The 1997 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began with 56 teams and ended on December 20, 1997 when Stanford

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 defeated Penn State 3 games to 2 in the NCAA championship match.

Stanford won their second straight title and 4th in 6 years. After winning the first two games 15-10, 15-6, Penn State forced a fifth game as the Nittany Lions won the next two 15-2, 17-15. In the decisive fifth game, Stanford jumped out to the 12-8 lead before Kristin Folkl

Kristin Folkl

Kristin Just Folkl is a former collegiate and professional women's basketball player. She now goes by her married name of Kristin Folkl-Kaburakis.-Early years and Stanford University:...

 recorded the final three kills for the 15-9 win. Stanford finished the year 33-2, with their only two losses coming from Penn State in the early season.

The 1997 NCAA tournament was the first, and would be the last, year with 56 tournament teams, as it was expanded from 48 teams (1993-1996). In 1998, the tournament would be expanded to its present day 64 tournament teams.

East Regional - University Park, PA

Central Regional - Madison, WI

Pacific Regional - Long Beach, CA

Mountain Regional - Stanford, CA

Final Four - Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington

Spokane, Washington

Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...