Volleyball World Sees Cardinal as Stanford Wins DI Title

Stanford was the last team standing in the DI national tournament at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night, 12/17/2016. The Cardinal topped the Texas Longhorns 3 – 1 (25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21) to claim the NCAA DI Women’s National Volleyball Championship in an exciting and well-played match before 17,345 volleyball fans who were enjoying both the atmosphere and the action. With the victory Stanford ties Penn State with seven titles in the program, the most titles for any DI school.

Both John Dunning and Jerritt Elliott resembled chess Grandmasters in their strategy and tactics as each devised and executed countermeasures to try to overcome the opponent. In the end the sheer size of the Cardinal squad proved decisive and the match progressed to a denouement with a 25 – 21 Stanford victory in the fourth and deciding set. Stanford was the youngest team ever to reach a semifinals match, a finals match, and to win the title. Kathryn Plummer, Inky Ajanaku, and Audriana Fitzmorris led the way for Stanford with 18, 16, and 10 kills respectively. Collectively, these three players hit .368 for the match. Setter Jenna Gray logged 51 assists for the evening while libero Morgan Hentz contributed a match high 27 digs. Stanford ends the season with a 27-7 record. For the Longhorns, Micaya White, Ebony Nwanebu, and Yasmine Bedart-Ghani set the pace with 17, 16, and 11 kills respectively while setter Chloe Collins contributed 46 assists. Texas ends the year with a 27 – 5 record.

LET’S GROW VOLLEYBALL !