NCAAs Start in MaplesNCAAs Start in Maples
Mike Rasay
Women's Volleyball

NCAAs Start in Maples

NCAA First and Second Rounds

Michigan (21-11, 11-9 Big Ten)
vs. No. 23 Colorado State (28-3, 17-1 Mountain West) | Friday • 4:30 p.m. PT
Live Stream • Pac-12.com
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Michigan Notes • Colorado State Notes
 
No. 3 seed Stanford (26-3, 19-1 Pac-12)
vs. CSU Bakersfield (19-13, 9-5 WAC) | Friday • 7 p.m. PT
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Live Statistics • NCAA.com
Stanford Notes • CSUB Notes
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TOURNEY TIME: The fourth-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team (26-3) begins its quest for a record eighth national title this week, hosting the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Maples Pavilion. The tournament's No. 3 overall seed, the Cardinal will face CSU Bakersfield (19-13) in the opening round on Friday night.

LOOKING AHEAD: Should Stanford advance past this week, the team will also host NCAA Regional matches, Dec. 8-9. The Final Four will be held Dec. 14-16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.  

ABOUT CSU BAKERSFIELD: The Roadrunners (19-13) won the WAC Tournament title for the second time in four years to automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Senior outside hitter Aleksandra Djordjevic was named the MVP of the WAC Tournament and was joined on the all-tournament team by redshirt senior middle blocker Sydney Haynes and senior setter Fabiana Andrade. The Roadrunners have five players averaging at least 2.00 kills per set, while senior libero Emily Lopes collects 5.35 digs per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE ROADRUNNERS: Stanford is 1-0 all-time against CSU Bakersfield. The teams met in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at Stanford. The Cardinal posted a sweep over the Roadrunners as then-redshirt freshman Merete Lutz led the team with eight kills on .467 hitting and a match-best nine blocks in her NCAA Tournament debut.

ABOUT MICHIGAN: On a five-match winning streak, Michigan (21-11) is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years and its 17th overall. The Wolverines defeated three straight top-25 opponents for the first time in program history - Nov. 15 vs. No. 8 Michigan State, Nov. 18 vs. No. 15 Purdue and Nov. 22 at No. 16 Purdue. Junior outside hitter Carly Skjodt leads the team with 3.65 kills and 2.26 digs per set, and was just named to the All-Big Ten First  Team. Senior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright wan an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection and is hitting .324 with 2.67 kills and a team-best 0.99 blocks per set.

THE SERIES WITH THE WOLVERINES: Stanford is 2-3 overall versus Michigan. All three of the Cardinal's losses have come in NCAA Tournament matches. The most recent meeting was a 3-1 Michigan win in the 2012 Berkeley Regional final. Stanford has also lost twice to Michigan in the postseason at Maples Pavilion - 2009 regional semifinal and 2011 second round. The last time the Cardinal defeated the Wolverines was on Sept. 3, 1994, a sweep in Gainesville, Florida.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE: No. 23 Colorado State (28-3) begins its 23rd straight NCAA Tournament after winning its 14th Mountain West title, and eighth in the past nine seasons. Twenty-one of the Rams' 28 wins have come by straight sets and are fourth in the nation with a .319 hitting percentage. Six players collected All-Mountain West honors for the Rams. Sophomore outside hitter Breana Runnels leads the team with 3.21 kills per set, while senior outside hitter Jasmine Hanna adds 3.01 kills per set. Sophomore setter Katie Oleksak, the 2017 Mountain West Player of the Year, directs the offense with 12.02 assists per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS: The Cardinal is a perfect 11-0 in the all-time series with the Rams. The most recent meeting was a 3-0 Stanford sweep in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament played at Maples Pavilion.

BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marks Stanford's 37th 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 (115), made more Final Four appearances (20) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. It's seventh NCAA title also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer became the 15th Cardinal player and first since Alix Klineman in 2010 to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after leading the conference in kills (4.70) and points per set (5.43) this season. The outside hitter is the first conference player to win Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since Stanford's Bev Oden in 1989 and 1990.
 


SETTER OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Jenna Gray is the second Stanford player to earn Pac-12 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 third nationally with 12.12 assists per set, and has the Cardinal hitting .312 as a team - the seventh-best mark in the nation.
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Sophomore Morgan Hentz is the first Cardinal to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She leads the team with 4.03 digs per set and has just 11 reception errors on the season. Her 4.03 digs per set would be the eighth-best single season mark in school history.
 


PAC-12 HONORS: Seven Cardinal players have been recognized by the conference this season. Redshirt senior Merete Lutz (four-time) and sophomore Kathryn Plummer (two-time) are repeat honorees, while sophomores Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz joined them on the 18-player All-Pac-12 team. Junior Tami Alade was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection for the first time in her career, while outside hitter Meghan McClure landed on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
 


PAC-12 IN THE TOURNEY: The Pac-12 led the nation with nine berths into the 2017 NCAA Tournament. It marks the 18th straight year in which the Pac-12 has sent at leads six teams into the postseason, and the 26th overall. Pac-12 teams posted a 105-21 (.833) record versus other conferences during the regular season.

STANFORD VS. THE FIELD: The Cardinal has played 17 matches against the 2017 NCAA field, posting a 14-3 record. Stanford was 13-1 against Pac-12 teams in the tournament, and picked up a non-conference win over Illinois. Stanford's losses came to No. 1 seed Penn State (twice) and No. 8 seed Washington.

LAST TIME OUT: Stanford closed out the regular season last week with a pair of sweeps - at home versus No. 15 Utah and at rival California. Kathryn Plummer led the team with 4.50 kills and 2.17 digs per set in the two matches. Merete Lutz added 3.33 kills and 1.00 blocks per set. The Cardinal completed an undefeated regular season at home at 11-0.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It is the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in conference play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.
 


NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained at No. 4 in the AVCA Poll this week. Penn State held on to the top spot, while Texas and Florida are ahead of the Cardinal. Nebraska rounds out the top 5 for the third straight week. Six Pac-12 squads are ranked in the top 25, including No. 10 Washington, No. 13 Utah, No. 14 USC, No. 17 UCLA and No. 24 Oregon.

HOME SWEET HOME: Stanford went a perfect 11-0 in its regular season home matches this season. Dating back to last season, Stanford has now won 15 consecutive matches at Maples Pavilion. Over the past five seasons, the Cardinal is 67-8 (.893) at home. Overall, Stanford is 65-5 (.923) at home in NCAA Tournament matches.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz missed the Cardinal's first five matches due to an ankle injury suffered in the team's last preseason practice. The three-time All-American is seventh all-time at Stanford with a .351 career hitting percentage and moved into the program's top 10 in career blocks with 488 (8th).

LEADING THE PAC: Sophomore Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 with 4.70 kills per set, ranking ninth in the nation, and is the conference leader and sixth nationally with 5.43 points per set. Sophomore Jenna Gray paces the conference  and is third nationally with 12.12 assists per set, while junior Tami Alade is the only Pac-12 player hitting over .400 on the season (.415). Sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris is the conference's blocks leader, averaging 1.46 per set (17th nationally).
 


GETTING DEFENSIVE: Sophomore libero Morgan Hentz set a single season Stanford record as a rookie with 630 total digs (4.88 dps). She leads the Cardinal this season and is fourth in the Pac-12, averaging 4.03 digs per set, and has tallied double-digit digs in 22 of the team's 29 matches.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: Redshirt senior Merete Lutz recorded her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 27 against Arizona State. She became just the 18th Cardinal player since 1986 to accomplish that feat.
 


1,000 DIGS CLUB: Sophomore Morgan Hentz became the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to register 1,000 digs, doing so against No. 18 UCLA on Nov. 16. Gabi Ailes (2007-10) holds the career record at Stanford with 2,147 digs, the fifth-most in Pac-12 history.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Twins Caitlin and Michaela Keefe are the daughters of Stanford Hall of Famers Adam Keefe and Kristin (Klein) Keefe. Their father played basketball (1988-1991) and volleyball (1988-1990), and was the 10th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1992 NBA draft, playing professionally for the Hawks, Jazz, Warriors and overseas in Spain. Their mother was a four-time AVCA All-American (1988-1992) and a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.

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.