Penn State women’s volleyball on record run

December 11, 2008 – Heading into the Olympics, the gold medal winning U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team was billed as the “the greatest team you’ve never heard of.”

In college sports, the greatest team you’ve never heard of may be Penn State’s women’s volleyball team.  On a football-crazed campus,  not even JoePa’s 11-1 team can stack up with what undefeated Penn State has accomplished on the volleyball court.

The unbeaten Nittany Lions (34-0) are on an unprecedented run of success as they seek a second consecutive national title, and the school’s third overall.

Penn State, already the first team in NCAA history to complete a regular season without losing a single game, now stands three games from breaking the consecutive game winning streak of 105, set by Florida in 2003. The Nittany Lions can set that mark with a sweep against Western Michigan in an NCAA regional semifinal Friday night (a team must win three games to win a match).

The Nittany Lions also have won 60 consecutive matches, another NCAA record.

The top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Penn State is not only setting records on the court with their successful season, but also in awards recognition.

The team had a school-record six players named to the First Team All-Mideast Region, while head coach Russ Rose collected his sixth AVCA Mideast Region Coach of the Year award after leading the 2008 squad to become the first collegiate women’s volleyball team to finish the regular season undefeated in individual games.

For all their dominance, Penn State volleyball plays in the massive shadow cast by the Rose Bowl-bound football team.

A win tonight night however sends Penn State to the regional final Saturday against either Illinois or California. The regional winner advances to the national semifinals in Omaha, Neb., next week.

Four matches from back-to-back national championships, this team from Pennsylvania may go down as one of the most dominant collegiate teams in history. Tell that to the guys heading to the Rose Bowl.

2008 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship Bracket

College Cup: Irish Eyes are Smilin’

December 5, 2008 – In Friday’s first D-I semifinal in Cary, N.C., Courtney Barg scored in the 14th minute to put Notre Dame ahead early. The Irish defense took care of the rest, as top-seeded Notre Dame stayed undefeated and earned a ticket to Sunday’s final with a 1-0 win over Stanford.

College Cup Preview

December 5, 2008 -

The four top women’s soccer teams are in Cary, NC to take part in this week’s NCAA College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park. The players all took part in the pre-tournament press conference, put in some practice time at the site and then attended a team banquet.

With UCLA on a quest for their first national title, the LA Daily News writes a touching profile on the team’s junior striker:  UCLA player Kristina Larsen carries on mother’s spirit.

 ESPN notes players to watch: College Cup field brings load of talent to Cary

Coach Gil makes his predictions on his OleOle blog – Which number 1 will be THE number 1?

And of course each of the schools file their own reports and pre-game statements:

UCLA - On playing UNC Coach Ellis says: “Our defensive unit has been outstanding this year, I think front to back we’re defending better as a team and I think we’ll generate some pressure.”

UNC - Coach Anson Dorrance’s team is the overall No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament The Tar Heels are 19-0-1 in their last 20 matches and 23-1-2 overall.

Stanford – The fifth-ranked Cardinal is readying itself for its first College Cup appearance since 1993

Notre Dame -Head coach Randy Waldrum says in his opening statement: “We’re looking forward to some great games. From all of the years I remember, these are four of the best teams that have (ever) made it to the Final Four.”

Following the conclusion of the collegiate season, nine College Cup participants will begin the next stage in their soccer careers by attending the WPS Combines where they will have one last opportunity to showcase their skills in front of WPS coaches and general managers prior to the 2009 Draft. WPS Combine attendees to watch

Final Four Women’s College Cup

November 30, 2008 -  The scene at UCLA’s Drake Stadium was a bit surreal.  The field was shrouded in fog (providing an interesting backdrop) and the Bruins dominated in majestic fashion. Since it was a holiday weekend, the decisive victory was played before a sparse crowd (though I was there showing support!)

With the UCLA game the last match of the weekend, the final four teams are now set.  As expected, the number 1 seeds all made it through. The semifinals match-ups, which will be played in Cary, NC next weekend,  look like this:

UCLA vs. UNC
Stanford vs. Notre Dame

Notre Dame remains undefeated after cruising past Florida 2-0, ending the Seminoles quest for a fourth straight College Cup appearance.

UCLA DOMINATED the Duke Blue Devils last night 6-1 to reach their sixth straight Final Four. Junior Kristina Larsen was the star of the second half, scoring her team-leading 12th and 13th goals of the season, but the whole team looked impressive with precision passing, speed and confidence.

The downside of the evening? Lauren Cheney being carried off the field late in the second half after a totally unneccessary tackle by Duke. Hope she’s okay.

D1 women’s soccer championship

Fear the Turtle: Terps win 3rd NCAA field hocky title in 4 years

November 28, 2008 – Maryland won its third NCAA field hockey national championship in four years, defeating ACC rival and second-ranked Wake Forest 4-2 on Sunday. Both teams had advanced to the title game in dramatic fashion – with OT wins in the semis.

Senior Susie Rowe capped a historic senior season with a goal and an assist. Playing with stitches across her nose thanks to a hard hit taken in the semifinal victory over Iowa, Rowe tied the Maryland record for goals scored in a season early in the second half when the third goal of the game was her 28th of the season.

Soph Katie O’Donnell added a goal and an assist for the top-seeded Terrapins (22-2), who rattled off four straight goals after falling behind early against the Demon Deacons (22-4).

Junior Nicole Muracco and senior Danielle Keeley also scored for Maryland, which swept all three of its meetings with Wake Forest this season. The victory was Maryland’s sixth national title.

Junior Hillary Moore led the Wake Forest attack, posting two goals for the team. Moore is the team’s leading scorer, netting seven goals through seven games. Goaltender Crystal Duffield stopped four shots, but Maryland dominated play after Moore gave Wake Forest the lead 17 minutes in.

Muracco tipped in a penalty corner to tie the game and Maryland took the lead shortly before the half as O’Donnell blasted one by Duffield. Rowe and Keeley put the game away with goals less then three minutes apart in the second half.

Maryland outshot Wake Forest 13-5 and had a 9-2 advantage in penalty corners.

To what do the Terps credit the championship?  Just a year ago, Maryland – then defending back-to-back NCAA championships – found itself on the outside looking in when the school served as host for the field hockey final four. According to a Baltimore Sun article:

It made for a “painful” time, Maryland coach Missy Meharg said. In addition, with some Terps away to represent national teams and some taking shortcuts in their lives, 2008 did not get off to a great start, and the coach said the team was not close to being national title contenders.

But Meharg credited Joel Fish, a sports psychologist, for helping the team. In addition, the players opened up to one another by spending a lot of time talking. The camaraderie helped change the direction of the team, which spent six of the nine weeks in the top spot of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll and finished winning its past 12 games.

In other NCAA field hockey news, Lindsay McNamara scored the winning goal in double-overtime yesterday at Collegeville, Pa., lifting Bowdoin to a 3-2 victory over Tufts for its second-consecutive NCAA Division 3 field hockey title.

Congrats to all!

Women’s College Cup: Elite Eight

November 23, 2008 – It was a showdown in Tinseltown.

Cross-town rivals USC and UCLA played last night before a record crowd in the Third Round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championships. It was a cool night and in typical SoCal fashion, spectators wore everything from shorts and flip flops to wool caps and winter coats (I was happy to have my coat).

With ties to both schools, I’m always torn about my allegiance but with a great season behind them, I was happy to see UCLA win at home and move on to the quarterfinals. They’ll play No. 3 seed Duke, who upset Virginia, next weekend.

USC faced the same team it beat 2-1 in last year’s NCAA Semifinals but unlike last year, where UCLA also took the first lead of the game, USC was unable to get to the back of the net.

UCLA dominated the entire game and had 17 shots to USC’s 6. During the final five minutes, the Bruins had a dangerous chance to pad its lead, but goal keeper Kristin Olsen came up big with two saves on tough shots to hold the game at 1-0.

The season-ending loss for the Women of Troy marked the final game for seven USC seniors, six of whom have been at USC for four years including Janessa Currier (defender), Kelley Finch (midfielder), Nini Loucks (midfielder), Ashley Nick (midfielder), Amy Rodriguez (forward – so fun to watch) and Stacey Strong (defender). The group has combined for 68 goals and 55 assists, with 19 goals and 21 assists coming off senior feet this season and no doubt a few tears were shed last night.

Meanwhile, UCLA, who played impressive D the entire night, broke the school record for shutouts in a season last night, posting its 19th of the year. The old record was 18 set by the 2005 team that advanced to the NCAA Final. The Bruins continue to lead the country in goals allowed, surrendering just four in 23 matches. Naturally, UCLA is our choice to win the cup this year.

In other NCAA College Cup news, the Portland Pilots earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over the visiting James Madison Dukes to advance to the quarterfinals for the fifth straight year.

The Cardinal held off Rutgers with a beautiful cross from Christen Press that found Kelley O’Hara at the top of the box and they will meet Portland next week at home.

Also – UNC scored a dominating win over Illinois and will next play Texas A&M; Notre Dame squeaked through in a surprising OT with Minnesota and will play Florida State in the quarterfinals.

Full Bracket

Women’s College Cup: Sweet Sixteen

November 21, 2008 – Lots of great match-ups this weekend as the nation’s top women’s soccer teams move to the NCAA Round of 16.

I’m personally looking forward to the UCLA-USC game tom’w night at Drake Stadium. It’s a rematch of last year’s College Cup Semifinals in which USC went on to win the NCAA championship.

This year,  the top-seeded and undefeated UCLA (20-0-2) hosts fourth-seeded USC (16-4-2). The Bruins defeated the Women of Troy, 2-1 in the only meeting between the two teams this season. 

Three Olympians highlight the Saturday showdown with UCLA’s Lauren Cheney and Kara Lang joining USC’s Amy Rodriguez on the field as players who participated in the recent Beijing Olympic Games. Cheney and Rodriguez were teammates on Team USA’s run to the gold medal, while Lang was a member of Canada’s squad.

The winner of this match advances to the quarterfinals to face either second-seeded Duke or third-seeded Virginia next week.

Both USC and UCLA write about the game on their websites.

In other matches,  the top-ranked Irish are set to play No. 22 Minnesota who kept their dream season alive with two wins last weekend to advance to its first-ever trip to the ‘Sweet 16.’

Check the NCAA bracket to see all the weekend match-ups.  Play on…

The Results Are In: Who Qualified for the NCAA Cross-Country Champs?

November 17, 2008 – To qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross-Country Championships, teams competed this weekend at one of nine Regional Championships situated across the country. The top 2 teams in each region automatically qualified for the national meet. How the rest of the teams get in is a complicated process.

There are 13 “wild-card” spots for teams other than the 18 that qualified automatically at regionals. The way a team gets one of these 13 spots is by adding up the number of teams that have been accepted to the national meet which their team has beaten at some point during the season. So if a team was 3rd in their region but had beaten 5 of the 18 automatic-qualifiers during the season, they have a good chance of getting one of the first wildcard spots.

Individual athletes can qualify for the meet alone if their team doesn’t qualify. They can automatically qualify by placing in the top 4 individuals that did NOT already qualify on a team at regionals. There are then just 2 wildcard individuals from the entire country that are allowed in next. They are the ones that had the highest overall place at their respective regional meet; if the place is the same for 2 wildcard candidates, they then determine the qualifier by how close they were to the competitor in front of them.

The moral of the story is, every person you can edge out counts as well as every second faster you can run! When I was a sophomore, I qualified as a wildcard individual because I was 6th place overall at my regional championships AND was just 2 seconds behind 5th place.

To see all of the qualifiers for this year’s NCAA Championships, taking place on November 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Click Here.

For more coverage on the Regional Championships and the upcoming NCAA Champs, go to Flotrack.org

New Orleans lands 2013 Women’s Final Four

November 14, 2008 – If you’re one of those who likes to plan far in advance, then you’ll want to know that New Orleans was just awarded the 2013 Women’s Final Four by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.

New Orleans will become the first city to play host to three Women’s Final Fours.  It previously hosted the event in 1991 and 2004. The 2013 event will be played at the New Orleans Arena.

Hopefully by then New Orleans – one of the best places on earth – will once again be the shining City of the South. 

The NCAA has also picked Denver, Nashville, Tampa and Indianapolis to host women’s basketball Final Fours.

Denver (2012) and Nashville (2014) will be hosting the event for the first time.

Tampa will host in 2015 and Indianapolis, the home of the NCAA headquarters, in 2016.  So women’s basketball fans – start saving those frequent flyer miles and get started on your future travel plans!

For those more interested in the now, today is opening day of the NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball season!  Who will make it to St. Louis for the 2009 Women’s Final Four?  UConn gets the nod in preseason rankings but who will join them?

NCAA early signing period begins today

November 12, 2008 – Today marks the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period, where student-athletes in basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis and wrestling can sign national letters of intent to formally decide their college plans.

Know the rules before YOU sign.

Some early signings include:
Missoula Big Sky center Joslyn Tinkle has committed to play basketball at Stanford as has Beavercreek’s Mikaela Ruef.

Faith Dupree, Taber Spani and Kamiko Williams are heading to Tennessee to play hoops for Pat Summitt.

The Baylor Lady Bears have added #1 ranked high school basketball player Brittney Griner along with Mariah Chandler, Jordan Madden, Shanay Washington and Kimetria Hayden.

Guard Erica Wheeler and post player Christine Huber also signed letters of intent today. They will be at Rutgers for the 2009-10 school year.

OSU women sign six -  Cowgirls coach Kurt Budke says Keuna Flax, Heather Howard, Desiree Jeffries, Lindsey Keller, LaSharra Riley and Toni Young signed with the program.

For more on women’s basketball signings, the Girls Basketball Recuit blog has compiled all the latest info.

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