NOTES
Thursday, Dec. 15
Semifinal #1 - 4 p.m. PT | ESPN
(6) Stanford (25-7) vs. (2) Minnesota (29-4)
Nationwide Arena | Columbus, Ohio
Semifinal #2 - 6:30 p.m. PT | ESPN
(4) Texas (26-4) vs. (1) Nebraska (31-2)
Nationwide Arena | Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, Dec. 17
Final - 6 p.m. PT | ESPN2
Semifinal Winner #1 vs. Semifinal Winner #2
Nationwide Arena | Columbus, Ohio
TOURNEY TIME: The ninth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (25-7) continues its quest for a seventh national title this week. The tournament's sixth overall seed, the Cardinal will face No. 2 seed Minnesota (29-4) in the national semifinal on Thursday evening. Should the Cardinal advance, it would take on either No. 1 seed Nebraska (31-2) or No. 4 seed Texas (26-4) in the national championship match on Saturday.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: Live stats for the matches can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on GoStanford.com. Thursday's semifinals will be televised on ESPN, while the finals will air on ESPN2.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook.com/StanfordWVB
Twitter: @StanfordWVB
Instagram: @stanfordwvb
Snapchat: StanfordWVB
SCOUTING MINNESOTA: Minnesota defeated No. 15 seed Missouri and No. 10 seed UCLA at home last week to reach its second straight Final Four. The Gophers, which have lost just one set this postseason, are making their 21st NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth in the national semifinals. As a team, Minnesota is hitting .293 on the season and averaging 1.11 aces and 2.68 blocks per set. The Gophers are led by Big Ten Player of the Year Sarah Wilhite (4.20 kps/2.57 dps) and Big Ten Setter of the Year Samantha Seliger-Swenson (11.60 aps). Twins Hannah and Paige Tapp are averaging 2.72 and 2.08 kills, and 1.06 and 1.08 blocks per set, respectively.
THE SERIES WITH THE GOLDEN GOPHERS: Stanford is 7-0 all-time against Minnesota, including a four-set victory at Maples Pavilion during the opening weekend of the 2016 season. Freshman Audriana Fitzmorris led the team with 13 kills and eight blocks, while freshman Kathryn Plummer had 13 kills and three blocks playing opposite. The last time the Cardinal and Gophers met in NCAA Tournament action was a 3-0 Stanford sweep in the Lexington Regional semifinals on Dec. 13, 2013. Stanford is 2-0 in NCAA postseason matches against Minnesota.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA: The defending national champion Huskers (31-2) are making their 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Semifinals, going in back-to-back years for the fifth time in program history. Nebraska held off No. 16 seed Penn State in five sets and No. 8 seed Washington in straight sets at home last week to advance to Columbus. As a team, Nebraska boasts a .290 hitting percentage to go with 14.43 kills, 1.23 aces and 2.86 blocks per set. The Big Ten champions are led by All-American Kadie Rolfzen's 3.19 kills on .299 hitting and 2.53 digs per set. Junior setter Kelly Hunter directs the offense with 11.21 assists per set, while two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Justine Wong-Orantes collects 4.24 digs and 0.17 aces per set.
THE SERIES WITH THE CORNHUSKERS: The all-time series between Stanford and Nebraska sits at 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won the most recent meeting, a 3-0 sweep in Lincoln on Aug. 31, 2014. The last time the teams met in the NCAA Tournament was in the 2006 national championship match, a 3-1 Nebraska victory.
SCOUTING TEXAS: Texas is making its fifth-straight Final Four appearance and eighth in the last nine seasons, defeating No. 13 seed BYU in five sets and Creighton in three at home last weekend to earn a spot in Columbus. The Longhorns boast the highest team hitting percentage (.311) of the Final Four squads. Big 12 Freshman of the Year Micaya White leads the team with 4.06 kills and 2.18 digs per set. Senior Paulina Prieto Cerame adds 3.53 kills, while Austin Regional MVP Ebony Nwanebu, who started her career at USC and was the 2013 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, notches 3.70 kills on .384 hitting.
THE SERIES WITH THE LONGHORNS: Stanford leads Texas 16-7 in the all-time series, and is 5-2 versus the Longhorns in the postseason. The most recent meeting was a 3-1 Texas win in Austin on Sept. 8, 2013. The Cardinal last defeated the Longhorns on Sept. 10, 2010 in Gainesville, Florida as a part of the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic. Stanford and Texas last met in the NCAA Tournament in the 2008 national semifinals in Omaha, Nebraska. Prior to Stanford's win at Wisconsin last weekend, it also marked the last time the Cardinal came back from being down 0-2 to win an NCAA Tournament match.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This marks Stanford's 36th 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 (113), made more Final Four appearances (20) and been in the national championship match (14) more times than any other program in the nation.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Freshman outside hitter Kathryn Plummer is the 12th Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and the second in as many seasons as Hayley Hodson snagged the honor in 2015. She ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in kills (3.29) and points per set (3.92), pacing Stanford. She also leads the team with 10 double-doubles and posted a team-high in kills in 21 of the 32 matches.
ALL-REGION: Four Stanford players earned AVCA All-Pacific North Region honors, including Region Freshman of the Year Kathryn Plummer. She was joined on the first team by Inky Ajanaku and Merete Lutz, while Audriana Fitzmorris secured honorable mention accolades. Ajanaku was one of just six players in the nation to be a four-time all-region honoree.
PAC-12 HONORS: Five Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku (four-time) and redshirt junior Merete Lutz (three-time) are repeat honorees, while freshman Kathryn Plummer joined them on the 18-player all-conference team. Freshmen Audriana Fitzmorris and Morgan Hentz were both All-Pac-12 honorable mention selections. Plummer, Fitzmorris and Hentz were also tabbed to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 earned eight berths into the 2016 NCAA Tournament, tied for the most by any league with the Big Ten. It is the 17th straight year in which the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams into the postseason, and the 25th overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 95-31 (.754) record versus other conferences during the regular season.
STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 21 matches against the 2016 NCAA field, posting a 14-7 record. Stanford went 8-5 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up non-conference wins over No. 2 seed Minnesota, No. 3 seed Wisconsin, No. 16 seed Penn State, Florida State, Denver and Boise State.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford advanced to the national semifinals by eliminating 16th-ranked Florida State in four sets before upsetting No. 3 Wisconsin on its home court after being down 0-2 to the Badgers. Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku took over for the Cardinal, hitting .484 and averaging 4.11 kills and 1.67 blocks per set en route to being named the MVP of the Madison Regional. Freshmen Kathryn Plummer (3.00 kps/2.11 dps) and Morgan Hentz (6.33 dps) were also named to the all-regional team.
NATIONAL POLL: Stanford moved up to No. 9 in the AVCA top 25 on Nov. 28. Minnesota collected 36 first-place votes to take over the top spot. Nebraska came in second with 27 first-place votes, while Wisconsin was third with one. Kansas and Texas, both in the Big 12, rounded out the top 5. The Cardinal was one of six Pac-12 squads ranked, joined by No. 7 Washington, No. 8 UCLA, No. 19 Oregon, No. 22 Utah and No. 25 Washington State.
MAKING THE SWITCH: Since switching from a 6-2 to a 5-1 system, Stanford is 15-2 and has lost just 11 out of 59 sets. In that 17-match span, the Cardinal is hitting .303 as a team, led by Kathryn Plummer (4.07 kps, 4.68 pps) and Inky Ajanaku (.437, 3.02 kps). In fact, all five hitters are averaging at least 2.15 kills per set (Audriana Fitzmorris - 2.34 kps; Merete Lutz - 2.32 kps; Ivana Vanjak - 2.15 kps). Freshman setter Jenna Gray is notching 11.85 assists per set.
IN THE NATION: Stanford leads the country with 3.33 blocks per set, thanks in large part to its middle blockers Inky Ajanaku and Audriana Fitzmorris. Ajanaku (1.50 bps) leads the Pac-12 and is seventh in the nation, while Fitzmorris (1.45) is third in the conference and 13th in the country. Redshirt junior opposite Merete Lutz adds 1.03 blocks per set.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Inky Ajanaku began her final season on The Farm ranked ninth in program history in total blocks. She is currently in fourth place with 610, passing the likes of Kerri Walsh (1996-99) and Foluke Akinradewo (2005-08). Her first block at Wisconsin was the 600th of her career, putting her in a category with Kim Oden (665), Bev Oden (650) and Carly Wopat (614) as the only Cardinal players to reach the 600-blocks plateau.
SINGLE-SEASON MARK: Freshman libero Morgan Hentz has collected 576 digs this season, ranking third on the Cardinal's single season list. Her 4.76 season average is also the third-best mark in a single season in program history. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the school's single season records with 617 digs and 5.23 digs per set in 2009.
PAC-12 CONFERENCE FINISHES: The Cardinal finished tied for second in the Pac-12 with UCLA with a 15-5 record. It marked the 28th top-2 standing in conference play in the past 31 seasons. Stanford has won 16 conference championships in the Pac-10/12 era, and 19 overall in program history. Stanford has claimed seven of the past 11 Pac-12 titles and eight overall under head coach John Dunning.
THREE-TIME FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris racked up five weekly honors after playing just four collegiate matches. She picked up her third Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Nov. 7. She has also earned Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive honors as well as an AVCA National Player of the Week recognition. The Overland Park, Kansas native is hitting .313 on the season, and averaging 2.40 kills and 1.45 blocks per set.
HEAD COACH JOHN DUNNING: Head coach John Dunning is one of the most accomplished and decorated coaches in the collegiate volleyball world. Dunning has four national championships under his belt, has taken teams to 12 Final Fours and carried six of his 15 Stanford teams to the national title match.
DUNNING BY THE NUMBERS: In 32 years as a head coach, John Dunning is 886-185 (.827), giving him a winning percentage that ranks among the top 5 all-time for Division I coaches. He is 449-83 in his 16 seasons on The Farm, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percentage (.844). He also recently passed Stanford Hall of Fame member Don Shaw (440) to become the winningest coach in Cardinal women's volleyball history.
