LONG BEACH, Calif. - It was a season of ups and downs for the 2004 Cardinal women’s volleyball team. The squad began the season ranked sixth in the nation, dropped to as low as 14th in the middle but, in the end, thanks to hard work and dedication, Stanford captured yet another NCAA title.
Senior Ogonna Nnamani, the 2004 National Player of the Year, was the anchor of the Cardinal, but sophomore All-American Kristin Richards and freshman setter Bryn Kehoe helped lead the charge to the title.
Stanford started the season a shaky 3-2 and by mid-season had chalked up a 15-6 mark. The Cardinal, however, was ready to make a move straight to the top. The squad ran off 15 straight victories, including a 30-23, 30-27, 30-21 sweep of Minnesota in the national championship match. In its 15-match march to the NCAA crown, the Cardinal lost only seven games and won 45.
Stanford stomped through the back half of the Pac-10 schedule, avenging losses to conference foes USC and Washington the second time around. In the opening NCAA rounds, the Cardinal routed Jacksonville before edging Florida on the Gators’ home court.
The team was then perfect at Regionals, sweeping Texas and Wisconsin to advance to the Final Four. The Cardinal handed the Pac-10 Champion Washington Huskies another loss in the NCAA semifinals and earned the right to face Minnesota for another national title.
The Cardinal, with momentum from its semifinal win over Washington, scored a three-game sweep over the Golden Gophers in the championship match, before an arena crowd of 8,826 and an ESPN nationally-televised audience.
Stanford faced early deficits in each of the three games, but had no trouble bouncing back and pulling out wins. Minnesota’s 6-3 advantage in the first game was its last before a series of Cardinal runs put Stanford in control. A 6-4 lead in game two was the Golden Gophers’ last before the Cardinal stormed back and a 9-6 advantage in game three was also quickly reversed by Stanford.
Nnamani, who set an NCAA Tournament record with 145 kills, pounded down her 29th of the match to seal Stanford’s unprecedented sixth national title.