December 20, 2008

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.

December 19, 2008

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.

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.

December 15, 2008

Originally brought in after the ouster of Greg Ryan, Sundhage bonded well with the team and helped them accomplish something never before done in U.S. history – rebound from a loss in the first game to earn the Olympic gold medal.

A long-time club and international coach, and one of the world’s legendary players, Sundhage is the sixth head coach in U.S. history. Sundhage captained the Swedish National Team for many years, playing 146 international games while scoring 71 goals. She debuted for Sweden at age 15 in 1975 against Finland and ended her 22-year international career at the 1996 Olympics in a win over Denmark.  She also helped Sweden to two silver medal finishes and one bronze at the European Women’s Championships.

With a new contract set, Sundhage will gather the players in late January for the first camp of 2009 with an eye on selecting a roster for the Algarve Cup in March. Keeping Sundhage is a great move on the part of US Soccer.

In other coaching news, Hugh McCutcheon has accepted the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach position.  Less than four months after leading the U.S. Men’s Olympic Volleyball Team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, McCutcheon will lead the U.S. Women’s National Team for four-year period leading up to the 2012 London Games.

The U.S. Women’s National Team enjoyed remarkable success at the 2008 Olympic Games under head coach “Jenny” Lang Ping, who elected not to seek a contract renewal. USA Volleyball Chief Executive Officer Doug Beal notes this is not an uncommon situation in international or professional volleyball for coaches to move from one gender to the other.

“Successful coaches are successful coaches,” Beal said. “I have every confidence that Hugh can learn the differences that surely exist between genders and apply his philosophy to our women’s team in a positive way.”

The thirty-nine year old McCutcheon is married to 2004 U.S. Olympic volleyball player Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman, whose parents were victims of an attack in Beijing in August. His father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was killed in a random knife attack by a Chinese man.

McCutcheon returned to the bench and led the U.S. men to their first Olympic medal since 1992. McCutcheon had a record of 107-33 in four years coaching the men and the team enjoyed one of its best seasons ever in 2008 under his guidance winning all three major tournaments of the year. 

It will be interesting to see how a great coach like McCutcheon adjusts to the women’s game.

December 11, 2008

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

December 8, 2008

Last month, some of the world’s most influential women were honored during Glamour’s 19th annual Women of the Year awards. It was a night filled with glammed up politicians, media moguls, celebrities, athletes and activists honoring those who have made unparalleled contributions to society, politics, science, and so much more.

Among the ten honored women were Olympic gold medal winning beach volleyball players Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

According to Glamour:

The women met as teenagers, when Walsh asked her idol, May, for an autograph. In 2001 they decided to team up, and since then they have not only reached the top of the sport—they’ve taken it to a new level. Walsh, 30, and May-Treanor, 31, are the only beach volleyball players to win back-to-back gold medals, in Athens and Beijing, and did so without losing a single set.

Other honorees this year include Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Tyra Banks, Nicole Kidman, CEO of the luxury brand Chanel Maureen Chiquet, Nujood Ali, Kara Walker, and Jane Goodall.  Congrats to all!

December 3, 2008

I’m chubby and I’m pregnant and it’s awesome!” Kerri told Billy [Bush] on Wednesday morning.

And as it turns out, a gold medal wasn’t the only thing Kerri and husband Casey Jennings brought home from the games in Beijing.

This will be the first child for the couple and it comes as no surprise.  During the Olympics Walsh and her beach volleyball partner Misty May-Treanor both said that after the games they would be turning their attention to starting families with their husbands.
Congratulations Kerri!

Listen to the whole interview.

Hoops:
Cardinal lose JJ Hones to ACL injury  - Stanford junior point guard JJ Hones suffered a knee injury Sunday during the Cardinal win against Rutgers and will miss the rest of the season. It’s her second ligament tear in two years. Does this preclude Stanford from reaching the Final Four?

Tennis:
Maria Sharapova expects to be back on the tennis tour at the start of 2009 - According to her agent, Masha is planning to defend her Australian Open title after being sidelined since July with an injured right shoulder.

Mauresmo not ready to retire - Former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo has committed herself to at least another year on the WTA circuit in a bid to end her career on a positive note.  The 29-year-old Frenchwoman struggled for form throughout this year and saw her world ranking plummet outside the top 20 as she failed to win a single tournament.

Olympics:  
Modern Pentathlon cut from five events to four - Modern pentathlon has been cut from five events to four in a bid to boost the sport’s popularity and keep it on the Olympic program. The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) voted to combine pistol shooting and running into one discipline to create a shorter and more dynamic event.  Women have competed in the pentathlon since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Volleyball:
U.S. women’s volleyball coach Ping steps down - Jenny Lang Ping, 47, the former star of China’s Olympic champion volleyball team who guided the U.S. women’s volleyball team to the silver medal in the Beijing Olympics, will step down as coach of the US women’s national squad. Known as the “Iron Hammer” in her playing days, Ping was the only woman coach among those guiding the world’s 20 top-ranked national teams. Ping, who has a 16-year-old daughter, cited family reasons for her decision.

Spectators from around the world can witness sports history with the 1st Asian Beach Games now underway in Bali, Indonesia. Conceived by the Olympic Council of Asia and currently scheduled every two years, the event features athletes from 43 countries participating in 18 sports. Some of those sports are played in North America. Many of them are not. All of them are way cool.

Obvious events like beach volleyball and surfing are included as are sailing, jet skiing, paragliding and marathon swimming. Participants can compete in other hybrid sports such as beach wrestling, beach waterpolo and beach soccer.

Some of the games, such as basketball, have to be adapted in order to be played on the sand. Beach basketball is similar to the hoops we all know and love except the basket has no backboard, just a net on a pole. The court is circular and there is no out of bounds. Shots from outside the circle are worth three points. Shots from inside the circle are worth two points. Obviously there is no dribbling possible so players move the ball by passing or taking two-and-a-half steps.

The Beach Games also features several sports that may fall far outside the American sporting consciousness.

One is Beach Kabaddi, a combative sport with teams of four players who try to score points by raiding their opponent’s court and touching as many defence players as possible without getting caught on a single breath. Kind of like an adrenaline-fueled game of tag.

Beach Pentjak Silat is a combative art of fighting and survival. A martial art form that has evolved in Indonesian and Malaysian civilizations into a social culture and tradition. Competitors use hands, elbows, arms, legs, knees and feet in attacks. Common techniques include kicking, hitting, tripping, sweeps, locks, takedowns, throws, strangles, and joint breaking.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable sports of the Beach Games is Beach Sepaktakraw, a Malaysian game that combines principles of soccer and volleyball. Players touch a rattan synthetic ball across a volleyball-style net using only their feet and heads.

Dragon Boat racing is a sport where a very long and narrow boat is powered by teams of 10 to 50 paddlers. It originated in China and dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard that leads the crew throughout a race with the rhythmic beating that indicates the timing and frequency of paddling strokes, from the cadence to picking up the pace to slowing down.

Not all the contests feature female competitors. Beach wrestling, for example, is for men only this year but most of the games do welcome women participants. Windsurfing, triathlon, dragon boat racing and woodball all have female entrants.

What fun to train and what fun to participate. Clearly, these Games, which continue through Oct. 26th, are more than just a day at the beach!

Branagh and Walsh defeated their compatriots 21-18, 21-19 for the championship.  The pair shared the  $28,000 first-place prize while Boss and Ross split $19,500 for the silver medal finish.

In winning her 38th international gold medal, Walsh tied longtime partner Misty May-Treanor for the most titles at FIVB-sanctioned events.