COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 19, 2019) – The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship will pit two teams in the title match who are led by players who competed for the U.S. Women’s National Team this past summer.
University of Wisconsin (27-6), seeded fourth in the tournament, defeated top-seeded Baylor University 25-27, 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 in the opening semifinal on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pa. Middle Dana Rettke, who helped the U.S. win gold at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League and was on the roster as Team USA won its berth to the 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Qualification Tournament, scored a Badger-high 19 kills on a .484 hitting efficiency. She added three aces, a block solo and seven block assists for 26.5 points.
Wisconsin setter Sydney Hilley, who played on the 2016 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team helped the U.S. Girls Youth National Team win silver at the 2015 FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship, was credited with 43 assists, three aces and two kills while setting the Badgers to a .267 team hitting efficiency.
Wisconsin is now 3-0 in NCAA semifinal matches, but are seeking their first-ever title having lost in previous championship matches in 2000 and 2013.
In the second semifinal, Kathryn Plummer paced No. 3 Stanford University (29-4) to a 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 victory over No. 7 University of Minnesota. She scored 26 kills with a .353 hitting efficiency to go with an ace and five block assists for 29.5 points. Earlier this year Plummer helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to gold at the 2019 Pan American Cup while also competing in the Pan American Games.
Cardinal teammates Meghan McClure tallied eight kills on a .364 hitting efficiency along with 15 digs and Audriana Fitzmorris added seven kills. Both McClure and Fitzmorris were part of the U.S. Collegiate National Team this summer representing the USA at the World University Games this past summer. Fitzmorris has been on the U.S. Collegiate National Team for three years, along with representing the U.S. at the 2015 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship.
Wisconsin and Stanford will face each other in the title match in Pittsburgh on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The match will air live on ESPN2.
Stanford will be playing in its 17th NCAA championship match and will be aiming for its ninth title. The Cardinal senior class has reached the semifinal round all four years.