#1 STANFORD DEF. HOWARD 3-0

#1 Stanford def. Howard 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-15)

#1 Stanford improves to 2-0; Howard falls to 2-2

Washington, DC | Burr Gymnasium Attendance: 1,998

Box Score

Stanford Release | Howard Release

The second match of the season wasn’t one to boast about for Stanford, who did earn a victory and in sweep fashion on the road, but struggled a bit offensively against Howard.

The Cardinal hit just .187 in total for the entire match. Jenna Gray did still log 32 assists, but had a negative hitting percentage, as did two other Stanford players. Still, they more than managed as the middles were alive in well led by Tami Alade (9 kills, .538, 6 blocks) and Holly Campbell (6 kills, .857, 1 block). Audriana Fitzmorris, continuing to transition to the pin, also netted five kills on a .625 mark.

Kathryn Plummer also reached the 1,000 career kills mark after her first kill of the night. Things seemingly got more relaxed for her after that – with her first not coming until 30 points into the match. From there, she rattled off six kills in the second set but was held to one in the third. She hit .130 in total and tacked on 8 digs, two blocks and an ace.

While the offense wasn’t at its finest, the defense sure was for Stanford. The Cardinal held Howard to just a .033 hitting percentage led by the block of Alade and Gray (3 blocks) and the back-row defense of Morgan Hentz (15 digs). Overall, Stanford won the battle of digs 33-27 and blocks 8-4. They also had more aces (4-0).

Jurnee Tipton still managed 10 kills for Howard, but hit just .056. No other players for the losing side had more than five kills. Fola Wilson (13 digs) and Kia Porter (3 blocks) were the top defenders on the night for Howard.

Next up, Stanford heads to Provo, Utah to face #8 BYU on the road. The weekend finishes up with neutral site matches against (RV) Wichita State and West Virginia. For Howard, they’ll be a part of the Cardinal Classic with the likes of Texas Southern, host-Lamar and Southern.