2003 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

Last updated
2003 NCAA women's Division Ivolleyball tournament
2003NCAAVBLOGO.jpg
2003 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions Southern California (3rd NCAA (6th national) title)
Runner-up Florida (1st title match)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Mick Haley (3rd title)
Most outstanding playerKeao Burdine (2nd) (Southern California)
Final Four All-Tournament Team
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The 2003 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began on December 4, 2003, with 64 teams and ended on December 18 when Southern California defeated Florida 3 games to 1 in Dallas, Texas for the program's third NCAA title and sixth national title overall.

Contents

It was Southern California's second consecutive NCAA title. The team capped off the 2003 season undefeated at 35-0, becoming the third team in NCAA history to accomplish the feat, [1] the first repeat NCAA national champion to go undefeated, and the first team in the NCAA era to be ranked #1 in the coaches' poll for the entire season.

Florida made the school's first national championship match in the program's seventh appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Minnesota also made the program's first NCAA Final Four appearance.

Records

Three teams in the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Tournament qualified with either 0 or 1 losses: USC (29-0), Hawaii (32-1), and Florida (31-1). It is the most recent tournament to feature at least three such teams.

Lincoln Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Arizona Pac-10 At-large17-14
Cal State Northridge Big West At-large16-12
Dayton Atlantic 10 Automatic25-9
Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large25-6
Michigan State Big Ten At-large19-11
Missouri Big 12 At-large18-10
9 Nebraska Big 12 At-large26-4
New Hampshire America East Automatic23-11
Nicholls State Southland Automatic18-14
San Diego West Coast At-large17-12
16 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large21-9
UC Irvine Big West At-large23-9
8 UCLA Pac-10 At-large21-8
1 USC Pac-10 Automatic29-0
Valparaiso Mid-Continent Automatic27-7
Wisconsin Big Ten At-large21-10
Long Beach Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Green Bay Horizon Automatic23-10
Kansas Big 12 At-large21-10
Long Beach State Big West At-large19-10
Manhattan MAAC Automatic21-13
13 Minnesota Big Ten At-large22-10
Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic27-5
Northwestern Big Ten At-large18-14
Pacific Big West At-large17-13
4 Pepperdine West Coast Automatic25-2
Sacramento State Big Sky Automatic23-11
San Francisco West Coast At-large23-7
Santa Clara West Coast At-large20-10
5 Stanford Pac-10 At-large23-6
UC Santa Barbara Big West Automatic19-8
Utah Mountain West At-large20-8
12 Washington Pac-10 At-large19-8
Gainesville Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
American Patriot Automatic22-9
Arkansas SEC At-large26-6
Cincinnati Conference USA At-large27-5
14 Colorado State Mountain West Automatic28-4
3 Florida SEC Automatic31-1
George Mason CAA Automatic16-14
Georgia Southern Southern Automatic27-9
6 Kansas State Big 12 Automatic28-4
Maryland ACC Automatic26-7
Ohio MAC Automatic28-4
Penn Ivy League Automatic20-6
11 Penn State Big Ten Automatic28-4
Pittsburgh Big East Automatic25-5
Robert Morris Northeast Automatic23-11
Southwest Missouri State Missouri Valley At-large27-5
UCF Atlantic Sun Automatic22-6
Honolulu Regional
SeedSchoolConferenceBerth TypeRecord
Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic23-5
BYU Mountain West At-large22-8
10 California Pac-10 At-large23-6
Colorado Big 12 At-large21-9
Florida A&M MEAC Automatic26-3
7 Georgia Tech ACC At-large31-3
2 Hawaii WAC Automatic32-1
Idaho Big West At-large19-10
15 Illinois Big Ten At-large24-6
Louisville Conference USA Automatic24-5
Michigan Big Ten At-large20-11
Murray State Ohio Valley Automatic24-5
New Mexico State Sun Belt Automatic30-4
Notre Dame Big East At-large23-6
Saint Mary's West Coast At-large20-12
Winthrop Big South Automatic24-12

Lincoln Regional

First round
December 4–5
Second round
December 5–6
Regional semifinals
December 12
Regional finals
December 13
            
1 Southern California 3
New Hampshire 0
1 Southern California3
Los Angeles, CA
Loyola Marymount 0
Cal St. Northridge 0
Loyola Marymount 3
1 Southern California3
16 Texas A&M 0
Arizona 1
Wisconsin 3
Wisconsin 0
College Station, TX
16 Texas A&M3
Nicholls St. 0
16 Texas A&M 3
1 Southern California3
8 UCLA 1
9 Nebraska 3
Valparaiso 0
9 Nebraska3
East Lansing, MI
Dayton 0
Dayton 3
Michigan State 2
9 Nebraska 1
8 UCLA3
Missouri 2
UC Irvine 3
UC Irvine 0
Los Angeles, CA
8 UCLA3
San Diego 0
8 UCLA 3

Long Beach Regional

First round
December 4–5
Second round
December 5–6
Regional semifinals
December 12
Regional finals
December 13
            
5 Stanford 3
Sacramento St. 0
5 Stanford3
Stanford, CA
Pacific 0
Pacific 3
San Francisco 0
5 Stanford 1
12 Washington3
Santa Clara 2
Utah 3
Utah 0
Seattle, WA
12 Washington3
Northwestern 0
12 Washington 3
12 Washington 2
13 Minnesota3
13 Minnesota 3
Wisconsin-Green Bay 0
13 Minnesota3
Minneapolis, MN
Northern Iowa 1
UCSB 2
Northern Iowa 3
13 Minnesota3
4 Pepperdine 2
Kansas 3
Long Beach St. 0
Kansas 1
Malibu, CA
4 Pepperdine3
Manhattan 0
4 Pepperdine 3

Gainesville Regional

First round
December 4–5
Second round
December 5–6
Regional semifinals
December 12
Regional finals
December 13
            
3 Florida 3
Georgia Southern 0
3 Florida3
Gainesville, FL
Central Florida 0
Cincinnati 2
Central Florida 3
3 Florida3
14 Colorado St. 0
Maryland 3
American 0
Maryland 0
College Park, MD
14 Colorado St.3
George Mason 0
14 Colorado St. 3
3 Florida3
11 Penn St. 0
11 Penn St. 3
Robert Morris 0
11 Penn St.3
University Park, PA
Pittsburgh 1
Pittsburgh 3
Pennsylvania 1
11 Penn St.3
6 Kansas State 1
SW Missouri St. 1
Arkansas 3
Arkansas 0
Manhattan, KS
6 Kansas State3
Ohio 0
6 Kansas State 3

Honolulu Regional

First round
December 4–5
Second round
December 5–6
Regional semifinals
December 12
Regional finals
December 13
            
7 Georgia Tech 3
Alabama A&M 0
7 Georgia Tech3
Atlanta, GA
Florida A&M 0
Winthrop 0
Florida A&M 3
7 Georgia Tech3
10 California 0
Colorado 0
Michigan 3
Michigan 0
Berkeley, CA
10 California3
St. Mary's 0
10 California 3
7 Georgia Tech 1
2 Hawaiʻi3
15 Illinois 3
Murray St. 0
15 Illinois3
Champaign, IL
Louisville 0
Notre Dame 0
Louisville 3
15 Illinois 0
2 Hawaiʻi3
New Mexico St. 0
BYU 3
BYU 0
Honolulu, HI
2 Hawaiʻi3
Idaho 0
2 Hawaiʻi 3

Final Four – Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas

National Semifinals
December 18
National Championship
December 20
      
1 Southern California3
13 Minnesota 0
1 Southern California3
3 Florida 1
3 Florida3
2 Hawaiʻi 1

National Semifinals

Southern California vs. Minnesota

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3
USC303030
MIN272820

Minnesota, making their first NCAA Final Four appearance in program history, played top-seeded USC tough in the first two sets, falling 30-27, 30-28. USC rode the momentum in the third set, winning easily 30-20 to advance to the national championship match for the second consecutive year. USC's balanced attack consisted of three players with double digit kills, including Bibiana Candelas with 12, Keao Burdine with 13 and April Ross with 11. Cassie Busse led Minnesota with 23 kills, and Erin Martin with 11. [2]

Florida vs. Hawaiʻi

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4
FLA30302330
HAW28283028

Florida and Hawaiʻi battled in the second semifinal, with Florida seeking to advance to its first final in school history after being 0-for-6 in previous NCAA semifinals, while Hawaiʻi aimed to reach itsʻ first final since 1996.

Both teams played even in the first two games, but it was Florida who won them by the scores of 30-28 and 30-28. Hawaiʻi answered back after the break to win 30-23. The 30-23 loss was the first individual game the Gators lost since August 23, breaking their NCAA record of 105 straight game wins. Florida and Hawaiʻi once again played even in the fourth set, but Hawaiʻi was unable to force a fifth set as Florida won the fourth set, 30-28. [3] Hawaiʻi was paced by AVCA National Player of the Year Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku, who both had 21 kills. [4]

National Championship: Southern California vs. Florida

TeamsGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4
USC25303030
FLA30271926

Florida started out the match well by winning the first set off of undefeated Southern California. USC answered back by taking the second set 30-27 and used a 6-0 run in the third set to win easily, 30-19. In the fourth set, USC never trailed and led 22-15 before Florida mounted a comeback to cut USC's lead to 25-23. USC did not let up and won the fourth and final set 30-26 to cap off an undefeated season at 35-0. Florida ended their season at 36-2, with their only other loss coming to USC in the season-opening AVCA Showcase tournament.

References

  1. "Perfect ending to a perfect season!". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  2. "Minnesota vs. USC boxscore". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  3. "Florida VB advances to National Championship match". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  4. "Florida vs. Hawaii boxscore". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-10-18.