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WOMEN’S COLLEGIATE VOLLEYBALL


tional setter.” She adjusted nicely to her role as a primary passer – at times, she and Hentz handled the entire court in serve-receive – and also as a defender; her 224 digs were third on the team behind Hentz (630) and Humphrys (234). Fitzmorris also fit the “good tall” descrip-


tion. She’s a middle who moves like an outside, and she’s also a versatile hitter, who can hit quicks and “fours” on the left and “fives” on the right. Next year, the Cardinal will forge on without Ajanaku and also without Humphrys. But those are the only departures, and with the expected return of Hodson and Keefe, they figure to be in great shape. Many observers noted the maturity level of


Texas players with Head Coach Jerritt Elliott celebrated some redemption with a semifinal victory over top-ranked Nebraska to earn an appearance in the title match for the second consecutive season. (Photo: University of Texas)


Erik Sullivan says. “We discussed it with our team and said, ‘Look, they’re going to make three or four great plays in a row, and we’ve got to punch right back and show them that we’re not just going to go away and wither.’” Two nights after knocking off the Corn- huskers, the Longhorns were repeatedly pushed out of system by Stanford serves that limited them to just 37 percent perfect passes. Hard to win in those circumstances against a massive Stanford block featuring Lutz (6-8), Plummer (6-6), Audriana Fitzmorris (6-6), the springy Ajanaku (6-3) and Gray, who blocks bigger than her 6-0 height. And when Texas did get the ball through, it was frequently popped up by a backcourt defense led by freshman libero Morgan Hentz, who had a match-high 27 digs. (See sidebar on page 40) For years, the Longhorns have heard criti- cism of their passing and ball control. Sullivan, for one, thinks it’s overblown. “People see our physicality and think that’s


what we’re all about,” he says. “I don’t know how many times we’ve played a team and the coach says afterward, ‘We’re really surprised that you guys were that good defensively.’” Asked if the Longhorns get a bad rap when it comes to passing, Texas Head Coach Jerritt Elliott said, “I think it’s fair, but we’re not as bad as people think.” He then explained a bit of the program’s history. “We finished number two on Alix Klineman (who went to Stanford) and number two on Megan Hodge (who went to Penn State) and many more ball-control play- ers. We never got those players. We ended up with physical kids who didn’t play six rotations. (Freshman outside hitter) Micaya (White) played a little bit of six rotations her senior year (in high school), and now she’s developing into a six-rotation player. But it takes time.” The Longhorns will reload next year with


another powerhouse lineup that includes three- time All American middle Chiaka Ogbogu, who missed this season for academic reasons,


Nwanebu, sophomore Yaazie Bedart-Ghani (who has played middle, opposite and outside hitter), liberos Cat McCoy and Autumn Roun- saville and a top-shelf recruiting class headed by outside hitter Lexi Sun (Solana Beach, Califor- nia), middle Brionne Butler (Boling, Texas) and setter Ashley Shook (Plainfield, Illinois).


More than just big If Texas is a good bet to be right back in the title match next year, so too is Stanford, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that the Car- dinal are more than the sum of their size. “They’re not just tall, they’re good tall,” says


Dunning, who was the 2016 AVCA Division I Coach of the Year and now has five NCAA championships, second all-time in the Division I women’s game behind Penn State’s Russ Rose (seven). You see what he’s talking about when watch- ing the finesse of Plummer, who Dunning says has “great hands” and could be “a future interna-


Stanford’s freshmen, but it was no real surprise. They’re young but not green. Plummer and Hentz both won silver medals at the 2015 FIVB Women’s U18 World Championship while playing for the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Team. Fitzmorris has played at the international level for the USA since 2013, including spots on last summer’s top U.S. Collegiate National Team, the 2015 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team that earned the gold medal at the Euro- pean Challenge and the 2013 U.S. Girls’ Youth Team that won silver at the FIVB Women’s U18 World Championship. Fitzmorris was also Gray’s high school teammate at St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas, where they won three state titles.


Along with their big-match experience, the


freshmen got plenty of seasoning in their first year at Stanford. “We’ve been through a lot,” Dunning says.


“We lost five times at home this year. Inky had only lost at home twice in three years before that. I think all that we went through made them listen, made them work, made them tougher. So they’re more than they were when they got here.”


That, and national champs.


Minnesota players showed some togetherness in a season that ended with a 29-5 record and two wins short of a national title. (Photo: Eric Miller/University of Minnesota)


44 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at usavolleyball.org/mag


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