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Stanford seniors Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz were honored a third consecutive year as Pac-12 Women’s Volleyball Setter of the Year and Libero of the Year, respectively, when the All-Conference teams were announced Tuesday.
Seniors Audriana Fitzmorris and Madeleine Gates joined their peers on the all-conference team while junior Meghan McClure earned honorable mention. Outside hitter Kendall Kipp was also honorable mention as well as being named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
Gray became the second Cardinal setter to earn Setter of the Year in three straight seasons, joining Madi Bugg who did so from 2013-15. Stanford has 147 all-conference selections all-time, including honorable mention.
Stanford senior Kathryn Plummer, the reigning national Player of the Year, was not eligible for postseason Pac-12 awards because of not meeting the required minimum of matches played.
Gray, a native of Shawnee, Kansas, leads the league and is ninth nationally with 11.54 assists per set. As a team, the Cardinal is hitting a Pac-12-best .289, ranking sixth in the nation. The senior leads the team with 10 double-doubles in 2019. She is second in program history in career assists (5,245) and her 11.18 career assists per set average would be fourth all-time.
Her 5,245 assists are the most in program history in the rally-scoring era to 25. Gray is also fifth in school history with 131 career aces.
Hentz became the first Cardinal to earn Pac-12 Libero of the Year since the award’s inception in 2011. She leads the conference with 5.00 digs per set and has just nine reception errors on the season.
The Lakeside Park, Kentucky, native broke the school record for career digs in November. She is currently fourth in Pac-12 history with 2,207 career digs. Her 4.71 career digs per set average is the best in program history. The senior has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week three times this season, and nine times in her career. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but two matches this season and reached the 20-plus dig mark in 16 matches.
Fitzmorris is a three-time all-conference selection. She is ninth in the league in conference matches with a .318 attack percentage and 1.03 blocks per set, and 10th with 3.67 points per set. Her hitting percentage is the highest in the league of any non-middle blocker. She has recorded double-digit kills in 13 matches and four or more blocks on 14 occasions. She was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7, bringing her career player of the week count to seven. The Overland Park, Kansas, native is fifth all-time at Stanford with 593 career blocks.
Gates is a three-time all-conference honoree, having earned All-Pac-12 as a sophomore and honorable mention as a junior at UCLA. She leads the Pac-12 with 1.43 blocks per set during conference play. On the season, her 1.40 blocks per set ranks 15th nationally.
Gates is 10th in the Pac-12 with a .307 hitting percentage on the season. She was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7, the first weekly honor of her distinguished career.
McClure earned her second all-conference honor after earning a spot on the All-Pac-12 team last season. She hit .249 in conference matches, averaging 2.44 kills and 2.51 digs per set. She is tied for fifth in the league with 0.29 aces per set in conference play. The outside hitter is second on the team with two double-doubles.
A native of Newport Beach, Kipp hit .220 and averaged 2.88 kills per set and 0.50 blocks per set in conference play. She is a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honoree and had a career-high 23 kills in a comeback win at USC on Oct. 27.
UCLA’s Mac May was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, while Washington State’s Magda Jehlarova was tabbed Freshman of the Year. Utah’s Beth Launiere earned Coach of the Year recognition.
The Cardinal plays Denver in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. That winner will meet the Cal Poly-Georgia winner on Saturday at 6 p.m.
By Palo Alto Sports Online/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Sports Online/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Sports Online/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Sports Online/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Sports Online/Stanford Athletics