2004 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

The 2004 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 2, 2004, with 64 teams and ended December 18 when Stanford defeated Minnesota 3 games to 0 in Long Beach, California for the program's sixth NCAA title.

Stanford, who was the tournament's 11th overall seed, became the lowest seed to win the national title. Minnesota was making the school's first national championship match appearance. Stanford's sixth NCAA national championship was the most of any other program in Division I, although UCLA and Southern California had each won six overall national collegiate titles up to that point.

Ogonna Nnamani, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, set an NCAA tournament record for kills in a tournament, as she had 165 in six matches, including 29 against Minnesota in the final. Nnamani also set the NCAA tournament record for kill attempts at 356. Stanford setter Bryn Kehoe became the first freshman setter to lead a team to an NCAA national championship.

Records Louisville RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordArizonaPac-10At-large18-10ArkansasSECAt-large17-15Cal State NorthridgeBig WestAt-large17-10College of CharlestonSouthernAutomatic26-5IllinoisBig TenAt-large19-10IonaMAACAutomatic19-15Kansas StateBig 12At-large19-10LouisvilleConference USAAutomatic28-216MissouriBig 12At-large19-81NebraskaBig 12Automatic27-1NevadaWACAt-large21-9New Mexico StateSun BeltAutomatic29-29San DiegoWest CoastAutomatic22-4UC IrvineBig WestAt-large18-108USCPac-10At-large19-5Wichita StateMissouri ValleyAutomatic24-5 Minneapolis RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordAlabama A&MSWACAutomatic20-5AlbanyAmerica EastAutomatic27-6DaytonAtlantic 10Automatic23-8Eastern KentuckyOhio ValleyAutomatic27-4GeorgiaSECAt-large18-11Georgia TechACCAt-large25-6Long IslandNortheastAutomatic32-64MinnesotaBig TenAt-large28-4OhioMACAutomatic28-25Ohio StateBig TenAt-large27-3PittsburghBig EastAt-large21-1012TennesseeSECAuto (shared)30-2Texas A&MBig 12At-large18-813UC Santa BarbaraBig WestAutomatic23-3WinthropBig SouthAutomatic31-3YaleIvy LeagueAutomatic17-7 Green Bay RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecord ColoradoBig 12At-large14-13Colorado StateMountain WestAutomatic26-3FloridaSECAuto (shared)27-4Florida A&MMEACAutomatic28-23HawaiiWACAutomatic28-0JacksonvilleAtlantic SunAutomatic15-12Loyola (IL)HorizonAutomatic21-8MichiganBig TenAt-large19-12Notre DameBig EastAutomatic20-8PurdueBig TenAt-large16-14RiceWACAt-large25-411StanfordPac-10At-large24-66TexasBig 12At-large24-4Texas StateSouthlandAutomatic27-5ValparaisoMid-ContinentAutomatic29-414WisconsinBig TenAt-large19-9 Seattle RegionalSeedSchoolConference Berth TypeRecordAmericanPatriotAutomatic24-6CaliforniaPac-10At-large16-11IdahoBig WestAt-large17-12KansasBig 12At-large18-11Long Beach StateBig WestAt-large23-6Loyola MarymountWest CoastAt-large17-11MarylandACCAutomatic17-14PacificBig WestAt-large19-92Penn StateBig TenAutomatic27-2Sacramento StateBig SkyAutomatic24-710Saint Mary'sWest CoastAt-large23-3Santa ClaraWest CoastAt-large18-8TowsonCAAAutomatic25-815UCLAPac-10At-large18-10UtahMountain WestAt-large24-67WashingtonPac-10Automatic24-2

Louisville Regional

Minneapolis Regional

Green Bay Regional

Seattle Regional

Final Four – Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California

National Semifinals Southern California vs. Minnesota Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4MIN 30 29 30 30USC 25 31 26 20 Behind 18 kills from Minnesota's Erin Martin, the Golden Gophers knocked out two-time defending NCAA Champion USC with a 3–1 decision to advance to their first NCAA Championship match in school history.

Stanford vs. Washington Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4STAN 30 23 30 30WASH 25 30 27 24

Stanford, the surprise of the tournament, came through with a 3–1 win over Pac-10 champion Washington. Ogonna Nnamani had 33 kills to lead Stanford to the championship match. During the regular season, Stanford and Washington split the match ups, with Washington sweeping the Cardinal in Seattle and Stanford returning the favor in Palo Alto by defeating the Huskies in five.

National Championship: Stanford vs. Minnesota

Teams Game 1 Game 2 Game 3STAN 30 30 30MIN 23 27 21

Behind 29 kills from Nnamani, Stanford completed their NCAA run by sweeping the Golden Gophers. Stanford easily won the first set, 30–23. The second was much closer, with Stanford going on a late run to win the second set, 30–27.

The third set was not competitive, which may have been due to an injury. Early in the third set, Minnesota's All-American libero, Paula Gentil, collided with a teammate while trying to dig a ball which left her unable to move on the court for over five minutes. Gentil was able to get up, but could not return to the match with a neck injury. Stanford won easily, 30–21.

Stanford's surprising run was due to the fact that they started out the season 15–6 and were ranked outside of the top ten in the beginning of the season. However, the Cardinal found momentum in the middle of the season, winning their last 15 matches including an upset of then-#1 and undefeated Washington in five sets.

NCAA Tournament records

There are four NCAA tournament records that were set in the 2004 tournament.

Kills, tournament (individual record) - Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford University - 165 total kills (18 vs. Jacksonville, 30 vs. Florida, 28 vs. Texas, 27 vs. Wisconsin, 33 vs. Washington, 29 vs. Minnesota). Total attempts, tournament (individual record) - Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford University - 356 total attempts (36 vs. Jacksonville, 89 vs. Florida, 56 vs. Texas, 49 vs. Wisconsin, 78 vs. Washington, 48 vs. Minnesota). Solo blocks, tournament (individual record) - Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford University - 15 solo blocks (2 vs. Jacksonville, 3 vs. Florida, 2 vs. Texas, 2 vs. Wisconsin, 5 vs. Washington, 1 vs. Minnesota). Total digs, tournament (individual record) - Paula Gentil, University of Minnesota - 173 total digs (25 vs. Long Island, 21 vs. Yale, 38 vs. Ohio State, 41 vs. Georgia Tech, 33 vs. Southern California, 15 vs. Stanford).

References