By Terry Boehmker
NkyTribune sports reporter
Morgan Hentz, a former all-state volleyball player at Notre Dame Academy, is the starting libero on the Stanford University women’s volleyball team that will play in the NCAA Division I championship final on Saturday.
Stanford (33-1) will take on Nebraska (29-6) in the title match that will be nationally televised on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. local time.
Morgan Hentz
This is the second time in three years that Stanford has made it to the championship final. The Cardinal won the 2016 national title and Hentz was named to the all-tournament team as a freshman starter that year.
Stanford defeated Brigham Young, 25-15, 25-15, 25-18, in the semifinals on Friday in Minneapolis to even the score for its only loss this season. Hentz had 20 defensive digs in that match and made passes that fueled her team’s offensive attack.
The 5-foot-9 junior from Lakeside Park is averaging 4.8 digs this season. She has posted double-digit totals in 33 matches and gotten 20 or more nine times. That’s why she was a first-team All America selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the second consecutive year.
During her high school career, Hentz helped Notre Dame win four consecutive regional championships. She was named Miss Kentucky Volleyball in 2015 and a finalist for national player of the year. She played club volleyball for NKYVC.
In the summer before her senior year, she played on the U.S. Youth National Team that placed second in the under-18 World Championship Tournament in Lima, Peru.
