STANFORD, Calif. - Senior Kathryn Plummer's career-high 34 kills included the match-winner in the fifth set as No. 1 Stanford women's volleyball outlasted No. 3 Texas, 17-25, 25-18, 25-11, 21-25, 15-12 at Maples Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Stanford improved to 4-0 and extended its school record winning streak to 36 matches, and won its 37th straight at Maples, where head coach Kevin Hambly remains undefeated.
Plummer's 34 kills were the seventh-most in program history and the most since Alix Klineman had 39 at Arizona State in 2010. Plummer also had eight digs, two assists, two blocks and hit .474 for the match.
Senior Jenna Gray finished with a season-high 60 assists and added three aces to move into 10th place in program history with 115 career aces.
Kendall Kipp added 11 kills and hit .476, while Holly Campbell had eight kills, hit a career-best .889 and had seven blocks. Morgan Hentz led the team with 16 digs, while Meghan McClure had 13 and Kate Formico finished with 12 - season-highs for both.
Stanford dropped its first set of the year to open the match, but rebounded to take the next two sets in commanding fashion. In the fourth set, Texas led 20-10 and 24-16 before the Cardinal rattled off five straight points. But the Longhorns held off the late surge to force a fifth set.
Stanford never trailed in the fifth set. Though it was tied at 10-10 and 12-12 before Plummer sealed it with two kills that sandwiched a kill from Campbell.
?? @plummdawgg with the hammer to win it. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/sHuMgPOMQC
— Stanford Women's Volleyball (@StanfordWVB) September 8, 2019
Stanford hits the road again for three more top 10 opponents. The Cardinal will take on No. 6 Penn State on Friday and No. 8 Minnesota on Saturday at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in State College, Pennsylvania. Following a national championship rematch at No. 2 Nebraska on Sept. 18, Stanford returns home on Sept. 21 to take on No. 13 BYU at Noon.