Freshmen classes to remember
Since the first NCAA women’s vol- leyball championship in 1981, there hasn’t been a better collection of freshmen on one team than this year’s Stanford class, which coalesced around senior middle Inky Ajanaku to give the Cardinal their seventh women’s volleyball title. If you’re debating the finest freshmen classes ever, Stanford 2016 might well be first on the list, but here are some others that should be in the discussion.
Stanford 2016 – This year’s Cardinal included four
starters who played big roles in the title run: setter Jenna Gray, outside hitter Kathryn Plummer, libero Morgan Hentz and middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris. Another freshman, outside Michaela Keefe, started earlier in the season but was sidelined with an injury. No other title-winning class in history has relied this heavily on freshmen.
Penn State 2011 – The Nittany Lions won six championships in eight seasons from 2007 to 2014, but 2011 is arguably their greatest class. The group included setter Micha Hancock, the AVCA Player of the Year in 2014, as well as outside hitters Nia Grant and Aiyana Whitney and defensive specialists Dominique Gonzalez and Lacey Fuller. All five contributed in a big way to back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, which followed a NCAA semifinal appearance in 2012. Penn State’s 2010 freshman class was also extremely strong with opposite Ariel Scott, middle Katie Slay, outside hitter Deja McClendon and defensive specialist Kendall Pierce.
Penn State 2006 – You’d expect seven-time champion Penn State to have multiple Grade A classes, and this one, with future USA Olympians Alisha Glass at setter and outside hitter Megan Hodge Easy joining opposite Blair Brown was up there with the best of them. They all were key to Penn State’s 2007, 2008 and 2009 titles, and Brown, who redshirted as a freshman, stayed around to win another in 2010. It’s notable that a year before this group arrived, Penn State had a freshman class in 2005 that featured two future USA standouts: middle Christa Harmotto, a two-time Olympian and captain of the 2016 Rio team, and opposite Nicole Fawcett.
Some of the top freshmen collegiate classes at the NCAA Divi- sion I level included marquee names in women’s volleyball. The list includes clockwise from top left: Lisa Sharpley (Stanford 1994), April Ross (Southern California, 2000), Megan Hodge Easy (Penn State, 2006) and Natalie Williams (UCLA, 1989).
Southern California 2000 – Another class overflowing with talent. Among them: outside hitter April Ross, who would go on to win silver and bronze medals on the beach at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Games, and libero Nicole Davis, who later played on two U.S. Olympic silver medal indoor teams (2008 and 2012). Others on this freshman roster were middles Kelli Lantz and Katie Olsovsky and setter Toni Anderson. Together, they won back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003, the second of which was accompanied by an undefeated season.
Stanford 1994 – The Cardinal freshmen on this team included outside hitter Kristin Folkl and setter Lisa Sharpley, both four-year starters on teams that won three titles – 1994, 1996,
1997. Sharpley set the 6-2 as a freshman, then switched to the 5-1. Folkl, a four-time volleyball All American, went on to play four seasons in the WNBA. Also in Stanford’s 1994 freshman class was middle Barbara Ifejika, who hit .429 in the 1997 title match when Stanford capped the greatest four-season run in its history with a victory over Penn State.
UCLA 1989 – This class was headed by outside hitter Natalie Williams and middles Marissa Hatchett and Lisa Hudak, who were all starters on two NCAA title teams (1990 and 91) and went to four final fours. Williams didn’t make the cut for the 1996 U.S. indoor Olympic team, but she went on to a successful basketball career that included 10 pro seasons (1996 to 2005) and a basketball gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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