Team_MR_20181207_076Team_MR_20181207_076
Mike Rasay/isiphotos.com
Women's Volleyball

Rematch in Minneapolis

NCAA National Semifinal

No. 4 BYU (31-1) vs. No. 1 Stanford (32-1)
Thursday • 4 p.m. PT
Television • ESPN
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Complete Release (PDF)
 
No. 7 Nebraska (28-6) vs. No. 3 Illinois (32-3)
Thursday • 6 p.m. 
Television • ESPN
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
 


TOURNEY TIME: No. 1 seed Stanford (32-1) continues its quest for a record eighth national title this week, advancing to its 22nd national semifinal. The tournament's top seed will face No. 4 seed BYU (31-1) in the first semifinal match on Thursday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday's match will be televised on ESPN. If the Cardinal advances to the national title match, ESPN2 will televise its match against either Illinois (32-3) or Nebraska.
 


SCOUTING BYU: No. 4 seed BYU swept No. 5 seed Texas to advance to the national semifinal for the third time in program history. The Cougars lead the nation with a .315 team hitting percentage and post 2.96 blocks per set. Senior outside hitter Roni Jones-Perry, the BYU Regional MVP, paces the team with 4.88 kills on .343 hitting and 1.93 digs per set. Senior setter Lyndie Haddock-Eppich controls the offense with 11.27 assists per set, while freshman Heather Gneiting adds 2.13 kills and 1.53 blocks per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford is 8-4 all-time against BYU. The Cougars handed the Cardinal its only loss of the season, a five-setter on Aug. 31 in Provo. Stanford's most recent win over BYU came in 2007, 3-1 at Maples Pavilion.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS: No. 3 seed Illinois punched its ticket with a four-set victory at home against No. 6 seed Wisconsin. The Illini is making its fourth appearance in the national semifinal and its first since 2011 when it reached the finals under Cardinal head coach Kevin Hambly. Senior setter Jordyn Poulter, the Champaign Regional MVP, leads the Illinois offense with 11.61 assists and 2.50 digs per set. Senior outside hitter Jacqueline Quade leads the team with 4.19 kills and 1.92 digs per set, while senior middle blocker Ali Bastianelli is hitting .352 and averaging 1.40 blocks per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE FIGHTING ILLINI: Stanford is a perfect 8-0 all-time against Illinois. The Cardinal swept the Illini last season in Kevin Hambly's return to Huff Hall on Sept. 8, 2017.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA: No. 7 seed Nebraska arrived in Minneapolis a week early and came out on top of the Minneapolis Regional, sweeping the No. 15 seed Oregon Ducks, who ousted No. 2 seed and host Minnesota in the regional semifinal. The defending national champion, Nebraska has reached the national semifinal for the fourth consecutive season. Minneapolis Regional MVP Mikaela Foecke leads the team with 3.80 kills on .319 hitting and 2.69 digs per set. Sophomore Lexi Sun, who transferred from Texas, adds 3.17 kills and 2.68 digs per set. Freshman setter Nicklin Hames guides the offense with 10.46 assists per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKERS: Stanford and Nebraska are knotted up at 6-6 in the all-time series. The Cardinal won the most recent meeting, a 3-0 sweep in Lincoln on Aug. 31, 2014. The Huskers last defeated the Cardinal, 3-0, in the 2008 season opener played in the AVCA Showcase in Omaha. 
 


BY THE NUMBERS: The 2018 season marks 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 (123), made more Final Four appearances (22) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seven NCAA titles also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal won its 18th Pac-12 title outright on Nov. 9 with a 3-0 win over Oregon State. It was the program's 21st conference championship overall and second straight. It marked the 30th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 33 seasons. Stanford has claimed nine of the past 13 Pac-12 titles.
 


STANFORD REGIONAL MVP: For the second straight year, Kathryn Plummer earned Stanford Region Most Outstanding Player honors. She was joined on the all-regional team by Tami Alade and Jenna Gray. Plummer posted a combined 47 kills and 22 digs against Washington State and Penn State. The junior simply took over down the stretch against the Nittany Lions in the regional final.

ALL-REGION RECOGNITION: For the second consecutive season, Kathryn Plummer was named the AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year. Joining Plummer on the all-region team were Tami Alade, Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Meghan McClure. Kevin Hambly was tabbed the region Coach of the Year.

HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 36-match home winning streak is the longest in the nation. The Cardinal went a perfect 15-0 in its home matches in 2017, and was 17-0 in 2018. Under head coach Kevin Hambly, Stanford has only dropped 12 sets at Maples Pavilion. Over the past six seasons, the Cardinal was 88-8 (.917) at home. 

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford, which began the season at No. 1 for the first time since 2002, found its way back into the top spot of the latest AVCA poll (Nov. 26). The Cardinal collected 63 of a possible 64 first-place votes.
 


TOP 25 WINS: Stanford is the only Division I women's volleyball program to have 17 wins against teams ranked in the AVCA top 25 this season (at the time of competition). Stanford is 17-1 against ranked opponents in 2018.

WIN STREAKS: For the 11th time in program history, the Cardinal has recorded a win streak of 20 or more matches. Stanford set a new program record for consecutive wins against Washington State at 29, and now has reached 30 in a row for the first time in school history.

30 - Sept. 1, 2018 - current
28 - Aug. 29, 2014 - Nov. 22, 2014
28 - Sept. 10, 1997 - Dec. 20, 1997
27 - Oct. 19, 2001 - Sept. 13, 2002
27 - Sept. 4, 1991 - Nov. 23, 1991
26 - Sept. 9, 1995 - Dec. 9, 1995
23 - Sept. 5, 1998 - Nov. 20, 1998
22 - Sept. 1, 2012 - Nov. 8, 2012
20 - Oct. 8, 1999 - Dec. 16, 1999
20 - Sept. 3, 1994 - Oct. 29, 1994
20 - Sept. 17, 1988 - Nov. 12, 1988
 


PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: For the 16th time, a Cardinal was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. Junior Kathryn Plummer is Stanford's first repeat honoree since Foluke Akinradewo (2007-08). The outside hitter ranks in the top 10 in the nation in kills per set (4.76) and points per set (5.44), and has produced 30 percent of the team's kills this season.
 


SETTER OF THE YEAR: Jenna Gray is the second Stanford player to earn consecutive 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 second nationally with 12.41 assists per set. She is also second in the Pac-12 with 0.37 aces per set this season. As a team, the Cardinal is the only Pac-12 squad hitting over .300 on the year at .310 – the third-best mark in the nation. 
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: A repeat Libero of the Year winner, Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal to earn the honor since the award's inception in 2011. The junior leads the team with 4.77 digs per set and has just 13 reception errors on the season. Her 4.77 digs per set would be the fourth-best single season mark in school history. She was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week five times this season. The Lakeside Park, Kentucky, native has registered double-digit digs in 32 of 33 matches this season, reaching the 20-dig plateau on eight occasions.
 


COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hambly, now in his second season on The Farm, was tabbed the Pac-12 Coach of the Year - the first for the Cardinal since 2012. He led Stanford to its second consecutive conference title and is now 39-1 in Pac-12 play. The 2018 Cardinal became the first Pac-12 team to go undefeated in conference play since 2003.
 


PAC-12 HONORS: Seven Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Juniors Kathryn Plummer (three-time), Audriana Fitzmorris (two-time), Jenna Gray (two-time) and Morgan Hentz (two-time) are repeat honorees, while senior Tami Alade and sophomore Meghan McClure joined them on the 18-player All-Pac-12 Team. Middle blocker Holly Campbell landed on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
 


PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 led the nation with eight berths into the NCAA Tournament. It marks the 19th consecutive year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason, and the 27th overall. 

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: Entering the tournament, the Cardinal had played 19 matches against this year's NCAA field, posting an 18-1 record. Stanford was 13-0 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up nonconference wins over Howard, No. 8 seed Penn State, No. 2 seed Minnesota and No. 5 seed Texas (twice).
 


SENIOR CLASS FINALIST: Middle blocker Tami Alade is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 


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, and has added six more at Stanford.