Regional Action on The FarmRegional Action on The Farm
Karen Ambrose Hickey
Women's Volleyball

Regional Action on The Farm

NCAA Stanford Regional

No. 6 seed Texas (26-2, 16-0 Big-12)
vs. No. 11 seed Utah (24-9, 13-7 Pac-12) | Friday • 6 p.m. PT
Live Stream • ESPN3
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Pre-match Press Conferences • Texas | Utah
Texas Notes • Utah Notes
Tickets • Maples Pavilion
 
No. 3 seed Stanford (28-3, 19-1 Pac-12)
vs. Wisconsin (22-9, 11-9 Big Ten) | Friday • 8 p.m. PT
Television • ESPNU
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Pre-match Press Conferences • Stanford | Wisconsin
Stanford Notes • Wisconsin Notes
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TOURNEY TIME: The fourth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (28-3) continues its quest for a record eighth national title this week, hosting the NCAA Regional matches at Maples Pavilion. The tournament's No. 3 overall seed, the Cardinal will take on 11th-ranked Wisconsin (22-9) in the second regional semifinal Friday night.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this week, the Final Four will be held Dec. 14-16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Cardinal is seeking its 21st Final Four appearance in program history.

ABOUT WISCONSIN: The Badgers (22-9), who are unseeded for the first time since 2003, have advanced to their fifth-straight NCAA Sweet 16 and 15th in program history. Wisconsin is 8-6 in regional semifinal matches, including 3-1 under head coach Kelly Sheffield. The Badgers swept Marquette and No. 14 seed Iowa State in the first and second rounds, and are one of five unseeded teams in the Sweet 16. Middle blocker Dana Rettke was named the AVCA Northwest Region Freshman of the Year and leads the Badgers with 3.42 kills on .446 hitting and 1.40 blocks per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE BADGERS: Stanford is 3-0 all-time against Wisconsin. Last season's regional final in Madison was one for the ages. Down 0-2, the Cardinal rallied back behind redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku (20 kills, 11 blocks) to win the match and earn its unprecedented 20th Final Four appearance.

ABOUT TEXAS: The No. 6 seed, Texas (26-2) has won 20 matches in a row to reach its 12th straight NCAA Sweet 16. The Longhorns have advanced to five consecutive Final Fours, winning it all in 2012. Senior Chiaka Ogbogu was named the AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year after averaging 2.55 kills on .401 hitting and 1.70 blocks per set, while five other Longhorns joined her on the all-region team. Sophomore Micaya White adds 3.45 kills and 2.50 digs per set for the Longhorns.

THE SERIES WITH THE LONGHORNS: Stanford holds a 17-7 lead in the all-time series with Texas and is 6-2 in the postseason against the Longhorns. Stanford topped Texas, 3-1, in last season's NCAA title match. Then-freshman Kathryn Plummer had a match-high 18 kills on .345 hitting, while redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku added 16 kills and eight blocks. 

ABOUT UTAH: No. 11 seed Utah (24-9) is making its third appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 after defeating Cleveland State and 16th-ranked Purdue at home last week. It is the Utes first NCAA regional appearance since 2008 and they are 0-2 in regional semifinals all-time. The Utes have won 20-plus matches for the second straight season and for the fourth time in the past five seasons. Senior Adora Anae was named the AVCA Pacific South Region Player of the Year  and was joined on the all-region team by senior middle blocker Tawnee Luafalemana, while junior Berkeley Oblad earned honorable mention. Anae paces the team with 4.35 kills and 3.21 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE UTES: Stanford holds a 14-2 advantage in the all-time series with Utah. The teams met just once during the regular season, a 3-0 victory for the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Redshirt senior Merete Lutz led the team with 12 kills and four blocks, while sophomore libero Morgan Hentz racked up a match-high 17 digs. Utah's most recent win came in four sets on Oct. 9, 2016 at Stanford.

BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marks Stanford's 37th 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 (117), made more Final Four appearances (20) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. It's seventh NCAA title also tied Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

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. All six are now in contention to become 2017 AVCA All-Americans.

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 (4.70) and points per set (5.43) during the regular season. 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 paces the league and is fourth nationally with 12.07 assists per set, and has the Cardinal hitting .318 as a team - the fourth-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 leads the team with 4.00 digs per set and has just 11 reception errors on the season. Her 4.00 digs per set would be the eighth-best single season mark in school history.
  

 


PAC-12 HONORS: Seven Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Redshirt senior Merete Lutz (four-time) and sophomore Kathryn Plummer (two-time) are 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.
 


PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 led the nation with nine berths into the 2017 NCAA Tournament. It marks the 18th straight year in which the Pac-12 has sent at leads six teams into the postseason, and the 26th overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 105-21 (.833) record versus other conferences during the regular season. Five Pac-12 teams advanced to the Sweet 16 - No. 3 Stanford, No. 10 USC, No. 11 Utah, No. 15 UCLA and Colorado.

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 19 matches against the 2017 NCAA field, posting a 16-3 record. Stanford was 13-1 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up a non-conference win over Illinois, CSU Bakersfield and Colorado State. Stanford's losses came to No. 1 seed Penn State (twice) and No. 8 seed Washington.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford remained undefeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a sweep over CSU Bakersfield, and advanced to its 16th Sweet 16 since 1998 (when the tournament went to to its current format) with a 3-0 win over Colorado State. The Cardinal hit .449 in the two matches and averaged 5.25 blocks per set. Sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris hit .654 and tallied 2.50 blocks per set.

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


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 this season. Dating back to last season, Stanford has now won 17 consecutive matches at Maples Pavilion. Over the past five seasons, the Cardinal is 69-8 (.896) at home. Overall, Stanford is 67-5 (.931) at home in NCAA Tournament matches.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remains at No. 4 in the AVCA Poll. Penn State held on to the top spot, while Texas and Florida are ahead of the Cardinal. Nebraska rounds out the top 5. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including No. 10 Washington, No. 13 Utah, No. 14 USC, No. 17 UCLA and No. 24 Oregon.

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 three-time All-American is seventh all-time at Stanford with a .348 career hitting percentage and moved into the program's top 10 in career blocks with 497 (8th).

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 with 4.65 kills per set, ranking 11th in the nation, and is the conference leader and sixth nationally with 5.40 points per set. Sophomore Jenna Gray paces the conference  and is fourth nationally with 12.07 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is the only Pac-12 player hitting over .400 on the season (.422). Sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris is the conference's blocks leader, averaging 1.52 per set (7th nationally).
 


GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz set a single season Stanford record as a rookie with 630 total digs (4.88 dps). She leads the Cardinal this season and is fourth in the Pac-12, averaging 4.00 digs per set, and has tallied double-digit digs in 24 of the team's 31 matches.

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.
 


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.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Twins Caitlin and Michaela Keefe are the daughters of Stanford Hall of Famers Adam Keefe and Kristin (Klein) Keefe. Their father played basketball (1988-1991) and volleyball (1988-1990), and was the 10th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1992 NBA draft, playing professionally for the Hawks, Jazz, Warriors and overseas in Spain. Their mother was a four-time AVCA All-American (1988-1992) and a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.

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.