Dein erstes Forum » and captain Shimron Hetmeyer (52) fired for the Windies

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For all the talk about Stanford volleyballs young guns being goofballs, heres a little secret from freshman Kathryn Plummer:The silliest kid on the Cardinal is fifth-year senior Inky Ajanaku, whose 15 kills and nine blocks in a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Minnesota lifted No. 9 Stanford (26-7) into Saturdays national championship game for the 15th time in program history.Theyll play Texas, which shocked No. 1 Nebraska with a three-set sweep in the Thursday nightcap at Nationwide Arena.Shes the pot stirrer; shes a little kid at heart, said Plummer, one of four freshman starters for the Cardinal. Only when it comes to volleyball, you can tell shes the oldest person on the court.And at the ancient age of 22, Ajanaku doesnt have time to hang around while the Cardinal kids mature -- not that they need to. (Unless, of course, youre talking about the three Instagram accounts they all have or their DMs [direct messages]. I mean, are people still doing that? Ajanaku asks with a playful roll of the eye.)All of us want to win it for her, Plummer said. One of the things Inky always says is next point. That brings a sense of urgency to our game. When we were not doing as well earlier this season, we were focusing on what we did wrong. The second half of the season, weve done better just moving along to the next point.Ajanaku had a sense of a special season right from the go. Preseason, when we had our first practice, we saw what the freshmen could do. We were blown away by the talent.Leading the talent pool is the 6-foot-6 Plummer, whose imposing presence against the Gophers was reminiscent of a WNBA center. You want to duck when she gets the last word. The national freshman of the year finished with 15 kills and 11 digs against the methodical Gophers.Then theres another frosh, setter Jenna Gray, whose two dumps in the fourth set proved critical for a Stanford team that needed to keep its edge in the national semifinal after the Gophers gritted out the third set 25-22.Libero Morgan Hentz?Its really easy to be a great blocker when you only have to take up a certain part of the court, Ajanaku said. And Morgan allows that for us.And then theres 6-6 Audriana Fitzmorris, who had 10 kills -- her last one on match point -- and eight blocks against the Gophers.Ajanaku said Wednesday that she hasnt had much time to reflect on a season that hasnt exactly played out according to plan. Six games in, it became clear that All-American Hayley Hodson, last years AVCA freshman of the year, would not be a go the rest of the way for health reasons. Another injury to Michaela Keefe led coach John Dunning to abandon his 6-2 offense in favor of a 5-1, and even Ajanaku missed time due to an ankle sprain.Weve been through so much and that matures you, Ajanaku said. A lot of people might not think the freshmen could handle the situation, but they handled it. They keep proving to people that they can handle it and can play at a really high level when there are high stakes.This is a team that trailed Wisconsin last weekend only to rally in five, a stunning defeat for the Big Ten powerhouse in its own building.We were playing decent volleyball, but the environment got to us, Ajanaku said. After that locker room talk, we decided nobodys going to fault us for taking the big swings. We said, Lets just cover each other and lets just go for it. Thats what we did.Those are the moments when Ajanku lives up to the Grandma nickname her teammates cajole her with. Most of the time shes the one singing Mr. Brightside or dancing to Caroline (by Amine, by the way, not Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond).But Dunning said when hes needed Ajanku to become the leader, shes become that calming voice in the huddle. Previously, he said, she led by example. But he told her before the season that while shes done a lot, he knew she was capable of more.To have somebody on your team, a player step up and talk to their team and have everybody be glued to it, thats really, really big, he said.Ajanaku embraces that role and is cognizant that this could have all worked out completely different. After all, she really isnt supposed to be here, sweating out her cellular immunology exam while her teammates weather English composition. A torn ACL last season led to the redshirt year and a head start on a masters in biology for the wannabe orthopedic surgeon.Dont think she doesnt know it.My volleyball career didnt go as I expected, but thats life, she said. You go with the opportunities you have.Thanks to her, Stanford has another on Saturday night. Cheap Authentic Nike Shoes Wholesale . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Discount Nike Shoes . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. http://www.nikeshoxcheap.com/ . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. Authentic Wholesale Nike Shoes . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Wholesale Nike Shoes . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim.West Indies are through to the semi-finals of the Under 19 World Cup after dumping out two-time champions and 2014 finalists Pakistan with a five-wicket win in Fatullah. The Caribbean side, who made it into the last eight courtesy of a much-maligned Mankad against Zimbabwe in their final pool game, chased down Pakistans 227-6 with a full 10 overs to spare.Tevin Imlach (54) and captain Shimron Hetmeyer (52) fired for the Windies, before Jyd Goolie (26no) and Keemo Paul (24no) - the man who controversially ran out Zimbabwe batsman Richard Ngarava - steering the side over the line and into a last-four showdown with Bangladesh.Umair Masood (113) was the standout batsman for Pakistan, with the 18-year-olds 164-run partnership wiith Salman Fayyaz (58no) for the sixth wicket rescuing the Asian teams innings from 57-5.ddddddddddddest Indies, though, suffered few problems overhauling their opponents score, with brisk cameos from opener Gidron Pope (25) and No 5 Shamar Springer (27) also proving valuable for Hetmeyers men.West Indies are seeking a first Under 19 World Cup title, with their best result so far a runner-up berth in 2004, when a team containing Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul and Denesh Ramdin lost to Pakistan by 25 runs.Watch the Under 19 World Cup semi-finals on Sky Sports - India v Sri Lanka is live on Sky Sports 2 from 2.30am on Tuesday, with Bangladesh v West Indies following at the same time and channel on Thursday. 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