2018_12_15__vball__12772018_12_15__vball__1277
Christopher Mitchell
Women's Volleyball

A Year to Remember

Final Release Opens in a new window

A LOOK BACK: Stanford's near-perfect season culminated in its eighth national title, the most of any program in the nation. The Cardinal finished 34-1 to set a program record for wins, became the first Pac-12 team to go undefeated in conference play since 2003, and featured six All-Americans, including AVCA Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer. 

The Cardinal became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the NCAA championship since 2009. Stanford advanced to its 22nd national semifinal with a 3-1 comeback win over Penn State in a regional final at Maples Pavilion. A sweep over BYU in the semifinals, avenging its only loss of the season, put Stanford back in the national title match for the second time in three seasons, where it prevailed in a five-set instant classic over reigning champion Nebraska.

Kevin Hambly is the third head coach to lead the women's volleyball program to a national championship. The 2018 Pac-12 Coach of the Year became the first head coach to win an NCAA title in one of his first two seasons at Stanford since 2005.
 


BY THE NUMBERS: The 2018 season marked 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 titles (8), more NCAA Tournament matches (125), made more Final Four appearances (22) and been in the national championship match (16) more times than any other program in the nation. 

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal won its 18th Pac-12 title outright on Nov. 9, 2018 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.
 


HOME SWEET HOME: Dating back to 2016, Stanford's 36-match home winning streak is the longest in the nation. The Cardinal was a perfect 32-0 in its home matches in 2017 and 2018. Under head coach Kevin Hambly, Stanford has only dropped 12 sets at Maples Pavilion. Over the past six seasons, the Cardinal is 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 AVCA poll. The Cardinal collected all 64 first-place vote and was the first team to start and end the season at No. 1 since Penn State in 2014.

TOP 25 WINS: Stanford was the only Division I women's volleyball program to have 19 wins against teams ranked in the AVCA top 25 (at the time of competition). Stanford was 19-1 against ranked opponents in 2018.

AVCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kathryn Plummer was named the AVCA Player of the Year. The junior became the first player since Stanford's Logan Tom in 2001 and 2002 to win the honor in back-to-back seasons and just the fourth overall. Since 1985, a Stanford player has taken home the award on 10 occasions.
 


ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal secured three AVCA First Team All-Americans for the second straight season. Kathryn Plummer is a three-time first-team pick, while Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz were repeat selections. Audriana Fitzmorris earned a spot on the second team for the second consecutive year and was joined by Tami Alade. Sophomore Meghan McClure landed on the honorable mention list. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 101 honors spread over 41 players. It marked the sixth straight season in which the Cardinal had produced at least four All-Americans. 
 


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.
 


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 ranked in the top 15 in the nation in kills per set (4.70) and points per set (5.37), and produced 30 percent of the team's kills n 2018.
 


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 paced the league and was second nationally with 12.27 assists per set. She was also second in the Pac-12 with 0.37 aces per set. As a team, the Cardinal was the only Pac-12 squad to hit over .300 on the year at .307 – the second-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 led the team with 4.88 digs per set and has just 14 reception errors on the season. Her 4.88 digs per set tied her 2016 output for the third-best in a single season in school history. She was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week five times uring 2018. The Lakeside Park, Kentucky, native registered double-digit digs in 33 of 34 matches as a junior, reaching the 20-dig plateau on nine occasions.
 


COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin Hambly, who completed 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 were recognized by the conference this in 2018. 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.
 


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 (Dec. 7, 2018) at 29, and now has reached 32 in a row for the first time in school history.

32 - 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
 


SENIOR CLASS FINALIST: Middle blocker Tami Alade was 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 added six more at Stanford in 2017.