By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Morgan Hentz of Lakeside Park enhanced her reputation as one of the nation’s top college volleyball players with an impressive performance in the NCAA championship final on Saturday.
The junior libero had a career-high 32 defensive digs for her Stanford University team that defeated Nebraska in a five-set match that was played before a sell-out crowd at the Target Center in Minneapolis and a national television audience on ESPN2.
Morgan Hentz of Lakeside Park with the NCAA championship trophy. (Photo from Twitter)
Hentz and her junior teammate Kathryn Plummer, who had a team-high 19 kills in the match, were named co-winners of the national tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Award.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Hentz said in an interview on ESPN2. “It’s looking back and seeing your hard work paid off.”
On the final point in the fifth-set tiebreaker, Hentz got the dig on an opponent’s shot and made a pass to Jenna Gray. She set the ball up for a kill by Meghan McClure between two Nebraska defenders.
Stanford claimed an unprecedented eighth NCAA women’s volleyball championship and finished the season with a 34-1 record. The Cardinal also won the 2016 national title when Hentz was one of four freshmen in the starting lineup.
In her team’s six post-season victories, Hentz had 117 digs in 22 sets for a 5.3 average. She finished the season with a team-high 591 digs in 121 sets for a 4.9 average. She set a team record with 630 digs during her freshman season.
Hentz was a first-team All America selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for the second consecutive year. She was also named Libero of the Year in the Pac-12 Conference once again.
During her high school career, Hentz played on Notre Dame academy teams that won four consecutive regional championships and played in two state finals. She was named Miss Kentucky Volleyball in 2015 and she was a finalist for national player of the year. She played club volleyball for NKYVC.
