After securing at least a share of the Pac-10 crown with a five-set triumph over UCLA on Senior
Night, the second-ranked Stanford women's volleyball team captured sole possession of first place with a
four-set victory over Oregon on Thanksgiving Eve. Their efforts were rewarded on
Sunday night when the selection committee announced the Cardinal (26-3) as the
No. 2 overall seed in the 2008 NCAA
Tournament.As expected, the top seed went to undefeated Penn State, who
knocked off Stanford in the championship match last year. The defending champs
look even stronger this year, as they became the first squad to complete the regular
season without dropping a single set. Seeded third and fourth overall are Texas (25-3) and
Nebraska (27-2), respectively. Five other Pac-10 teams were selected to the tournament,
including No. 5 Washington (24-4), No. 8 Cal (23-6), No. 11 Oregon
(23-8), No. 14 UCLA (20-10) and unseeded USC
(16-11).
For Stanford, the journey back to the championship match
will begin at Maples Pavilion when they take on Albany (23-8) at 7 p.m. on
Friday. The Great Danes from New York captured their third straight America East
Conference championship and are led by senior middle blocker Kamisha Kellam and
sophomore outside hitter Amanda Cowdrey. Kellam, who was named America East Player of the Year
after leading the conference with a .388 hitting percentage, averages 2.8 kills
and 0.95 blocks per set, while Cowdrey leads the team with 3.3
kills and is second with 2.95 digs per
set.
Long Beach State (25-5) takes on Pepperdine (20-7) at 4:30 p.m. in
Palo Alto's other first-round match on Friday. The 49ers captured their first Big West championship
since 2001, while the Waves received an at-large bid after finishing tied
for fourth in the West Coast Conference. The winners of the two
first-round matches will face off Saturday at 7
p.m.
If
the seedings play out as predicted, Stanford would travel to the Fort Collins Regional the
following weekend to take on No. 15 Florida (25-3), followed by No.
7 Hawaii (28-3). Awaiting them in Omaha would be Texas, followed by
a championship rematch with Penn State on December
The regular season was a period of adjustment as Stanford
searched for a new playmaker to guide the team. After experimenting with a
two-setter system, Coach John Dunning finally settled on a one-setter rotation
with sophomore setter Cassidy Lichtman at the helm.
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