NCAA Volleyball Final Four

[Dale8R]

The finals do not have quite the attraction that we thought they might, but there should still be plenty of good volleyball on tap.

With all of the sweeps, there was not nearly the excitement generated by the quarterfinals. And of course, with early exits by all of the Big 12 teams especially favored Nebraska and Texas, I am sure everyone's enthusiasm was dampened somewhat.

Since Fox does carry a weekly telecast from the Pac 10, I am reasonably familiar with the three teams representing California. Penn State I have seen a few times, but truthfully, my mind wandered somewhat during the matches, so I don't know them nearly so well.

The scoreboard and gametrackers will be found here for Thursday's matches: http://ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens/scoreboard/div1/2007/1213

Here is the TV schedule, corrected for the Central Time Zone:

Semifinal #1 USC-STANFORD – Live on ESPN2 / ESPNU
Thursday, December 13 at 8:00 p.m. CST

Semifinal #2 CALIFORNIA-PENN STATE – Live on ESPNU
Thursday, December 13 at 10:00 p.m. CST
Tape Delay on ESPN2
Friday, December 14 at 2:00 p.m. CST

National Championship – Live on ESPN2
Saturday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m. CST

They are rather optimistic in scheduling the matches just two hours apart. Look for that second match to start a good bit later than scheduled.

[Dale8R]

Stanford defeated USC in five, 23-30, 30-20, 30-25, 20-30, 16-14, staving off one match point when USC served long, and took their first lead of the fifth game on the next point. http://ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens/recaps/d1_1213_01612373/2007

Penn State ran over California 30-28, 30-25, 30-16. http://ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens/recaps/d1_1213_01635085/2007

[Dale8R]

Penn State won their first championship since 1999, defeating Stanford in five, 30-25, 30-26, 23-30, 19-30, 15-8 . After the first two games, it looked like another sweep for Penn State, but Stanford was an easy winner in games three and four to square the match. Penn State jumped out early in game five and pulled away for the win. Stanford lost in the finals for the second year in a row.

http://www.centredaily.com/116/story/290465.html

Neither team loses a whole lot for next season, Stanford setter Bryn Kehoe being the most significant loss for either team.

Stars of the tournament? Too many to name. Both teams were filled with players deserving of the honor.

It certainly would have been difficult to match last year's attendance figures, but Sacramento did come in second, with 13,631 on the final night. The two-day total for the tournament was 26,679, also second-best to Omaha's 34,222.