The 2008 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 4, 2008 with 64 teams and concluded on December 20, 2008 when Penn State defeated Stanford, 3 sets to 0, in Omaha, Nebraska for the program's third NCAA title.
With the win, Penn State repeated as national champions and won their NCAA record 64th consecutive match, becoming only the fourth team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated, as they went 38-0 and joined Southern California as the only repeat NCAA national champions to go undefeated.
The 2008 NCAA Final Four, held at the Qwest Center, was the first in the rally-scoring era (since 2001) in which all top four seeds reached the final four.
This was the first year in which the term "set" replaced "game", with 25 points needed to win a set. From 2001 through 2007, 30 points were required to win a game.
Records
University Park RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRPIRecord8 California Pac-10 At-large13 23-6 Cincinnati Big East At-large33 26-6 Dayton Atlantic 10 At-large43 21-129 Illinois Big Ten At-large7 24-7 Long Island Northeast Automatic136 19-11 Milwaukee Horizon Automatic69 23-8 New Mexico State WAC At-large31 25-8 Ohio MAC Automatic17 24-71 Penn State Big Ten Automatic1 32-0 Saint Mary's (CA) West Coast At-large40 20-7 Siena MAAC Automatic121 20-12 Tennessee Tech Ohio Valley Automatic108 19-1216 Tulane Conference USA Automatic9 27-5 Western Kentucky Sun Belt Automatic26 26-9 Western Michigan MAC At-large34 26-6 Yale Ivy League Automatic41 20-5 Seattle RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRPIRecord Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic255 12-14 Clemson ACC At-large39 23-9 Furman Southern Automatic95 21-13 Kansas State Big 12 At-large23 24-7 Kentucky SEC At-large30 26-5 Liberty Big South Automatic87 25-8 Michigan Big Ten At-large22 24-8 Missouri State Missouri Valley Automatic75 23-124 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic3 27-2 Portland State Big Sky Automatic103 20-813 Saint Louis Atlantic 10 Automatic5 28-4 Santa Clara West Coast At-large36 17-9 Tennessee SEC At-large50 22-9 UAB Conference USA At-large21 26-712 Utah Mountain West Automatic16 24-55 Washington Pac-10 At-large8 24-4 Austin RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRPIRecord American Patriot Automatic89 24-8 Delaware Colonial Automatic124 19-15 Duke ACC At-large32 24-8 Iowa State Big 12 At-large51 19-12 Lamar Southland Automatic164 17-11 LSU SEC At-large49 18-96 Minnesota Big Ten At-large6 26-6 North Carolina ACC Automatic38 21-10 North Dakota State Summit Automatic80 24-3 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley At-large44 25-811 Oregon Pac-10 At-large1423-8 Rice Conference USA At-large28 23-7 San Francisco West Coast At-large35 22-73 Texas Big 12 At-large4 25-314 UCLA Pac-10 At-large2720-10 Wichita State Missouri Valley At-large18 29-1 Fort Collins RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRPIRecord Albany America East Automatic55 23-8 Belmont Atlantic Sun Automatic94 25-7 Colorado State Mountain West At-large25 22-6 FIU Sun Belt At-large19 28-615 Florida SECAutomatic10 25-3 Florida A&M MEAC Automatic171 14-127 Hawaii WAC Automatic12 28-3 Long Beach State Big West Automatic29 25-5 Louisville Big East Automatic54 19-10 Miami (Oh.) MAC At-large48 21-11 Middle Tennessee Sun Belt At-large20 26-7 Pepperdine West Coast At-large37 20-710 Purdue Big Ten At-large1124-8 San Diego West Coast Automatic15 23-42 Stanford Pac-10 Automatic2 26-3 USC Pac-10 At-large24 16-11
University Park Regional
Regional recap Just as they had done all season, Penn State swept past Western Michigan, who was making their first Sweet 16 appearance in 21 years. When Penn State won the third set, they broke the NCAA record for consecutive sets won at 106 (The previous record of 105 was held by Florida from 2003.)
In the other Sweet 16 match, California swept Illinois, setting up a rematch of the 2007 NCAA National Semifinals with Penn State.
Despite getting a test from California in the first set, Penn State swept the Bears again to head to their second straight Final Four, bringing the program's total to seven Final Four appearances. California ended their season at 26-7, which was the most wins in the program's history in a single season.
University Park Regional All-Tournament Team: Megan Hodge (MVP) - Penn State Christa Harmotto - Penn State Nicole Fawcett - Penn State Alisha Glass - Penn State Blair Brown - Penn State Am'ra Soloman - California Laura DeBruler - Illinois
Seattle Regional
Regional recap
Washington and Nebraska both swept past their Sweet 16 opponents with ease, to set up a rematch of the 2005 NCAA National Championship.
Washington, who had never lost an NCAA regional that they hosted, seemed to be heading to the Final Four after going up 2-0 on Nebraska. Out of the break, however, Nebraska regained focus and easily beat Washington in set 3, before winning a close set 4. In the decisive fifth set, Washington looked to be on the brink of victory after building a seemingly insurmountable 9-3 lead. Nebraska mounted a stunning comeback, though, and took 9 straight points. The Huskies tied it up at 13, before a Husky hitting error gave the Huskers match point. Nebraska senior Jordan Larson served out an ace to close out the stunning comeback. Nebraska advanced to their third Final Four in four years, and eleventh overall. Washington finished their season 27-5 and was the Pac-10 runners-up.
Seattle Regional All-Tournament Team: Tara Mueller (MVP) - Nebraska Jordan Larson - Nebraska Sydney Anderson - Nebraska Lindsey Licht - Nebraska Becky Perry - Washington Tamari Miyashiro - Washington Jenna Hagglund - Washington
Austin Regional
Regional recap
Texas defeated UCLA in four sets to advance to their third straight NCAA Regional Final. Iowa State continued their dream run, upsetting 11th-seeded Oregon in five sets, just after upsetting sixth-seeded Minnesota in four sets in Minneapolis in the second round.
After Texas took the 2-0 lead, Iowa State bounced back to take the third set and extend the match. However, Texas responded in the fourth set, defeating the Cyclones easily to advance to the program's first final four since 1995. Iowa State ended their season at 22-13 and made their first Elite Eight appearance in school history.
Austin Regional All-Tournament Team Lauren Paolini (MVP) - Texas Destinee Hooker - Texas Michelle Kocher - Texas Victoria Henson - Iowa State Kaylee Manns - Iowa State Ali Daley - UCLA Heather Myers - Oregon
Fort Collins Regional
Regional recap
Second seeded Stanford had no troubles with 15th-seeded Florida, sweeping them to earn their spot in the Elite Eight. Hawaii defeated Purdue in four close sets to advance.
Stanford dominated Hawaii in the regional final, which included winning the second set 25-9. Hawaii recorded 29 hitting errors in the match, while Stanford had just 7. Hawaii ended their season at 31-4 as the WAC co-champions. Stanford advanced to their third Final Four in a row, bringing the school total to an NCAA record 18 appearances.
Fort Collins Regional All-Tournament Team Foluke Akinradewo (MVP) - Stanford Cassidy Lichtman - Stanford Alix Klineman - Stanford Kanani Danielson - Hawaii Jamie Houston - Hawaii Kristin Arthurs - Purdue Stephanie Lynch - Purdue
Final Four – Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska
National Semifinals recap
Stanford vs. Texas Teams Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5STAN 20 18 25 25 15TEX 25 25 15 22 13 In a rematch of the 2008 AVCA Showcase, Stanford once again beat Texas in five sets to advance to their 14th NCAA title match in school history.
After Texas went up two sets to none, Stanford came back to win in five sets behind play from seniors Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza. It was the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament that a team came back to win after being down two sets to none in the National Semifinals. Stanford advanced to their third straight title match, while Texas, who had advanced to their first Final Four since 1995, finished their season at 29-4.
Penn State vs. Nebraska Teams Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5PSU 25 25 15 22 15NEB 17 18 25 25 11 Penn State, unbeaten in both matches and individual sets, seemed to be easily heading to their second straight final after going up 2 sets to 0 on Nebraska in front of an NCAA record crowd of 17,430, mostly Husker fans. The Nittany Lions NCAA record of consecutive sets won stood at 111 before it being snapped by Nebraska.
Coming out of the break, Nebraska mounted a big comeback. The Huskers forced a game five off of Penn State. The Huskers, unbeaten at the Qwest Center with a 14–0 record and never having lost a match in the state of Nebraska in 96 matches, went up 10–8 in the decisive fifth set. However, AVCA National Player of the Year Nicole Fawcett served six straight points, which included a service ace, to swing the momentum to the Nittany Lions at 14–10. Nebraska fought off one match point before Megan Hodge crushed her 23rd kill of the night to finish the match and set up a rematch of the 2007 NCAA championship.
National Championship recap: Penn State vs. Stanford Teams Set 1 Set 2 Set 3PSU 25 26 25STAN 20 24 23 For the first time in NCAA tournament history, the same two teams met for the national title in consecutive years. Stanford's senior class, appearing in their third straight title match, was attempting to win their first national title. A Stanford class had not gone through without winning at least one NCAA championship since the program won their first national championship in 1992. Penn State and Stanford met for the fourth time in the NCAA championship - all of which have occurred since 1997 - which is the most meetings between any two schools. Penn State and Stanford are the only two programs to appear in every NCAA tournament since the NCAA started to sponsor women's volleyball in 1981.
Stanford started the match on fire, going up 10-5, then 15-10 at the media timeout. However, Penn State went on a 15-5 run to close out the first set, 25-20. Both teams remained even in set 2, with a Hodge kill giving Penn State the narrow 15-14 lead heading into the media timeout.
The national championship was halted in set 2 for at least 10 minutes, though, after a scoring discrepancy. Penn State seemingly earned the point to go up 21-19 after a Nicole Fawcett kill, but the scoring table had a miscommunication, thinking Stanford had gotten the point and that it was 20-20. Despite both Penn State head coach Russ Rose and Stanford head coach John Dunning agreeing the score was, in fact, 21-19 in favor of Penn State, the scoring table did not adjust the score and replayed the point. Another scoring miscommunication took place once again later in set 2, but Penn State eventually prevailed, 26-24, to take the 2-0 lead to the match. The incident led the NCAA Volleyball panel to recommend a protocol for score discrepancies.
In what was the final set, Penn State eased up to the 21-17 lead. Two consecutive kills from Megan Hodge put Penn State just two points away from their second straight national title at 23-18. Stanford, however, managed to pull within one at 23-22 after four consecutive kills from Alix Klineman. Another Hodge kill halted the run to give Penn State two championship points at 24-22. After Stanford scored another kill to stave off one championship point, Penn State senior Nicole Fawcett sealed the set with a tip off of the Stanford block to take the national championship and the match. Penn State extended their NCAA record of consecutive matches won to 64 while Stanford's 16 match winning streak was snapped.