Stanford, Cal advance to NCAA Women's Volleyball final four

Three California schools, including perennial power Stanford and upstart Cal, advanced to the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship at Arco Arena.

Stanford, Cal and USC will be joined by Penn State in Thursday’s semifinals. Stanford (31-2 overall) plays USC (29-4) in the first semifinal at 6 p.m., followed by Cal (26-7) vs. Penn State (32-2) at 8 p.m.

The championship match will be played 6 p.m. Saturday. This marks the first time that the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship has been held in Sacramento.

For ticket information, call (916) 649-TIXS.

Cal qualified for its first-ever final four by upsetting defending NCAA champion Nebraska in a three-game sweep (30-28, 31-29, 30-26) to win the Wisconsin Regional Saturday in Madison. Cal sophomore Hana Cutura had a match-high 23 kills.

In other regional finals on Saturday, USC swept Texas 30-25, 30-22, 30-26 in Gainesville, Fla.; Penn State swept BYU 30-23, 30-15, 30-18 in State College, Pa.; and Stanford defeated UCLA 28-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-27 in Stanford.

The Pacific-10 Conference has three teams in the final four for the second straight year.
Nebraska defeated Stanford in the 2006 final.
Alix Klineman had 23 kills, 23 digs and four blocks to lead top-seeded Stanford over eighth-seeded UCLA. Klineman, voted the Pacific Region freshman of the year last week, had kills for the final two points of the comeback win for the Cardinal.
Backing Klineman were Cynthia Barboza (21 kills, 18 digs), Erin Waller (19 kills) and Foluke Akinradewo (18 kills, .471 spiking percentage).
USC’s victory over Texas sends the Trojans to their fourth NCAA Championship final four since 2002.
"I'm really tickled with my team," USC coach Mick Haley said. "I thought our performance (Saturday) was exceptional. One of the few matches we've been able to hit .350 against a really athletic team."
USC junior Jessica Gysin added 15 kills while senior Diane Copenhagen had 13.
"It's awesome," said Copenhagen, who was a freshman on USC's 2004 final four team. "I think it's a great experience, one we look forward to sharing with our team. It's been our goal and it's nice that we've been able to stay on top of it. We still have a trip to Sacramento. It's not done yet."
As the third seed, Penn State won its regional by defeating No. 19 Michigan and No. 17 BYU in consecutive three-game sweeps. Penn State was the top-ranked team in the most recent AVCA poll and has lost only two matches this season; once to Nebraska and once to Stanford. The Nittany Lions won the Big 10 Conference Championship and held a perfect 20-0 record in conference play.
Stanford-USC preview
Stanford’s Foluke Akinradewo leads the nation in hitting percentage at .502 and has an otherworldly mark of 4.08 kills per game from her middle blocker’s perch. That mark is second on the team only to Klineman’s 4.21 average and betters junior outside hitter Cynthia Barboza’s 4.08.

All three were named to the all-Pac-10 team while Akinradewo was the conference Player of the Year and Klineman the Freshman of the Year. Senior setter Bryn Kehoe, who averages 14.50 assists per game, was also on the All-Pac-10 team and all four players were placed on the AVCA all-Pacific Region team as well.

USC’s attack is perhaps less balanced but no less potent. Sophomore setter Taylor Carico and senior outside hitter Asia Kaczor lead the Trojans as both were also named to the all-Pac-10 team. Carico paces USC’s attack with 12.76 assists per game while Kaczor averages 5.11 kills per game – the 13th-best mark in the nation and highest among players still active in the tournament.

The teams split the season series in the Pac-10 as Stanford swept USC at Maples Pavilion on Sept. 27 while the Women of Troy prevailed in four games exactly one month later inside the Galen Center. The loss for Stanford was the only time all season a team out-hit the Cardinal.

Stanford’s lone other defeat during the season occurred against Washington on Oct. 12 at Maples. USC suffered its other three losses all inside of Pac-10 play, and all on the road, at UCLA, Washington and Oregon.

Both teams spent all season ranked in the upper echelon of the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll, as Stanford debuted at No. 2 and never dipped below No. 5, and USC debuted at No. 6, rose as high as fourth, and was never ranked lower than eighth.
Penn State-Cal preview
No. 3 seed Penn State (32-2) will play No. 10 seed California (26-7) in the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. (or a half hour after the conclusion of the first semifinal) Thursday in a match-up of two of the premier blocking teams in the country.

The twin-tower tandem of Arielle Wilson (6-foot-3) and Christa Harmotto (6-foot-2) in the middle leads Penn State into Sacramento. Wilson, a freshman, leads the team in blocks per game with 1.84 while Harmotto, a junior, is second with 1.68. Harmotto leads the Nittany Lions in hitting percentage at .494 – which is second best in the nation – with Wilson right behind, hitting .427. Both are the primary reason Penn State ranks second nationally in blocks per game and first in hitting percentage.

The Nittany Lions also boast a huge threat at outside hitter with sophomore Megan Hodge. Last season’s Big Ten Freshman and Player of the Year, AVCA Freshman of the Year and first team All-American picked up where she left off, leading her team in kills per game with 4.60. Wilson was named to the all-Big Ten team for the second straight year.

Cal has the third-best blocking team in the nation behind senior Ellen Orchard and sophomore Kat Reilly. Orchard is seventh in the nation with 1.61 blocks per game while Reilly ranks 35th with 1.42. The Golden Bears also have a formidable tandem on the outside with AVCA all-Pacific Region standout senior Angie Pressey and freshman Hana Cutura. Pressey is hitting .287 this season with 4.19 kills per game while Cutura is hitting .247 with 4.25 kills per game.

The Nittany Lions reached the NCAA Championship by sweeping Siena and Albany on their home floor during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and Michigan and BYU in the University Park, Penn., Regional.

Cal traversed a much longer road on its way to the semifinals, earning four-game victories over Liberty and Duke in Durham, N.C., in the first and second rounds, respectively, and sweeps of 18th-ranked Iowa State and No. 2 seed Nebraska in the Madison, Wisc., Regional.

Penn State has reached every NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament, which began in 1981, under head coach Russ Rose, who is in his 28th year. Included in that run have been six semifinal appearances and four in the title match. The Nittany Lions notched their lone national championship in 1999.