1999 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
Encyclopedia
The 1999 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on December 2, 1999 with 64 teams and ended December 18 when Penn State defeated Stanford
in Honolulu, Hawaii
for the program's first NCAA title.
Penn State, appearing in their third straight title match, crushed Stanford in three games to claim the school's first ever national championship. The Lions had fallen short in five games the previous two years, falling to Stanford in 1997 and Long Beach State in 1998.
Final Four – Stan Sheriff Center
Penn State reached their third consecutive final after outlasting Pacific in five games. The Nittany Lions were paced by senior All-American Lauren Cacciamani with 26 kills, six blocks and a .304 attack percentage. Pacific was led by Elsa Stegemann who had a match high 31 kills. Pacific ended their season 32-3.
Behind freshman Logan Tom
's 27 kills, Stanford downed defending national champion Long Beach State in three games.
Long Beach State opened the match scoring the first two points of game 1, but Stanford would control it from there, scoring eight straight points. In game 2, Stanford trailed 6-3 but took six of the next seven points to take the 9-7 lead. A service ace would seal game two for the Cardinal. Stanford dominated game 3, scoring the first 13 points before taking it 15-3.
Appearing in the program's third straight title match, the top ranked Penn State Nittany Lions crushed second ranked Stanford in three sets to claim the school's first national title.
In game 1, Penn State jumped out to the 8-0 lead, before taking the first game 15-2. The Lions had 10 team blocks in game 1 alone, and hit .258 in game 1. Stanford had 19 hitting errors in the opening game.
Stanford jumped out to the 3-1 lead in game 2, but Penn State tied the game up at 6. After that, Penn State scored six straight points to take the 12-6 lead. Stanford would get no closer than three points, as Penn State took game 2 15-10.
Penn State lead 7-6 in game 3, and eventually stretched the lead to 11-6. Stanford scored their last point on a Lion hitting error, as Penn State scored the final four points. A Stanford hitting error that sailed wide sealed the national championship for Penn State, 15-7.
Penn State's Lauren Cacciamani, the co-AVCA National Player of the Year with Kerri Walsh
, had 20 kills and hit .344, while Walsh hit .000 with 11 kills and 11 errors. As a team, Stanford hit negative .008 (39 kills, 40 errors) while Penn State hit .240 (48 kills, 19 errors).
After losing their first match of the season, the Nittany Lions reeled off 36 consecutive wins. The win gave Russ Rose his first NCAA title as the Penn State head coach after three previous runner-up finishes, while Stanford finished as NCAA runners-up for the fourth time in school history.
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...
in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
for the program's first NCAA title.
Penn State, appearing in their third straight title match, crushed Stanford in three games to claim the school's first ever national championship. The Lions had fallen short in five games the previous two years, falling to Stanford in 1997 and Long Beach State in 1998.
University Park Regional
Stockton Regional
Los Angeles Regional
Honolulu Regional
Final Four – Stan Sheriff CenterStan Sheriff CenterThe Stan Sheriff Center is a 10,300-seat multi-purpose arena in Honolulu CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa...
, Honolulu, HI
Penn State vs. Pacific
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| PSU | 14 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 15 |
| PAC | 16 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 12 |
Penn State reached their third consecutive final after outlasting Pacific in five games. The Nittany Lions were paced by senior All-American Lauren Cacciamani with 26 kills, six blocks and a .304 attack percentage. Pacific was led by Elsa Stegemann who had a match high 31 kills. Pacific ended their season 32-3.
Stanford vs. Long Beach State
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| STAN | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| LBSU | 10 | 10 | 3 |
Behind freshman Logan Tom
Logan Tom
Logan Maile Lei Tom is an American indoor volleyball and beach volleyball player who plays for Fenerbahçe Universal. At age 19, Tom made her Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She also competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics...
's 27 kills, Stanford downed defending national champion Long Beach State in three games.
Long Beach State opened the match scoring the first two points of game 1, but Stanford would control it from there, scoring eight straight points. In game 2, Stanford trailed 6-3 but took six of the next seven points to take the 9-7 lead. A service ace would seal game two for the Cardinal. Stanford dominated game 3, scoring the first 13 points before taking it 15-3.
National Championship: Penn State vs. Stanford
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| PSU | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| STAN | 2 | 10 | 7 |
Appearing in the program's third straight title match, the top ranked Penn State Nittany Lions crushed second ranked Stanford in three sets to claim the school's first national title.
In game 1, Penn State jumped out to the 8-0 lead, before taking the first game 15-2. The Lions had 10 team blocks in game 1 alone, and hit .258 in game 1. Stanford had 19 hitting errors in the opening game.
Stanford jumped out to the 3-1 lead in game 2, but Penn State tied the game up at 6. After that, Penn State scored six straight points to take the 12-6 lead. Stanford would get no closer than three points, as Penn State took game 2 15-10.
Penn State lead 7-6 in game 3, and eventually stretched the lead to 11-6. Stanford scored their last point on a Lion hitting error, as Penn State scored the final four points. A Stanford hitting error that sailed wide sealed the national championship for Penn State, 15-7.
Penn State's Lauren Cacciamani, the co-AVCA National Player of the Year with Kerri Walsh
Kerri Walsh
Kerri Lee Walsh-Jennings is an American professional beach volleyball player.Walsh-Jennings and teammate Misty May-Treanor were the gold medalists in beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics...
, had 20 kills and hit .344, while Walsh hit .000 with 11 kills and 11 errors. As a team, Stanford hit negative .008 (39 kills, 40 errors) while Penn State hit .240 (48 kills, 19 errors).
After losing their first match of the season, the Nittany Lions reeled off 36 consecutive wins. The win gave Russ Rose his first NCAA title as the Penn State head coach after three previous runner-up finishes, while Stanford finished as NCAA runners-up for the fourth time in school history.
NCAA Tournament records
There is one NCAA tournament record that was set in the 1999 tournament that still stands.- Kills in a match (individual record) - Elsa Steggemen, University of the Pacific - 46 kills vs. Michigan (2nd round)