The NCAA Division I Women’s volleyball Final Four will be held this week in Louisville, Ky., and you'll have to forgive those who live in the Golden State for possibly being bitter about tuning in.
For just the second time in the history of the tournament, no California team will be present in the national semifinal as an unranked Michigan upset Stanford and Texas and defeated USC in the quarterfinals, punching a ticket for the Wolverines and Longhorns to join Penn State and Oregon in the Final Four. USC and Stanford's losses also guarantees that a California school will not participate in the championship match this season for just the sixth time (1988, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2009) in the tournament's history.
It's pretty safe to say that based on the history of the sport, that despite volleyball's birthplace being in Holyoke, Mass., its heart and soul has resided in the gyms and beaches of California.
But based on recent results, that might be changing. Six of the past seven championships have been won by non-California schools and UCLA's win last year stopped a run of four consecutive championships for Penn State, a finalist again this year.
“I think this is an exciting time for our sport," former U.S. Women's National Volleyball head coach and current Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "The increases in TV coverage, nationwide parity and fan support bodes very well for the continued growth of volleyball.”
The remaining schools this year consist of two newcomers in Michigan and Oregon - first-time Final Four participants - while Penn State has become a powerhouse with five national titles, and Texas is a one-time champion that has made four Final Four appearances.
“The state of Texas now has more high school players than California," said USC 12-year head volleyball coach Mick Haley. "So one might expect to find good players in all parts of the country. If you look at the junior schedules for January to July, almost all the players from all over the country are playing as much volleyball and competing in as many tournaments as the California kids so it is only natural that the playing field is leveling out."
But the fact remains that Texas is one of just three schools east of California to claim an NCAA National Championship title - Nebraska (1995, 2000, 2006) and Penn State (1999, 2007-10) being the others. Meanwhile, USC, UCLA, University of the Pacific, Stanford and Long Beach State have combined for 18 NCAA Championships in the 31 years of the tournament.
UCLA has won four of those national championships (2011, 1991, 1990, 1984) and their 2011 win ended a 20-year drought without a title. UCLA alum Mike Sealy led the squad to that national title win in his second year at the head of the program, taking over for Andy Banachowski, the women’s head coach for 42 years at UCLA.
This season, Sealy and defending champion UCLA lost in the second round of the tournament to a hungry, unranked Michigan State team in four sets (25-17, 29-27,18-25, 25-22).
“That was our season right there," Sealy said. "We never had flashes of sustained brilliance. We had flashes of things that looked really good, but it was never backed up by anything.
“Any time we made some kind of gain in some technical part of the game, whether it was on offense or defense, it was gone by the time we took practice two days later. We were never able to build on anything important, what happened in the last two hours is exactly what happened over the last four months.”
UCLA finished the season, 23-8, and will graduate the highly acclaimed Rachel Kidder, Tabi Love and Bojana Todorovic, but they will be in the hunt in 2013.
Their cross-town rivals USC fared slightly better being eliminated at the hands of Texas in the quarterfinals in three sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-14).
“This season was beyond what I had expected it to be," senior outside hitter Katie Fuller said. "We had great talent and work ethic. I was so lucky to be part of such a strong athletic program. Even though we didn't reach our ultimate goal we played our best and stuck together and that's all I could ask for.”
USC has won three national championships (2003, 2002, 1981) with 12-year head volleyball coach Mick Haley at the helm for two of them. USC finished 30-6 and will graduate three seniors, including Fuller. Don't be surprised if the Women of Troy are elite again next year.
“I thought we had a great season," Haley said. "With Samantha Bricio's development we were able to reload as apposed to rebuild for this season, and we were almost able to make it back to the Final Four. We didn't play badly in the regional finals as much as we were just beaten by a team that peaked at the right time on that night. So all in all we are only losing Katie Fuller and adding two top 10 recruits who can start next year so I feel great that we will be in the hunt again.”
Stanford reigns supreme amongst the sport with six national championships (1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004) and this year they highlighted their stellar 2012 recruiting class starting four freshmen - setter Madison Bugg, outside hitters Brittany Howard and Jordan Burgess and middle blocker Inky Ajanaku. With another year of maturity, the squad will contend again next year.
Long Beach State has won three national titles (1998, 1993, 1989) but hasn’t advanced past the second round since 2001. LBSU finished second in the Big West in 2012 but did not earn a postseason bid and is far away from being in the National title hunt. UOP qualified for the tournament in 24 consecutive seasons - a streak that ended in 2004 - winning national championships in 1985 and 1986 with the help of three-time AVCA All-American Elaina Oden but has not qualified for the postseason in eight years. Pacific has also had four coaches during that span and will leave the Big West for the West Coast Conference next year and just qualifying for the postseason seems like a long shot.
With the California schools out, Penn State and Texas will look to add to their championship collection, while Oregon and Michigan will look to make their mark with their first titles.
But if history is any indication, a California school will be back in the hunt in 2013.
