Stanford women will play for volleyball national title

MINNEAPOLIS — Tami Alade had 14 blocks, Kathryn Plummer had 12 kills and Stanford beat BYU 25-15, 25-15 and 25-18 on Thursday night to advance to the NCAA volleyball championship and avenge its only loss of the season.

Seeking its eighth title, Stanford will face the winner of the all-Big Ten semifinal between defending national champion Nebraska and Illinois.

Audriana Fitzmorris added 11 kills and nine blocks, and Morgan Hentz had 20 digs for the Cardinal (33-1). They advanced to the championship for the 16th time with their 31 straight match victory since losing in five sets at BYU in August.

BYU (31-2) had a lead in every game in the semifinal.

Plummer, the reigning national player of the year, hit .300 and Fitzmorris .