Another streak for Stanford volleyball comes to an end.
No. 12 BYU (9-2) upset No. 2 Stanford (6-2) in four sets (18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 31-29). Stanford's loss snaps a 37-game win streak at home, which dated back to Nov. 12, 2016 against UCLA.
It's been a wild week for college volleyball's top-4 with Stanford's loss to BYU on Saturday, No. 1 Nebraska's loss to Stanford and No. 3 Texas' loss to Rice on Wednesday, and No. 4 Penn State's defeat to No. 6 Pitt on Friday. This string of results leave No. 5 Baylor, Pitt, No. 11 Hawai'i and No. 24 California the final four undefeated teams left in DI women's volleyball.
UNDEFEATED TEAMS TRACKER: How each of the teams remain unbeaten
Baylor or Pitt could become the new No. 1 team in the nation come Monday's latest AVCA poll — a ranking neither team has reached in program history.
Two of the Cardinal's last three losses have come against the Cougars, including Stanford's only loss of its title season last year in a five-set August thriller.
Overall, the numbers for both teams were nearly identical on Saturday. Stanford barely outhit BYU, .238-.232 and both sides tied in digs at 62. The only disparates were in block assists (Stanford led BYU 34-22), reception errors (Stanford forced four to BYU's 1) and service aces (BYU had four to Stanford's one.)
RANKINGS: The updated AVCA Coaches poll
The Cardinal took a promising win in the first set behind a dominant .400 hitting percentage, but faltered in the final three sets for its second straight Saturday loss to a lower-ranked opponent.
Despite Kathryn Plummer's game-leading 21 kills and .245 hitting percentage, the Cougars outhit the Cardinal .229-.152 in the second set, .273-.222 in the third set and .200-.191 in the final set.
BYU began the fourth set on a 5-0 run. Stanford quickly tied, until BYU soared to a 20-15 lead. Plummer then spiked a point to liven the Cardinal energy that was soon dissolved with the Cougar's 24-20 match point.
SCOREBOARD: Follow other big matchups and final scores
Stanford's Audriana Fitzmorris forced a kill to jumpstart another 5-0 run, to make it 25-24. Now, it was Stanford's set point.
But the Cardinal could never pull it off.
The back-and-forth drama that ensued soon became the highlight of the match, as BYU battled through eight match points to secure the 31-29 set win.
It was worth the wait for lucky 🎱!
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) September 21, 2019
On their eighth match point, No. 12 @BYUwvolleyball was finally able to close out an upset of No. 2 Stanford in four sets (18-25, 25-22, 25-23, 31-29).#NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/Uc03wf79AE
McKenna Miller led the Cougars with 18 kills and hit for .222. Kate Grimmer (11) and Heather Gneiting (10) followed in BYU's kill count.
