11 Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning.
THREE-TIME FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris racked up five weekly honors after playing just four collegiate matches. She picked up her third Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 7. She has also earned Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive honors as well as an AVCA National Player of the Week recognition. The Overland Park, Kansas native is hitting .323 on the season, ranking ninth in the Pac-12, and averaging 2.46 kills and 1.45 blocks per set.
TOP OF HER CLASS: Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku is one of 10 finalists in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Head coach John Dunning is one of the most accomplished and decorated coaches in the collegiate volleyball world. Dunning has four national championships under his belt, has taken teams to 10 Final Fours and carried six of his 15 Stanford teams to the national title match.
DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 32 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 884-185 (.827), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 447-83 in his 16 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.843). He also recently passed Stanford Hall of Fame member Don Shaw (440) to become the winningest coach in Cardinal women's volleyball history.