Utah's women's volleyball team led No. 3 seed Stanford briefly in the fifth set Friday night in an effort to reach the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight for the first time, but Cardinal star Kathryn Plummer asserted herself in the end.
Plummer, a two-time national Player of the Year, posted 29 kills as Stanford won 22-25, 25-14, 25-10, 12-25, 15-11 at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif.
Utah (24-10) was led by Dani Drews with 18 kills. Kenzie Koerber and Berkeley Oblad added 12 each and Zoe Weatherington had 10.
Defending champion Stanford (27-4) advances to Saturday's regional final vs.