Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
Farm Freshman
Of the dozen Cardinal to see action in 2016, over half were freshmen. New faces included Hayley Hodson (Newport Beach, California), Payton Chang (Newport Beach, California), Halland McKenna (Laguna Beach, California), Alexis Froistad (Aromas, California), Jennifer DiSanto (Portola Valley, California), Courtney Bowen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Tami Alade (Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada).
Beyond the Beach
Prior to the start of the 2016 season, three Stanford beach volleyball student-athletes were recognized for their hard work outside of athletics. In her four years on The Farm, senior Jordan Burgess helped found Overtime, a non-profit designed to inspire student-athletes and children across the nation to dream and innovate.
Sophomore Catherine Raquel started Feed 2 Succeed, a non-profit that benefits needy and malnourished children. This upcoming summer, freshman Courtney Bowen will take on a 10-week internship with Morgan Stanley designed to immerse participants in the world of finance.
NCAA Welcomes New Championship
This season was the first in which the NCAA held a national championship for beach volleyball, making it the 90th such championship in NCAA history.
“It is great for the sport of beach volleyball,” said head coach Denise Corlett, who has spent 27 years on The Farm as an interim head coach, associate head coach and assistant coach with the indoor program. “It is one of the most popular events in the Olympics and I see this sport becoming one of the most popular sports in the NCAA.”
“Seeing beach volleyball being picked up by the NCAA so quickly is invigorating to all of us who've been looking forward to this becoming a championship sport,” added first-year assistant coach Karissa Cook. “The timing is right to establish and develop a successful program for our student athletes. As long as there are championships, you can count on Stanford being a competitor.”
2016 Regular Season
The Cardinal finished the regular season with a 5-10 record. Stanford's season started March 5 with a two-day invitational tournament that included matches against Sacramento State, San Jose State, Pacific and Saint Mary's (CA).
After splitting the opening weekend, Stanford had its only road action of the regular season, starting with a loss at San Francisco (Mar. 29). The Cardinal then competed at the Oregon Invitational in Portland, falling to Boise State (Apr. 3) with wins against Oregon (Apr. 2) and Portland (Apr. 3). Stanford closed the regular season with a seven-match home stretch, including duals against California, Boise State, Arizona State, Oregon, Saint Mary's, San Jose State and Santa Clara.
Vlog #1 from Tami Alade on Vimeo.
Inaugural Pac-12 Championships
Stanford competed in the inaugural Pac-12 Championships in Los Angeles, which included a pairs bracket and a team bracket.
In the pairs bracket, Stanford's No. 1 pair of Hayley Hodson and Payton Chang were seeded ninth, while No. 2 pair Ivana Vanjak and Catherine Raquel were the No. 14 seed. Hodson and Chang dropped an 18-21, 21-16, 15-10 decision to No. 8 Jianna Bonomi and Katarina Schulz of Arizona, while Vanjak and Raquel fell 21-14, 21-9 to Nicole and Megan McNamara of UCLA.
The Cardinal went 0-2 on the team side of the competition, dropping a 4-1 decision to Arizona and a 3-2 dual against Washington. Stanford's No. 3 pair of Merete Lutz and Halland McKenna won both of their matches at the tournament, giving them a team-leading 12-5 record on the season.
“I felt we were right there in almost every match this year,” said head coach Denise Corlett. “This was a good season for these student-athletes and they all improved throughout the year.”
Stanford Earns Conference Recognition
Hayley Hodson was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team. Hodson, a freshman from Newport Beach, California, played 14 of her 17 matches at the No. 1 spot, finishing with a 4-13 record. Her four wins came consecutively with partner Payton Chang, while 10 of Hodson's 17 matches went three sets. A two-sport athlete, Hodson was named AVCA Freshman of the Year and Volleyball Magazine Freshman of the Year following Stanford's indoor campaign in the fall.
The Pac-12 All-Conference teams and end-of-year awards were nominated and voted on by the league's eight head coaches.
Four Stanford student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic recognition. Karina Robinson earned second-team honors, while Merete Lutz, Catherine Raquel and Ivana Vanjak received honorable mentions.
To be eligible for selection to the all-academic teams, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average, be either a starter or significant contributor and have a minimum of one year of enrollment at their institution. All four of Stanford's eligible student-athletes earned all-academic recognition.