NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament: Pac-12 places four teams in Sweet 16

By Kevin Zimmerman, @Pac12Network Newsroom
Dec 3, 2016
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Stanford Athletics

Seattle, Washington - Second Round

Washington

Junior Courtney Schwan recorded 14 kills to lead Washington's sweep (25-21, 25-11, 25-20) of the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA women's volleyball tournament on Saturday. The win completed a successful day for four Pac-12 squads that advanced to the Sweet 16. The victory by the Pac-12 champs, who went 16-4 in conference play and are now 27-4 on the year, sets up a showdown in Lincoln, Neb., with conference foe, the Arizona Wildcats, who fell 3-1 and 3-0 to UW in the regular season. But against Kentucky on Saturday, the Huskies dominated the second set by hitting .520 to .000 for Kentucky, which had eight kills and eight errors. Joining Schwan with double-digits hits for the Huskies were juniors Tia Scambray, who had 10 with nine digs, and Crissy Jones, who had a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.

Stanford, California - Second Round

Stanford

With a 25-11 first set courtesy of a .500 hitting percentage, the Stanford Cardinal (23-7, 15-5 Pac-12), swept Boise State (25-11, 25-22, 25-18) behind a .362 hitting percentage for the evening to the Bronco's .157. Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Kathryn Plummer led the way with 17 kills while Inky Ajanaku and Audriana Fitzmorris added nine kills each. Stanford dominated the match at the net, where it recorded 18 block assists to just four for Boise State. In the Sweet 16, the Cardinal face Florida State, which upset No. 11-seed Florida in the second round.

Los Angeles, California - Second Round

UCLA

Tenth-seeded UCLA (26-6, 15-5 Pac-12) didn't have it easy. Nonetheless, it swept Baylor in three tough sets, (25-21, 25-20, 25-20) to advance to the Sweet 16 where seventh-seed North Carolina awaits. The Bruins had a slight edge in hitting percentage -- .261 to .205 -- but benefitted from 15 errors to 18 for the Bears and, more importantly, Baylor's seven service errors on the night. Freshman outside hitter Torrey Van Winden tallied 12 kill and nine digs, while junior Reily Buechler added a team-high 13 kills for UCLA.

East Lansing, Michigan - Second Round

Arizona

Arizona (19-14, 10-10 Pac-12) recovered from a first-set loss and took the 3-2 victory against the ninth-seeded Michigan State Spartans behind the usual characters. Senior Kalei Mau led Arizona with 23 kills, and sophomore Kendra Dahlke added 22 more to go with a team-best 16 digs. Setter Penina Snuka posted 57 assists in five sets, the first of which the Wildcats dropped, 25-17, before rebounding with a hitting percentage of .538 in the second. They then took the third before the Spartans survived, 26-24, to stay alive in the fourth. Arizona, which closed 15-10 in the fifth, will face the tournament's No. 8 seed Washington, which beat the Wildcats 3-1 on Oct. 23 and 3-0 on Nov. 10 this season.

Here is a peak at the moment Arizona sealed the program's eighth Sweet 16 appearance.

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