2001 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
| 2001 NCAA Women's Division I Volleyball Tournament | |
|---|---|
2001 NCAA Final Four logo
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| Champions | Stanford (5th title) |
| Runner-up | Long Beach State (5th NCAA (9th National) title match) |
| Semifinalists | |
| Winning coach | John Dunning (3rd title) |
| Most outstanding player | Logan Tom (Stanford) |
| Final Four All-Tournament Team |
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The 2001 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on November 29, 2001 with 64 teams and ended December 15 when Stanford defeated Long Beach State 3 games to 0 in San Diego, California for the program's fifth NCAA title.
Led by future Olympians Logan Tom and Ogonna Nnamani, Stanford stunned previously unbeaten Long Beach State in the title match. Long Beach State was attempting to become the first program to go undefeated in more than one season, as they went 36-0 just 3 years before in 1998.
On their way to the title, Stanford was able to knock off defending champion Nebraska in the national semifinals. The other semifinal participant, Arizona, made the program's first NCAA Final Four appearance.
The win gave Stanford head coach John Dunning, who was in his first year as Stanford's head coach, his third NCAA title as he won two with Pacific in the 1980s.
This was the first year of rally point scoring in the NCAA Division I tournament, with games going to 30 points to win. Previous years used the side out scoring (SOS), with 15 points needed to win. Games became "sets" in 2008 and were reduced to 25 points to win.
Top ranked and undefeated Long Beach State easily defeated Arizona in three sets. Tayyiba Haneef led Long Beach with 21 kills. Long Beach out-hit Arizona .384 to .216, out-blocked the Wildcats 10 to 8 and had 8 service aces while Arizona had just 3. Arizona was led by Shannon Torregrosas's 14 kills. Arizona ended their season at 25-5 with the program's first ever Final Four appearance. Long Beach upped their record to 33-0.
Led by Logan Tom's 22 kills, Stanford knocked off defending national champion Nebraska in three sets. Ogonna Nnamani added 13 kills to help the Cardinal sweep. Stanford out-blocked Nebraska, 12 to 9, and hit .270 as a team while Nebraska hit just .186. Nancy Metcalf led Nebraska with 14 kills as Nebraska ended their season at 31-2. Stanford advanced to the program's ninth NCAA title match.
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