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Women’s Volleyball: Nittany Lions undefeated national champions

jane — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:14:11 +0000

December 20, 2008 - Penn State has been absolutely dominant all season, going undefeated without even losing a set until the NCAA semifinals Thursday night.

Tonight they played for the ultimate goal: a national championship. After a 3-0 sweep over no. 2 Stanford, the Nittany Lions have it. A second consecutive NCAA championship.

Stanford, playing in the title match for a record 14th time, had extra motivation: seniors Foluke Akinradewo, Cynthia Barboza and Erin Waller were playing in their final match, hoping to finally win an NCAA title. For the third year in a row, they went home empty handed. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

Megan Hodge, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for the second year in a row, pounded nine of her 16 kills in the third set as Penn State finished off its NCAA-record 64th straight match since a September 2007 loss to Stanford.

The Penn State Women’s Volleyball team may be the best team you’ve never heard of - they may also be the best team ever.

Women’s Volleyball: Penn State, Stanford to meet again for NCAA title

jane — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:55:03 +0000

December 19, 2008 - Wow! Anyone who caught the women’s volleyball matches last night knows what I mean. With the top seeds all making it to the Final Four (just as they did in women’s soccer a couple weeks ago) viewers were treated to a full night of astounding play.

In the opening match, Stanford became the first team to rally from two sets down to win, defeating Texas in a thriller 3-2. A year ago, Stanford forced a fifth set in the NCAA title match and nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in Final Four history. Last night at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., the Cardinal actually did it.

Then year-long number one Penn State (37-0) , which hasn’t lost a set since last year’s final, was pushed to the brink by Nebraska in front of a home crowd of 17, 400. The Lions won the first two sets against Nebraska to run their NCAA record to 111 in a row before they lost the third and fourth.

Huskers fans – forming a sea of people dressed in red - hoped their team could do what the Cardinal did but ultimately they left brokenhearted.

So, defending champion Penn State and Stanford set up a rematch in the NCAA women’s volleyball title match with five-set victories.

The final will be played on Saturday evening. Penn State was clearly shaken last night and will surely use the experience as motivation to dominate. But Stanford, who’s made it to the big game three times in a row, sees an opportunity and they’re determined to exploit it.

This should be a really great championship. If you can’t make it to Omaha to see the match in person, be sure to catch it at 7:00 PM CT on ESPN2.

Women’s Volleyball: Four teams vying for NCAA crown

jane — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:36:01 +0000

December 18, 2008 -

What: NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Semifinals
When: Tonight
Who: No. 3 Texas vs. No. 2 Stanford, 7 p.m.; No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 4 Nebraska, 9 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Where: Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb.
Finals: 8 p.m. Saturday

A capsule look at the teams participating in the semifinals:

Penn State Nittany Lions
Record: 36-0
Head coach: Russ Rose (30th season, 961-159)
Notes: The defending national champions are making their seventh national semifinal appearance, have been in the title match five times and have won the crown twice. (Penn profile)

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Record: 31-2
Head coach: John Cook (eighth season, 442-91)
Notes: The Cornhuskers are making their 11th semifinal appearance, including their third in the last four seasons, and have won three titles, including in 2006 at the Qwest Center. … Nebraska’s Lincoln campus is 60 miles from Omaha.

Texas Longhorns
Record: 29-3
Head coach: Jerritt Elliott (eighth season, 235-73)
Notes: The Longhorns are making their fifth semifinal appearance and their first since 1995. They won the title in 1988. … Texas is riding a 14-match win streak.

Stanford Cardinal
Record: 30-3
Head coach: John Dunning (eighth season, 675-138)
Notes: The Cardinal has been in the Final Four more than any other program (18), been in the finals more (13) and won more titles (6) than any other school. … Stanford lost to Penn State in last year’s title match and was the last to beat the Nittany Lions, 3-2 in September 2007.

Penn State women’s volleyball on record run

jane — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:42:33 +0000

December 11, 2008 - Heading into the Olympics, the gold medal winning U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team was billed as the “the greatest team you’ve never heard of.”

In college sports, the greatest team you’ve never heard of may be Penn State’s women’s volleyball team. On a football-crazed campus, not even JoePa’s 11-1 team can stack up with what undefeated Penn State has accomplished on the volleyball court.

The unbeaten Nittany Lions (34-0) are on an unprecedented run of success as they seek a second consecutive national title, and the school’s third overall.

Penn State, already the first team in NCAA history to complete a regular season without losing a single game, now stands three games from breaking the consecutive game winning streak of 105, set by Florida in 2003. The Nittany Lions can set that mark with a sweep against Western Michigan in an NCAA regional semifinal Friday night (a team must win three games to win a match).

The Nittany Lions also have won 60 consecutive matches, another NCAA record.

The top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Penn State is not only setting records on the court with their successful season, but also in awards recognition.

The team had a school-record six players named to the First Team All-Mideast Region, while head coach Russ Rose collected his sixth AVCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year award after leading the 2008 squad to become the first collegiate women’s volleyball team to finish the regular season undefeated in individual games.

For all their dominance, Penn State volleyball plays in the massive shadow cast by the Rose Bowl-bound football team.

A win tonight night however sends Penn State to the regional final Saturday against either Illinois or California. The regional winner advances to the national semifinals in Omaha, Neb., next week.

Four matches from back-to-back national championships, this team from Pennsylvania may go down as one of the most dominant collegiate teams in history. Tell that to the guys heading to the Rose Bowl.

2008 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship Bracket

Penn State wins National Volleyball Championship

jane — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:28:01 +0000

Dec. 16, 2007 - The No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball team captured the program’s second NCAA Championship tonight, winning a dramatic five-game final, 3-2, against No. 4 Stanford in Arco Arena.

The Nittany Lions won the thriller, 30-25, 30-26, 23-20, 19-30, 15-8, posting their 26th consecutive victory since a five-game loss to the Cardinal exactly three months ago. Penn State finished the season with a superlative 34-2 record, bringing the championship trophy back to Happy Valley to join the program’s 1999 crown.

Stanford, Penn State in Women’s Volleyball Final

jane — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:11:14 +0000

Dec. 13, 2007 -Stanford will play against third-seeded Penn State, which swept No. 10 California in the semifinal. Penn won its only volleyball title in 1999 and will be making its fifth appearance in the final and first since winning it all.

The Cardinals, who advance to final after defeating USC, are seeking their seventh NCAA title and first since 2004. They’ve captured back-to-back regular-season conference titles for the first time since winning six straight in the late 1990s. Stanford and Penn State are the only teams to appear in every NCAA tournament.

The match on Saturday Dec. 15 at 6:00 p.m. PT (9:00 p.m. ET) will be shown live on ESPN2 and can also be heard online at www.GoPSUsports.com.

NCAA Sports

Stanford faces USC, Penn State meets Cal in volleyball championship

jane — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:00:31 +0000

Dec. 10, 2007 - The second-ranked Nebraska volleyball team saw its hopes for a repeat national championship come to an end as 10th-seeded California made more plays down the stretch in eliminating the Huskers from the NCAA Tournament.

The Thursday night semis will see No. 1 seed Stanford (31-2) face No. 5 seed Southern California (29-4) at Arco Arena in a matchup of two Pacific-10 Conference powerhouses.

No. 3 seed Penn State (32-2) will play No. 10 seed California (26-7) in the second semifinal in a match-up of two of the premier blocking teams in the country.

See NCAA Sports

D1 Women’s Volleyball Championship underway

jane — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:16:15 +0000

Dec. 7 2007 - Regional play begins today and continues Saturday for the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. No. 2 Nebraska hasn’t dropped a set and hope to keep that distinction vs. Michigan St. No. 1 ranked Stanford plays Cal Poly, and No. 3 Penn St. tests their will against Michigan.

View Bracket

Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Champions

jane — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:37:29 +0000

College Corner: The following table is a summary of all of the women’s volleyball teams that have won the NCAA tournament since its inception in 1981. To date, Stanford leads with 6 wins. (more…)