Dec. 20, 2008
Omaha, Neb. - A 16-match Cardinal winning streak came to an end tonight at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. as Penn State topped Stanford in the 2008 NCAA title match, 25-20, 26-24, 25-23.
The Cardinal (31-4) finishes as the runner-up for the third straight year. Penn State finished the season undefeated (38-0) and claimed its second title in a row.
Stanford was led by sophomore Alix Klineman's 15 kills. In her final match in a Cardinal uniform, three-time All-American Cynthia Barboza posted 11 kills and 15 digs. Fellow senior Foluke Akinradewo, a four-time All-American, had eight kills and six blocks in her final competition.
Akinradewo finished her career with the best hitting percentage ever recorded by an NCAA Division I player (.446), breaking the previous record (.423) set by Virag Domokos of George Mason in 1996 by more than 20 points. The Plantation, Fla. native finished with the second-best single-season hitting percentage in Pac-10 and school history (.457), coming in only behind the record of .499 she set last season.
With six blocks in her final match, Akinradewo finished third in school history and ninth in Pac-10 history with 579 for her career. For the year, Akinradewo recorded 173 blocks, a total which also ranked among the school's single-season top 10.
Stanford's seniors wrapped up four of the most outstanding careers in school history, becoming the program's first class and the third in NCAA history to lead its team to three title matches in a row. Akinradewo finished eighth on the program's career kill list (1,682) and was third in blocking (579) and first in hitting percentage (.446). Barboza finished ninth in kills (1,639), sixth in digs (1,241) and ninth in service aces (115). Defensive specialist Jessica Fishburn accumulated a final tally of 820 digs, while opposite Erin Waller completed her career with 670 kills and 207 blocks.
Cardinal libero Gabi Ailes put on another show for her hometown Omaha crowd with 16 digs, her 12th double-digit performance in the last 14 matches. Ailes, who nabbed her 1,000th career dig on Thursday night, finished with the third-best single-season dig total in school history (491).
Stanford head coach John Dunning coached in his ninth national title match, more than any coach in NCAA's 28-year history. Dunning has taken his team to the match six times in his eight years on The Farm.
Penn State was led by Megan Hodge, who recorded 16 kills on 44 swings (.318). AVCA National Player of the Year Nicole Fawcett posted 10 kills and 11 digs.
In a season-worst hitting night for both teams, Penn State outhit Stanford .177 to .142.
Akinradewo pounded a kill to give Stanford the opening momentum, and the Cardinal took advantage of Penn State overpasses to score five of the first six points. The teams were able to mostly side out from there, but Barboza slammed a kill at 12-7 to push Stanford a bit further ahead. The Cardinal used another Barboza kill to take its largest lead at 14-8, and at the media timeout Stanford was still ahead 15-10. Penn State surged out of the break, however, using three aces and three Cardinal hitting errors to storm off on a 10-2 run. The Nittany Lions tied the set at 16 with an ace, and took their first lead on a Stanford error at 18-17. By the end of the damaging run, Penn State was in front 20-17. The Cardinal struggled to come back and a 3-0 Penn State rally made it even harder. Christa Harmotto gave the Nittany Lions set point with a kill at 24-19 and a block by Hodge finished it, 25-20. Stanford hit just .167 to Penn State's .257 in the set, with Barboza and Harmotto leading the way with five kills apiece.
Two more Penn State aces dug Stanford a 6-1 hole to start the second set, but a block and a kill by Klineman pulled Stanford back within two at 7-5. A block by Akinradewo and Barboza narrowed the gap to one at 10-9 and the pair blocked another ball to tie for the first time at 12. Setter Cassidy Lichtman stuffed Harmotto to give Stanford a brief lead at 14-13, but back-to-back Nittany Lion kills swung the lead back in Penn State's favor, 15-14. Stanford hung tough, tying twice more before the Nittany Lions used a block at 18-16 to push ahead. Sophomore opposite Blair Brown tipped a ball down that appeared to make it 21-19, but two scoring discrepancies ensued, delaying the game for a significant period of time. After the first referee discussion, four points were played before another discrepancy occurred. The score was finally decided to be 23-22. The Nittany Lions took set point on the next play, but a Klineman kill and a Penn State error tied things at 24. Fawcett and Hodge pounded back-to-back kills to squelch the comeback and finish the job, however, 26-24. Stanford outhit Penn State .159 to .102 in the second set, while also leading in the blocking and dig columns. Fawcett, Barboza and Klineman each had five kills.
Penn State steadily climbed ahead in the third, building out a 7-4 lead on a Harmotto kill and an 11-6 lead on another one by Brown. The Cardinal picked up two blocks to climb back to 11-9 and were still within two when Okogbaa solo stuffed a ball at 16-14. The Nittany Lion lead wavered between two and three until Fawcett ripped a kill to make it 21-17. Down 23-18, however Klineman drilled five kills in a six-point span to pull Stanford back in contention, 24-23. Fawcett knocked a kill off the Cardinal block to finish, however, sealing the Nittany Lion title with a 25-23 win.
Stanford finishes its season with a 31-4 record, its fourth 30-win season in the last five years. Stanford's Klineman and Barboza were both named to the 2008 Final Four All-Tournament Team.