STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford advanced to its fourth straight NCAA Regional with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-17 sweep over Cal Poly in the second round, Saturday, at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (26-4) put on an offensive show, hitting .392 as a team and held Cal Poly (21-9) to a .152 clip. The Cardinal committed just eight hitting errors in the match, while the Mustangs were plagued by 17 miscues.
Senior Kathryn Plummer had a match-high 17 kills for the second straight night, hitting .371 to go with 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. She also had four blocks, matching her season-high. In the two NCAA Tournament matches, the outside hitter is averaging 5.67 kills on .400 hitting, 3.00 digs, 0.83 aces and 6.92 points per set.
Senior Audriana Fitzmorris also turned in a solid performance with 13 kills on .440 hitting and three blocks. The opposite has tallied 3.33 kills on .400 hitting and 1.50 blocks per set in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior setter Jenna Gray finished with 32 assists and tallied five kills, five digs and two aces. Senior libero Morgan Hentz collected a match-best 14 digs, while junior defensive specialist Kate Formico had six digs and four assists.
Senior middle blocker Madeleine Gates recorded seven kills on 11 errorless swings to hit .636 and posted two blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Holly Campbell totaled a match-best six blocks to go with four kills, while junior Meghan McClure had two kills, five digs, three assists, two blocks and an ace.
Stanford held Cal Poly's two left-side hitters, Jessica McRoskey and Torrey Van Winden, to just two kills in the match as both hit negative in the loss.
Cal Poly's Maia Dvoracek led the team with 15 kills and seven digs. Middle blocker Madilyn Mercer added nine kills on .500 hitting and three blocks.
The Cardinal is now 11-4 all-time against the Mustangs, who were making their third straight postseason appearance.
Stanford will meet Pac-12 foe Utah in the regional semifinal on Friday, Dec. 13 at Maples Pavilion. The Utes knocked off No. 14 seed BYU to reach the Sweet 16. No. 11 seed Penn State will take on Cincinnati, who upset No. 6 seed Pittsburgh, in the other regional semifinal.
