Former Stanford women’s volleyball outside hitter Kathryn Plummer has been named to the United States Olympic roster in advance of this summer’s Olympic games in Paris, France. It’s a major honor for Plummer as only 12 players make the cut. This will be her first time competing in the Olympics, which makes it even more cool for her.
Plummer is one of the greatest players in Stanford history. She was part of three national championship teams in 2016, 2018, and 2019 and totaled 1,975 kills for her career, which ranks third all-time in program history. One can’t help but wonder how many kills she would have totaled had she not missed 10 matches her senior season due to injury.
At 6’6”, Plummer has tremendous physical gifts and over the course of her volleyball career, she has done a great job of polishing her game and getting better each year. As a freshman at Stanford, she averaged 3.34 kills per set; as a sophomore she averaged 4.66 kills per set; as a junior she averaged 4.70 kills per set; and then as a senior she averaged 5.22 kills per set. Now, she’s making her first Olympic team. That’s truly a testament to her work ethic and mentality.
Former Stanford libero Morgan Hentz was also selected as one of five alternates for the team. Only one could make the trip and unfortunately for Hentz, she wasn't selected as that honor went to former Penn State setter Micha Hancock. Still, it's a big deal for Hentz to be an alternate and get the chance to contribute to this year's Olympic squad.
“Our five alternates are a special group with difficult yet critical tasks,” USA head coach Karch Kiraly said in the team release. “They must bring a good version of themselves every day; do everything they can to make the team better; and stay ready in case of injury or illness. Nobody is more capable of exceeding in those tasks than these five women.”
Hentz averaged 4.72 digs per set for her career and averaged an amazing 5.03 digs per set as a senior. She was a fantastic libero for four years on The Farm and very instrumental to the Cardinal’s three national championship seasons in ’16, ’18, & ’19. With her in the backrow playing defense and Plummer on the outside, the Cardinal were close to unstoppable.
Looking ahead to the Olympics, it’ll be fun to see how the USA women’s volleyball team does and whether or not they’ll win the gold medal. They won their first gold medal in 2020, so there will be pressure on them to defend their crown.
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