2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT – PALO ALTO POD
- December 1-2, 2017
- Round 1
- Maples Pavilion, Palo Alto, California
- Bracket
- Tournament Central
In the Palo Alto pod, hosted by Stanford, Colorado State knocked off Michigan in four sets, while the Cardinal swept Cal State Bakersfield.
COLORADO STATE DEF. MICHIGAN, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24)
- Colorado State improves to 29-3; Michigan ends their season at 21-12
- Attendance: 1329
- Box score
In a match more suited for a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 battle, the first-round match between Colorado State and Michigan treated all in attendance to championship-level volleyball. The Rams outlasted the upstart Michigan Wolverines in four long sets Friday evening and move on to Saturday night’s Round of 32.
Colorado State was led offensively by Kirstie Hillyer with 13 kills (hitting .480) and added 6 blocks. Jasmine Hanna added another 13 kills (hitting .400) with 4 digs. Rounding out the double-digit kill performers was Breana Runnels with 12 kills, 4 digs, 2 blocks and an ace. Mountain West Player of the Year Katie Oleksak led the highly-efficient offense (.364) with 51 assists, while adding 5 blocks, 5 kills and 4 digs. Libero Amanda Young dug a match- and career-high 26 balls. On net defense, Paulina Hougaard-Jensen led all blockers by blocking a match-high 9 balls. In all, Colorado State out blocked Michigan, 16-4.
For the Wolverines, Carly Skjodt pounded a match-high 17 kills and added 15 digs for her 8th double-double of the season. Claire Kieffer-Wright added 13 kills of her own (hitting .480) in her last match for Michigan. Katherine Mahlke produced well in her last match as a Wolverine with 12 kills, while sophomore Cori Crocker added 12 kills (hitting .500) and a team-high 3 blocks. Setter MacKenzi Welsh 56 assists and 10 digs for her own double-double. Libero Jenna Lerg finished with a team-high 19 digs.
#3 STANFORD DEF. CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD, 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-17)
- #3 Stanford improves to 27-3; Cal State Bakersfield ends their season at 19-14
- Attendance: 1468
- Box score
#3 overall seed Stanford quickly dispatched CSU Bakersfield Friday night. The sweep puts the Cardinal into Round 2 on Saturday night to face Colorado State.
Stanford was led by Audriana Fitzmorris with 10 kills on 12 errorless swings, hitting .833. She also blocked a match-high 8 balls. Kathryn Plummer added 9 kills and filled the stat sheet with 7 digs, 3 blocks and 2 aces. Setter Jenna Gray ran the efficient offense (.417) with 33 assists, 4 digs, 3 blocks, 2 aces and 2 kills. Libero Morgan Hentz led all defenders with 10 digs.
For the Roadrunners, the WAC Tournament Champions, Aleksandra Djordjevic led the way with 7 kills and also added team-highs of 9 digs and 2 aces. Sidney Wicks and Fabiana Andrade dished out 13 and 11 assists, respectively in the 6-2 offense. Libero Emily Lopes dug 8 balls in the contest.
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