Card, Cougars Clash FridayCard, Cougars Clash Friday
Karen Ambrose Hickey/Stanford At
Women's Volleyball

Card, Cougars Clash Friday

No. 1 Stanford (2-0)
at No. 9 BYU (2-0) | Fri. • 6 p.m. PT • BYUtv
vs. Wichita State (3-0) | Sat. • 9 a.m. PT • TheW.tv
vs. West Virginia (2-1) | Sat. • 4 p.m. PT • TheW.tv
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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SCOUTING BYU: Ranked ninth nationally, BYU opened the season with a pair of wins at Duke last week. The Cougars are hitting .266 on the year and posting 2.00 blocks per set. Junior outside hitter McKenna Miller led the team with 3.86 kills per set on .317 hitting. Setter Lyndie Haddock-Eppich controlled the offense with 12.00 assits per set, while junior libero Mary Lake racked up 6.14 digs per set. 

THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS: Stanford holds an 8-4 lead in the all-time series with BYU. The most recent meeting was a 3-1 win by Stanford in Maples Pavilion in 2007. The Cougars last defeated the Cardinal in 2006 in Provo.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE: Wichita State, which is receiving votes in the AVCA poll, is undefeated to start the season with wins over James Madison, Howard and VCU. The Shockers have four players averaging 2.00 kills per set or more. Senior Tabitha Brown leads the team with 3.00 kills per set and averages 2.50 digs per set. Sophomore libero Giorgia Civita collected 95 digs in the three matches (6.79 dps).

THE SERIES WITH THE SHOCKERS: Saturday's meeting will be the first between the Cardinal and Shockers. It will be Wichita State's first meeting with a No. 1 ranked opponent since 2004.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA: The Mountaineers are 2-1 to start the year with wins over Georgia Southern and Connecticut in the WVU Invitational. Juniors Natania Levak and Katelyn Evans earned all-tournament team honors after averaging 2.55 kills per set each. Sophomore middle blocker Kate DeMeo is averaging 2.00 blocks per set, while hitting .333. 

THE SERIES WITH THE MOUNTAINEERS: Saturday's meeting will be the first between Stanford and West Virginia. The Mountaineers will face the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since 2013.

LAST WEEK: The Cardinal opened the season in the nation's capital, sweeping both American and Howard. Reigning national player of the year Kathryn Plummer averaged 3.50 kills and 2.83 digs per set, while junior libero Morgan Hentz collected 15 digs in both matches. Junior Audriana Fitzmorris, who has moved from middle to opposite this season, is hitting .636 and collecting 1.33 blocks per set.

PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12: Stanford led the conference with four Preseason All-Pac-12 selections - Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer. Fitzmorris, Hentz and Plummer are repeat honorees, while Gray earns the nod for the first time.
 


BY THE NUMBERS: The 2017 season marked 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 (119), made more Final Four appearances (21) and been in the national championship match (15) more times than any other program in the nation. Its seven NCAA titles also ties Penn State for the most by a Division I team.

NATIONAL POLL: Stanford remained No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll with 57 first-place votes. The Cardinal began the season at No. 1 for the first time since 2002. Overall, it is the 71st week Stanford has held the No. 1 spot in the poll. Seven Pac-12 squads are ranked, including No. 7 USC, No. 10 UCLA,  No. 13 Washington, No. 18 Oregon, No. 21 Colorado and No. 22 Utah. 
 


AVCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Last season, Kathryn Plummer became the first player in AVCA Division I history to earn Player of the Year honors after being named the National Freshman of the Year the previous season. She was the first Cardinal player to bring home the honor since 2007 (Foluke Akinradewo) and the ninth overall.

ALL-AMERICANS: The Cardinal returns five AVCA All-Americans to its 2018 roster. Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz and Kathryn Plummer were all first team picks as sophomores, while Audriana Fitzmorris earned a spot on the second team. Senior Tami Alade landed on the honorable mention list. Stanford's five players on the first and second teams in 2017 were a program-best. The selections brought Stanford's total AVCA All-America award count to 95 honors spread over 40 players. It marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal had produced at least four All-Americans. 
 


PAC-12'S TOP HONOR: In 2017, 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 (4.66) and points per set (5.39). She was also 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: Jenna Gray was 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 paced the league and was fourth nationally in 2017 with 12.04 assists per set, and had the Cardinal hitting .319 as a team - the third-best mark in the nation.
 


LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Morgan Hentz was the first Cardinal player to be named the Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award's inception in 2011. She led the team with 4.08 digs per set in 2017, upping that mark to 4.39 digs per set in NCAA Tournament matches, and had just 15 reception errors on the season.
 


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Cardinal clinched its 17th Pac-12 title on Nov. 15 with a 3-0 win over USC. It was the program's 20th conference championship overall and first since 2014. It marked the 29th top-2 standing in Pac-10/12 play in the past 32 seasons. Stanford has claimed eight of the past 12 Pac-12 titles.

1,000 KILLS CLUB: At Howard on Aug. 27, junior Kathryn Plummer became the 19th Stanford player to register 1,000 career kills just half way through her collegiate career. Only two Cardinal players have reached the 2,000 career kills milestone - Ogonna Nnamani (2,450) and Alix Klineman (2,008).
 


1,000 DIGS CLUB: Junior Morgan Hentz became the 18th Stanford player since 1986 to register 1,000 career 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, and has added six more at Stanford.

RETURN TO PROVO: Head coach Kevin Hambly played collegiately at BYU from 1992-95. While playing for the Cougars, he was named to the Volleyball Monthly All-Freshman Team in 1992, selected as a third-team All-American in 1994 and earned AVCA First Team All-America honors in 1995 after leading the nation in blocks.