2002 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
| 2002 NCAA Women's Division I Volleyball Tournament | |
|---|---|
2002 NCAA Final Four logo
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| Champions | Southern California (2nd NCAA (5th National) title) |
| Runner-up | Stanford (10th title match) |
| Semifinalists | |
| Winning coach | Mick Haley (2nd title) |
| Most outstanding player | Keao Burdine (Southern California) |
| Final Four All-Tournament Team |
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The 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on December 5, 2002 with 64 teams and concluded on December 21 when Southern California defeated Stanford 3 games to 1 in New Orleans, Louisiana for the program's second NCAA title and fifth overall national title.
It was Southern California's first national title since 1981, while Stanford was the defending 2001 national champion. Semifinalist Hawaiʻi was making the program's first NCAA final four appearance since 1996, while Florida made the program's first final four appearance in four years.
When Florida took the first set, it was the first time in 6 NCAA Semifinal appearances that a Florida team was able to win a single set. However, the rest didn't go their way as USC won the next three to advance to the national championship. In the deciding fourth set, USC took the 16-8 lead before Florida came back to cut the lead to 19-17, but the Gators were unable to take the lead before USC won the fourth set, 30-24 and the match.
Stanford got a chance to defend their 2001 NCAA title after dismantling Hawaiʻi, 3-0. The 3-0 loss was only Hawaiʻi's second loss of the season, with their other loss coming to Stanford in a 3-0 sweep in the preseason. Ogonna Nnamani led Stanford with 15 kills, while Hawaiʻi was led by Kim Willoughby who had 22 kills.
USC dethroned defending NCAA national champion Stanford in a 3-1 match to finish the season 31-1, with their only loss coming to Stanford. In set one, USC had 22 kills while Stanford had just 8, leading them to a 30-27 victory. In set two, Stanford came back to take 9 of the first 12 points en route to the easy 30-23.
USC sprinted to the 19-10 lead in set 3, before the Cardinal cut the advantage at 20-17. USC's offense proved to be too much, as they won it 30-24. In set 4, USC cruised out to an early 6-1 lead and then 17-11. The lead soon disappeared, with Stanford tying it up at 19, before USC pulled away again to win the fourth set 30-26 and take home to national title. It was USC's first national championship since 1981, the first year that NCAA started to sponsor women's volleyball.
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