No. 3 Stanford swept No. 7 Minnesota 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 on Thursday night in the national semifinals, paving the way for a second straight NCAA title.
Making its fourth straight national semifinal appearance and fifth in six years, Stanford (29-4, 18-2 Pac-12) will chase its ninth NCAA crown in school history on Saturday against Wisconsin (5 p.m. PT, ESPN2). The Cardinal is undefeated in four meetings against the Badgers, most recently prevailing 3-1 in the 2017 regional semifinal.
Avenging a 3-1 loss to Minnesota back on Sept. 14, the Cardinal was led by Kathryn Plummer’s game-high 26 kills on a .353 hitting percentage. Plummer also came up with nine digs.
Meghan McClure added eight kills on a .364 hitting percentage to go along with 15 digs, Jenna Gray contributed 41 assists and Morgan Hentz finished with 23 digs.
Stanford hit .325 overall and produced 10 blocks, limiting Minnesota (27-6, 17-3 Big Ten) to a .164 hitting percentage. The Cardinal, which recorded its 18th sweep of the season, improved to 10-1 all-time against the Golden Gophers.
After a back-and-forth start to the first set, Stanford moved in front 13-9 after a kill from Plummer and pulled away late in the set.
Minnesota’s best chance came in the second set, when the Golden Gophers forced a 20-20 tie despite holding its biggest lead at 10-5.
Leading 4-3 in the third set, the Cardinal won eight of the next 11 points to take control.
Stanford has totaled more NCAA titles (8), NCAA Tournament matches (130), Final Four appearances (23) and national championship match appearances (17) than any other program in the nation.
Head coach Kevin Hambly is in his third season at the helm of the program. He is 93-9 in three seasons with the Cardinal and 271-95 overall (11 years).
*Care of Stanford athletics
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