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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Stanford coach John Dunning expected big things from his latest recruiting class.Just maybe not this soon.Inky Ajanaku had 18 kills, Kathryn Plummer added 16 and Stanford -- led by four freshman starters -- beat Texas 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21 on Saturday night in the NCAA womens volleyball final.The Cardinal (27-7) won 16 of their last 17 matches to complete an unlikely championship run with four freshman starters: Plummer, Audriana Fitzmorris, Jenna Gray and Morgan Hentz.You know, its overwhelming, coach John Dunning said. You put so much into this, and this is just a group thats just fun to be with. And I love being around them.The Cardinal have the most losses of any championship team in Division I womens volleyball history. Ajanaku, the tournaments Most Outstanding Player, leaves Stanford as a champion just a year following a devastating right knee injury that sidelined her for the entire 2015 season.Stanford began the season 10-5 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12. Then Dunning moved senior Kelsey Humphreys to defensive specialist and handed the setting duties to Gray. The Cardinal were the hottest team in volleyball from that point on.After losing the third set, Stanford jumped out to a 6-0 lead and continued to dominate the net. Plummer received a bump set from Humphreys and registered the winning kill off of the Texas block to secure the programs first national title since 2004.Humphreys mom played in four Final Fours for Stanford but never was able to claim the championship.When we won two days ago she said, `Bring one home for the family, Humphreys said. To be able to share the Stanford experience with her is something I cant put into words.The loss marks Texas second consecutive NCAA runner-up finish, after losing in three sets to Nebraska last year. Micaya White had 17 kills, and Ebony Nwanebu 16.Paulina Prieto-Cerame had 12 kills in the semifinal against Nebraska, but struggled mightily in the final against Stanfords top-rated block. Prieto-Cerame had just two kills and eight hitting errors before being taken out of the match.Our first touches werent as good as we had hoped, but I think early on that game our setting location was really off, coach Jerritt Elliott said. And so I think her first five or six swings were pretty difficult swings, and I think it just got in her head then and she just kind of struggled from that point on.After trailing 18-16 in the second set, Stanford turned the table with a 7-0 run led by freshman Audriana Fitzmorris and Plummer, who combined for six points during the stretch. The Cardinal won two of the next three points to close the set.Jenna Gray had 51 assists and Morgan Hentz had 27 digs in the winning effort.Stanford had a .277 hitting percentage to Texas .217.Texas finished 27-5. Authentic Custom Athletics Jersey Tony Phillips Jersey Large . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. http://www.customathleticsjersey.com/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Cheap Custom Athletics Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Wholesale Custom Athletics Shirts . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015.It has been some time since Zimbabwe had a lasting impact on a global ICC tournament, with the 2003 World Cup the last time they progressed beyond the opening round. But Zimbabwe have provided some of the greatest shocks on the world stage over the years in both the 50-over format and Twenty20.Can they add to this list of prized scalps in this years World T20 in India? Fletcher fires to down AussiesPlaying their first match in their first ever World Cup in 1983, Zimbabwe did the unthinkable, beating Australia by 13 runs at Trent Bridge. Future Ashes-winning England head coach, but Zimbabwe captain at the time, Duncan Fletcher, struck 69 from 84 balls as Zimbabwe admirably negotiated an imposing Aussie attack of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Geoff Lawson - losing only two wickets to the trios combined 34 overs - to post 239-6 from their 60 overs. Duncan Fletcher, pictured batting for Zimbabwe at the 1983 World Cup Fletcher backed-up his batting exploits with 4-42 with the ball, his wickets accounting for four of Australias top five batsmen. The only one he didnt dismiss, Kepler Wessels, struck 76 and Rod Marsh hit an unbeaten 50, but it wasnt enough, with Australia finishing on 226-7. A week later at the old County Ground in Southampton, Australia earned revenge, beating Zimbabwe by 32 runs, although 84 from another familiar name in cricket coaching in England since, Dave Houghton, saw Zimbabwe come close to repeating the trick. Zimbabwe team guide Details on Zimbabwe squad for 2016 ICC World Twenty20 England edged out in low-scorerHoughton would have a small role to play in another of Zimbabwes greatest upsets as they beat England by nine runs in the 1992 World Cup. This result was all the more surprising given the form of the two sides going into the game. Admittedly England had just suffered a heavy seven-wicket defeat to New Zealand in their last outing, but that was in a clash of the tournaments two unbeaten teams after the first six games, while Zimbabwe were winless and hadnt passed a score of 200 in their previous five contests. Despite losing to Zimbabwe, England went on to make the final of the 1992 World Cup, where they lost to Pakistan The trend continued as Zimbabwe could only muster a score of 134 from their 46.1 overs, with captain Houghton earning the dubious honour of top-scoring with 29 - Ian Botham (3-23) and Richard Illingworth (3-33) sharing three wickets apiece. The warning signs were there when Graham Gooch fell first ball lbw to Eddo Brandes (4-21), the first of four strikes for him as England slipped to 43-5. Alec Stewart (29) and Neil Fairbrother (20) seemed to have steadied the ship, putting on 52 together, but another collapse came as the final five wickets fell for 30 runs. England would recover to reach the final, but lost out to Pakistan.Zimbabwe steal Super Six spotEngland would come a cropper again thanks to Zimbabwe in 1999, suffering an embarrassing group stage exit at their home World Cup. While England won the solitary meeting between the two sides by seven wickets, Zimbabwes terrific form in the tournament, securing wins over Kenya, India and most crucially South Africa, saw them qualify for the Super Six stage at Englands expense. Neil Johnson celebrates a wicket during Zimbabwes crucial 1999 World Cup win over South Africa Defeat for England against India in their final group game could still have sent them through provided the unbeaten-at-the-time South Africa got the better of Zimbabwe. But a Neil Johnson-inspired Zimbabwe won by 48 runs and England ultimately crumbled to a 63-run defeat the following day to dump them out. Johnson - opening the batting - struck 76 as Zimbabwe scored 233-6 in their 50 overs, before taking Gary Kirstens wicket first ball and picking up 3-27 opening the bowling. He and Heatth Streak (3-35) tore through the Proteas top order, reducing them to 40-6, and while scores of 52 for both Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener briefly threatened their superiority, Zimbabwe ultimately secured a comfortable win and advanced to the next stage of a World Cup for the first time.dddddddddddd Were just a few weeks away from the start of the ICC World Twenty20. Who will walk away with the trophy? Taylors T20 triumphResponsible for the first ever 50-over upset, Zimbabwe repeated the trick in T20 cricket, once again besting Australia. At the first ever World T20 in South Africa in 2007, Zimbabwe played an Australia side accused of not taking the newest format of the game seriously enough. They had been involved in the first ever international T20 against New Zealand, but it was a game with retro 1980s kits, outmoded facial hair and a mock underarm delivery by Glenn McGrath. And in the second ever T20I, the Aussies were hammered by 100 runs by England in Southampton before the 2005 Ashes. Any excuse to bring that up… Brendan Taylor is mobbed by team-mates after scoring the winning runs against Australia in the 2007 World T20 But still, this was an Australian side sporting the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, and was expected to see off Zimbabwe with relative ease. Not so, those three were dismissed inside the first four overs as seamers Elton Chigumbura (3-20) and Gary Brent (2-19) ran through Australia, reducing them to 138-9. The run-chase was a tense affair with Zimbabwe on 75-4 just past the midway mark when rain interrupted proceedings, but a nerveless 60 from 45 balls by Brendan Taylor saw the side home with one ball to spare.Taylor tonks back-to-back tonsTalking of Taylor, the 2015 World Cup is hardly worth including in this list but for back-to-back hundreds by the now-Nottinghamshire batsman. It certainly cant be classed as a triumphant tournament for Zimbabwe, with five defeats from their six games - only a win over the UAE to their name - consigning them to another early exit. But other than a blistering 138-ball double hundred by Chris Gayle against them, Zimbabwe were never embarrassed. In fact, well-placed at 128-3 chasing just 236 to beat Pakistan, they should have added a second triumph to their tally. Taylor celebrates one of his back-to-back hundreds at the 2015 World Cup On top of that, Taylor had a highly impressive tournament - hitting 121 off 91 balls in a five-run defeat to Ireland and an even classier 138 off 110 against India in another losing cause. Taylors one-day average improves from 34.82 to 46.00 in tournament play, but his India effort was his last international knock, with the 30-year-old batsman moving to England to continue his career in county cricket. His skills will be sorely missed by Zimbabwe at the World T20.Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games games in 27 days of the 2016 ICC World T20, starting with Zimbabwe v Hong Kong on Tuesday 8th March at 9am on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: ICC World T20 fixtures ICC World T20 squads WATCH: Best of 2014 World T20 Get Sky Sports ' ' '