2004 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

2004 NCAA women's Division Ivolleyball tournament
2004 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Stanford (6th title)
Runner-up	Minnesota (1st title match)
Semifinalists	Washington (1st Final Four) Southern California (7th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Dunning (4th title)
Most outstanding player	Ogonna Nnamani (Stanford)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Jennifer Hucke (Stanford) Kristin Richards (Stanford) Bryn Kehoe (Stanford) Erin Martin (Minnesota) Paula Gentil (Minnesota)
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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. ^[1]

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 Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona Pac-10 At-large 18-10 Arkansas SEC At-large 17-15 Cal State Northridge Big West At-large 17-10 College of Charleston Southern Automatic 26-5 Illinois Big Ten At-large 19-10 Iona MAAC Automatic 19-15 Kansas State Big 12 At-large 19-10 Louisville Conference USA Automatic 28-2 16 Missouri Big 12 At-large 19-8 1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic 27-1 Nevada WAC At-large 21-9 New Mexico State Sun Belt Automatic 29-2 9 San Diego West Coast Automatic 22-4 UC Irvine Big West At-large 18-10 8 USC Pac-10 At-large 19-5 Wichita State Missouri Valley Automatic 24-5

Minneapolis Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic 20-5 Albany America East Automatic 27-6 Dayton Atlantic 10 Automatic 23-8 Eastern Kentucky Ohio Valley Automatic 27-4 Georgia SEC At-large 18-11 Georgia Tech ACC At-large 25-6 Long Island Northeast Automatic 32-6 4 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 28-4 Ohio MAC Automatic 28-2 5 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 27-3 Pittsburgh Big East At-large 21-10 12 Tennessee SEC Auto (shared) 30-2 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 18-8 13 UC Santa Barbara Big West Automatic 23-3 Winthrop Big South Automatic 31-3 Yale Ivy League Automatic 17-7

Green Bay Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Colorado Big 12 At-large 14-13 Colorado State Mountain West Automatic 26-3 Florida SEC Auto (shared) 27-4 Florida A&M MEAC Automatic 28-2 3 Hawaii WAC Automatic 28-0 Jacksonville Atlantic Sun Automatic 15-12 Loyola (IL) Horizon Automatic 21-8 Michigan Big Ten At-large 19-12 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 20-8 Purdue Big Ten At-large 16-14 Rice WAC At-large 25-4 11 Stanford Pac-10 At-large 24-6 6 Texas Big 12 At-large 24-4 Texas State Southland Automatic 27-5 Valparaiso Mid-Continent Automatic 29-4 14 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 19-9

Seattle Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record American Patriot Automatic 24-6 California Pac-10 At-large 16-11 Idaho Big West At-large 17-12 Kansas Big 12 At-large 18-11 Long Beach State Big West At-large 23-6 Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large 17-11 Maryland ACC Automatic 17-14 Pacific Big West At-large 19-9 2 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 27-2 Sacramento State Big Sky Automatic 24-7 10 Saint Mary's West Coast At-large 23-3 Santa Clara West Coast At-large 18-8 Towson CAA Automatic 25-8 15 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 18-10 Utah Mountain West At-large 24-6 7 Washington Pac-10 Automatic 24-2

Louisville Regional

	First round December 2–3					Second round December 3–4					Regional semifinals December 10					Regional finals December 11
	1	Nebraska	3
		Iona	0
						1	Nebraska	3
	Lincoln, NE
							Wichita St.	0
	Wichita St.		3
	Nevada		0
											1	Nebraska	3
												Louisville	0
	Illinois		1
	Louisville		3
							Louisville	3
	Columbia, MO
						16	Missouri	1
		Arkansas	1
	16	Missouri	3
																1	Nebraska	2
																8	Southern California	3
	9	San Diego	3
		New Mexico St.	0
						9	San Diego	3
	San Diego, CA
							Arizona	2
	UC Irvine		0
	Arizona		3
											9	San Diego	1
											8	Southern California	3
	Kansas St.		3
	Cal St. Northridge		0
							Kansas St.	0
	Los Angeles, CA
						8	Southern California	3
		College of Charleston	0
	8	Southern California	3

Minneapolis Regional

	First round December 2–3					Second round December 3–4					Regional semifinals December 10					Regional finals December 11
	5	Ohio St.	3
		Dayton	0
						5	Ohio St.	3
	Columbus, OH
							Ohio	0
	Ohio		3
	Pittsburgh		0
											5	Ohio St.	3
											12	Tennessee	2
	Texas A&M		3
	Winthrop		0
							Texas A&M	1
	Knoxville, TN
						12	Tennessee	3
		Eastern Kentucky	0
	12	Tennessee	3
																5	Ohio St.	2
																4	Minnesota	3
	13	UCSB	3
		Alabama A&M	0
						13	UCSB	0
	Atlanta, GA
							Georgia Tech	3
	Georgia		0
	Georgia Tech		3
												Georgia Tech	2
											4	Minnesota	3
	Albany		1
	Yale		3
							Yale	0
	New Haven, CT
						4	Minnesota	3
		Long Island	0
	4	Minnesota	3

Green Bay Regional

	First round December 2–3					Second round December 3–4					Regional semifinals December 10					Regional finals December 11
	3	Hawaiʻi	3
		Colorado	1
						3	Hawaiʻi	3
	Fort Collins, CO
							Purdue	0
	Purdue		3
	Colorado St.		2
											3	Hawaiʻi	2
											14	Wisconsin	3
	Notre Dame		3
	Valparaiso		1
							Notre Dame	0
	Madison, WI
						14	Wisconsin	3
		Loyola-Chicago	0
	14	Wisconsin	3
																14	Wisconsin	0
																11	Stanford	3
	11	Stanford	3
		Jacksonville	0
						11	Stanford	3
	Tallahassee, FL
							Florida	2
	Florida A&M		0
	Florida		3
											11	Stanford	3
											6	Texas	0
	Michigan		3
	Rice		1
							Michigan	1
	Austin, TX
						6	Texas	3
		Texas St.	0
	6	Texas	3

Seattle Regional

	First round December 2–3					Second round December 3–4					Regional semifinals December 10					Regional finals December 11
	7	Washington	3
		Idaho	0
						7	Washington	3
	Seattle, WA
							Kansas	2
	Kansas		3
	Santa Clara		1
											7	Washington	3
											10	St. Mary's	0
	California		3
	Pacific		2
							California	2
	Berkeley, CA
						10	St. Mary's	3
		Sacramento State	1
	10	St. Mary's	3
																7	Washington	3
																15	UCLA	2
	15	UCLA	3
		Loyola Marymount	1
						15	UCLA	3
	Los Angeles, CA
							Long Beach St.	0
	Utah		0
	Long Beach State		3
											15	UCLA	3
											2	Penn St.	1
	Maryland		3
	Towson		0
							Maryland	0
	University Park, PA
						2	Penn St.	3
		American	0
	2	Penn St.	3

Final Four – Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California

	National Semifinals December 16					National Championship December 18
	8	Southern California	1
	4	Minnesota	3
						4	Minnesota	0
						11	Stanford	3
	11	Stanford	3
	7	Washington	1

National Semifinals

Southern California vs. Minnesota

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
MIN	30	29	30	30
USC	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 4
STAN	30	23	30	30
WASH	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. ^[2]

National Championship: Stanford vs. Minnesota

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

NCAA Tournament MVP Ogonna Nnamani set an NCAA Tournament record for kills in an NCAA Tournament. Nnamani had 165 kills through six tournament matches.

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. ^[3]

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

1. "Stanford claims sixth national title with a sweep of Minnesota". Archived from the original on 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
2. "UW Volleyball suffers first loss of the season". Archived from the original on 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
3. "Stanford vs. Minnesota box score". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-10-18.