Dec. 10, 1999
Post-match Audio
UC Santa Barbara StanfordStanford, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford (30-2) reached the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four for the fifth time in the last six years with a straight-game 15-12, 15-6, 15-10 victory over No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (29-6) in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament Pacific Regional Final at Maples Pavilion on Friday. The Cardinal will be shooting for its fifth NCAA championship of the decade after winning titles in 1992, '94, '96 and '97. Stanford will be appearing in its 12th Final Four during the 19-year history of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal picked up its ninth 30-win season in school history.
"I thought that we came out ready to play tonight," said Stanford 16th-year head coach Don Shaw after he improved his overall record to 439-69, the best in NCAA history. "We were really prepared. We knew that we were going to have a size advantage and the main thing was to pass the ball well."
National Player of the Year candidate Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, CA/Archbishop Mitty HS) was named the Pacific Regional MVP after contributing 10 kills and seven blocks in tonight's victory. "Kerri Walsh has dominated collegiate volleyball from the beginning," said UC Santa Barbara head coach Kathy Gregory following the match. "She blocks, plays defense, hits and plays with team chemistry. She's a great player. She will end her career as one of the top players ever at Stanford and that is a credit to her."
All-tournament selection Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, UT/Highland HS) led the Cardinal with 13 kills, while junior Jennifer Detmer (Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS) contributed eight kills, five blocks and a .438 attack percentage (8-1-16). Sophomore Tara Conrad (Torrance, CA/West HS), who had six kills and seven blocks tonight, was also selected to the all-tournament team. The Stanford players were joined on the all-tournament squad by UC Santa Barbara senior Roberta Gehlke (Huntington Beach, CA/Mater Dei HS) and UCSB sophomore Brooke Rundle (Westlake Village, CA/Westlake HS), as well as Nebraska junior Nancy Meendering (Hull, IA/Western Christian HS).
Gehlke led UC Santa Barbara with team-highs of 22 kills, 12 digs and a .314 attack percentage (22-6-51).
Stanford once again dominated the match at the net with 14.0 team blocks, marking the 22nd time the Cardinal has reached double figures in team blocks this year. UC Santa Barbara mustered just four team blocks. Stanford's serving was also superior with seven aces in compairson to three for the Gauchos, while the Cardinal defense held UCSB to a .107 team attack percentage.
1999 NCAA FINAL FOUR -- December 16 & 18, 1999 (Honolulu, HI - Stan Sherriff Center)
December 16 (TBA) - No. 2 Stanford (30-2) vs. No. 6 Long Beach State (31-3) or No. 13 Texas A&M (28-5)
December 16 (TBA) - No. 1 Penn State (34-1) vs. No. 4 Florida (33-2) or No. 5 Pacific (31-2)
December 18 (5:00 p.m., Hawaii Standard Time) - NCAA Championship Match
NOTES: Match times for December 16 will be 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m... brackets on which match will be played at which time will be determined Sunday, December 12... Records for Florida and Pacific are prior to their respective regional final matches... Winner of December 16 match goes to Final Four (December 16-18, Honolulu, HI).