2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
Encyclopedia
The 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on November 29, 2007 with 64 teams and concluded on December 15, 2007 when Penn State defeated Stanford
3 games to 2 in Sacramento, California
for the program's second NCAA title.
Penn State, who was making their first final four appearance since 1999, finished the season on a 26 match win streak. Their last loss of 2007 came at the hands of none other than Stanford in five games. Semifinalist California made the program's first NCAA Final Four appearance after upsetting defending champion Nebraska in the quarterfinals.
With Stanford, California and Southern California making the Final Four, it became the second straight year that the Final Four consisted of 3 Pac-10 teams. However, for the second straight year, it was the team from the different conference that won the national championship.
Stanford
Stanford Regional All-Tournament Team:
Gainesville
Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team:
University Park
Penn State, the #3 overall seed, swept past each opponent to advance to their 6th final four in school history and first since winning the NCAA title in 1999. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Arielle Wilson was named the regional most outstanding player.
University Park Regional All-Tournament Team:
Madison
when they came from 2 games down to defeat Minnesota, and eventually went on to win the title in Omaha, Nebraska
. California advanced to their first final four in school history.
Madison Regional All-Tournament Team:
Final Four – ARCO Arena
#1 Stanford: Stanford made the program's NCAA record 17th final four. In 2007 Stanford claimed their 2nd consecutive and 11th overall Pac-10 conference title. Four Stanford players were named AVCA All-Americans: Junior Foluke Akinradewo
, senior Bryn Kehoe, and junior Cynthia Barboza
took home first team honors while freshman Alix Klineman was placed on second team. Akinradewo was named the AVCA and Pac-10 Player of the Year, while Klineman was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Stanford's two losses of the season came from Washington and Southern California.
#3 Penn State: Penn State made the program's 6th final four. In 2007 Penn State claimed their Big Ten record 5th consecutive outright Big Ten title and 11th overall. Penn State finished the Big Ten season with a 20-0 record, the fourth time since joining in 1991 Penn State accomplished the feat. Four AVCA All-Americans were named on Penn State's squad, junior Nicole Fawcett
, junior Christa Harmotto
and sophomore Megan Hodge
were named to first team while sophomore Alisha Glass took second team. Harmotto was named the Big Ten Player of the Year
, while freshman Arielle Wilson, who was also named the University Park Regional most outstanding player, was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Penn State's two losses of the season came from Nebraska and Stanford.
#5 Southern California: USC made the program's 8th final four. USC had their hands full in the Gainesville regional, as they had back to back five game matches from Long Beach State and St. John's. They surprisingly swept #4 Texas in the regional finals. Senior Asia Kaczor was named an AVCA First Team All-American while sophomore Taylor Carico was named to second team. USC's four losses of the season came from Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. Kaczor was also named the Gainesville regional most outstanding player.
#10 California: California made the program's first final four. Senior Angie Pressey, the daughter of Paul Pressey
, was named an AVCA First Team All-American and also was selected for her fourth consecutive First Team All-Pac 10 honor, the first time in Cal's history that that happened. Sophomore Hana Cutura, who was also named the Madison regional most outstanding player was named an AVCA Second team All-American. Cal's losses of the season came from Colorado, Stanford twice, USC twice, UCLA and Washington.
USC started off the match taking the first game, 30-23. Stanford took the next two games, 30-20 & 30-25, before USC took the next game 30-20 to force a 5th game. The 5th game was back and forth, before Stanford saw a 3 point deficit at 11-9. Stanford rallied to tie the match at 12 all. The teams traded points before the score was tied at 13. USC took the next point to earn match point, but a service error on match point tied the game up at 14. Stanford took the next two points to win the match and 5th game, 16-14.
Penn State defeated California in a sweep, 30-28, 30-25, 30-16. The first game was tied at 28 before a solo block from Blair Brown gave Penn State the game, 30-28. The second game was not as close as Penn State won 30-25, and the third game Penn State won easily 30-16. Penn State advanced to their 5th national championship match in school history.
In front of the second highest crowd in NCAA history to watch a women's volleyball championship match, Penn State, coached by 2007 AVCA National Coach of the Year Russ Rose
, was ranked #1 in the AVCA coaches poll since October, but Stanford was the #1 seed, while previously ranked #4 in the poll. This was the third time in a decade that the two teams have met in the NCAA title match, tying an NCAA record. The teams previously met in 1997, when Stanford won in a five game match, and two years later, when Penn State won in a sweep. Additionally, Penn State and Stanford are the only Division I universities that have made every NCAA tournament appearance since NCAA starting sponsoring in 1981.
Coming into the match, Penn State had the highest hitting percentage in the nation as a team, while Stanford was ranked number 4. The first game started out back at forth with Stanford holding a slight edge at the media timeout at 15-13. The difference proved to be a 6-0 run after the timeout that separated Penn State from Stanford as the Cardinal never got closer than 3 points, with Penn State winning 30-25. The second game was much like the first as it featured many lead changes and ties. Penn State remained in control, never allowing Stanford to get closer than three points, thus winning 30-26 and sending Stanford in the locker room with their first 0-2 deficit of the season.
In the third game, Stanford responded back and took control of the third, by winning 30-23, and handing Penn State their first single game loss of the tournament, as Penn State swept through each opponent until that point, ending their bid to become just the 3rd school in NCAA history to sweep through each opponent en route to winning the NCAA title. The fourth game was all Stanford as Penn State saw them take the second game, 30-19 as Stanford did not record a hitting error, and force a 5th game. This was the first five game match in a championship since rally scoring began in 2001.
In the decisive 5th game, Penn State saw Stanford take a 4-3 lead out of Penn State errors, but after that, it was all Nittany Lions as they did not allow Stanford a single kill in a 7-0 scoring run to take their biggest lead of the night at 10-4. Stanford was not able to get any closer than 4 points. Stanford took their last point on their only kill of the game, but Penn State took the next points to earn match point on a block and MVP Megan Hodge
's 26th kill of the match sealed the championship, 15-8. As a team, Stanford hit negatively, with 1 kill, 4 errors on 19 attempts to hit -.158%, compared to Penn State's 11 kills, 5 errors on 21 attempts to hit .286% in the fifth game. Penn State outhit Stanford for the match, .317 to .291, just the second time all season Stanford was outhit. This win snapped an 12 match winning streak by Stanford, while it was the 26th consecutive match won by Penn State, as their last loss of the season was to Stanford exactly three months before on September 15, 2007, in another five game thriller.
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...
3 games to 2 in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
for the program's second NCAA title.
Penn State, who was making their first final four appearance since 1999, finished the season on a 26 match win streak. Their last loss of 2007 came at the hands of none other than Stanford in five games. Semifinalist California made the program's first NCAA Final Four appearance after upsetting defending champion Nebraska in the quarterfinals.
With Stanford, California and Southern California making the Final Four, it became the second straight year that the Final Four consisted of 3 Pac-10 teams. However, for the second straight year, it was the team from the different conference that won the national championship.
Participating teams
| Seed | School | Conference | Tournament Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | Pac-10 Conference | 5-1 |
| 2 | Nebraska | Big 12 Conference Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving... |
3-1 |
| 3 | Penn State | Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east... |
6-0 |
| 4 | Texas | Big 12 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Southern California | Pac-10 | 4-1 |
| 6 | Washington | Pac-10 | 1-1 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | 1-1 |
| 8 | UCLA | Pac-10 | 3-1 |
| 9 | Kansas State | Big 12 | 1-1 |
| 10 | California | Pac-10 | 4-1 |
| 11 | Hawaii | WAC Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS... |
1-1 |
| 12 | St. John's (NY) | Big East Conference Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports... |
2-1 |
| 13 | Florida | SEC Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama... |
2-1 |
| 14 | Colorado State | MWC Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999... |
1-1 |
| 15 | Dayton | Atlantic 10 Conference | 1-1 |
| 16 | Cal Poly | Big West Conference Big West Conference The Big West Conference is an NCAA-affiliated Division I mid-major college athletic conference. When the conference began in 1969, its name was the Pacific Coast Athletic Association . After nineteen years, in 1988, its name was changed to the Big West Conference. The conference stopped... |
2-1 |
| Alabama | SEC | 0-1 | |
| Alabama A&M | SWAC Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black universities in the Southern United States... |
0-1 | |
| Albany (NY) | America East | 1-1 | |
| American | Patriot League Patriot League The Patriot League is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I) for a number of sports; in football, it participates in the Football Championship Subdivision... |
0-1 | |
| BYU | Mountain West | 3-1 | |
| Clemson | ACC Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities... |
1-1 | |
| Cleveland State | Horizon Horizon League The Horizon League is a ten school, NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located in five of the Midwestern United States.... |
0-1 | |
| College of Charleston | Southern Southern Conference The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North... |
0-1 | |
| Delaware | Colonial Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose full-time members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to Georgia. Most of its members are public universities, with five in Virginia alone, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond,... |
1-1 | |
| Duke | ACC | 1-1 | |
| Florida A&M | Southern | 0-1 | |
| Illinois State | Missouri Valley Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States... |
0-1 | |
| Iowa State | Big 12 | 2-1 | |
| Kentucky | SEC | 0-1 | |
| Liberty | Big South Conference Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. The conference's football teams are part of the Football Championship Subdivision... |
0-1 | |
| Lipscomb | Atlantic Sun Conference Atlantic Sun Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference is a college athletic conference operating in the Southeastern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I; it does not sponsor football. The conference was established in 1978 as the Trans America Athletic Conference... |
0-1 | |
| Long Beach State | Big West | 1-1 | |
| Long Island | Northeast Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro... |
0-1 | |
| Louisville | Big East | 0-1 | |
| LSU | SEC | 1-1 | |
| Miami (Ohio) | Mid-American Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members... |
0-1 | |
| Michigan | Big Ten | 2-1 | |
| Michigan State | Big Ten | 2-1 | |
| Middle Tennessee | Sun Belt Sun Belt The Sun Belt or Spanish Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest . Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel, north latitude. It is the largest region which the U.S government does not recognize officially... |
2-1 | |
| Minnesota | Big Ten | 0-1 | |
| Mississippi | SEC | 0-1 | |
| Missouri | Big 12 | 0-1 | |
| Missouri St. | Missouri Valley | 0-1 | |
| New Mexico St. | WAC | 0-1 | |
| Northern Iowa | Missouri Valley | 0-1 | |
| Ohio | Mid-American | 0-1 | |
| Oklahoma | Big 12 | 1-1 | |
| Oregon | Pac-10 | 2-1 | |
| Pepperdine | WCC West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference is an NCAA collegiate athletics conference consisting of nine member schools across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington.... |
0-1 | |
| Princeton | Ivy League Ivy League The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group... |
0-1 | |
| Purdue | Big Ten | 1-1 | |
| Sacramento State | Big Sky Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,... |
1-1 | |
| San Diego | WCC | 0-1 | |
| Santa Clara | WCC | 2-1 | |
| Siena | MAAC Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the northeastern United States. MAAC teams compete in the NCAA's Division I. Most of the members are Catholic or formerly Catholic institutions; the only exception is the private but secular Rider... |
0-1 | |
| South Dakota St. | Summit | 0-1 | |
| Tennessee St. | Ohio Valley Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the midwestern and southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision , the lower of two levels of Division I... |
0-1 | |
| Texas St. | Southland Southland Conference The Southland Conference is a college athletic conference which operates in the south central United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision... |
0-1 | |
| Tulsa | Conference USA Conference USA Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports... |
0-1 | |
| UNLV | Mountain West | 0-1 | |
| Western Kentucky | Sun Belt | 0-1 | |
| Wichita St. | Missouri Valley | 1-1 | |
| Xavier | Atlantic 10 | 0-1 |
StanfordStanford, CaliforniaStanford is a census-designated place in Santa Clara County, California, United States and is the home of Stanford University. The population was 13,809 at the 2010 census....
Regional
Recap
There were generally no major upsets in this bracket region. Overall #1 seed Stanford advanced to the final four for the second straight year with a 3-1 victory over Pac-10 foe UCLA.Stanford Regional All-Tournament Team:
- Foluke AkinradewoFoluke AkinradewoFoluke Atinuke Akinradewo is a member of the U.S. national volleyball team. She played college women'svolleyball at Stanford University. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From February to July 2008, she trained with the U.S...
(MVP) - Stanford - Bryn Kehoe - Stanford
- Alix Klineman - Stanford
- Erin Waller - Stanford
- Kaitlin Sather - UCLA
- Nellie Spicer - UCLA
- Rachell Johnson - UCLA
GainesvilleGainesville, FloridaGainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
Regional
Recap
The biggest upset in the Gainesville bracket was #5 seed USC surprisingly sweeping #4 seed Texas, ending Texas' 24 match win streak.Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team:
- Asia Kaczor (MVP) - Southern California
- Diane Copenhagen - Southern California
- Jessica Gysin - Southern California
- Michelle Moriarty - Texas
- Ashley Engle - Texas
- Angie McGinnis - Florida
- Hui Ping Hang - St. John's
University ParkUniversity Park, PennsylvaniaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the location of the flagship campus of the Pennsylvania State University....
Regional
Recap
The first major upset seen in this bracket was unseeded and unranked BYU defeated six seeded and 2006 national semifinalist Washington on Washington's home court. Before the loss, Washington was undefeated at home in postseason play, boasting a 13-0 record. The second major upset was unseeded Middle Tennessee defeating 11th seeded Hawai'i in the second round. It was the first time in school history Hawai'i lost in the second round , and was also the first time in school history that Middle Tennessee advanced to the sweet 16. Another upset was unseeded Michigan defeating 14th seeded Colorado State.Penn State, the #3 overall seed, swept past each opponent to advance to their 6th final four in school history and first since winning the NCAA title in 1999. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Arielle Wilson was named the regional most outstanding player.
University Park Regional All-Tournament Team:
- Arielle Wilson (MVP) - Penn State
- Nicole FawcettNicole FawcettNicole Marie Fawcett is an American indoor volleyball player who played for Penn State University's volleyball team from 2005–2008, winning two NCAA National Championships in 2007 and 2008....
- Penn State - Christa HarmottoChrista HarmottoChrista Deanne Harmotto is an American indoor volleyball player who plays the middle blocker position. She played college volleyball at Pennsylvania State University team from 2005–2008. In 2009, she joined the U.S. National Team....
- Penn State - Chelsea Goodman - BYU
- Rachel Dyer - BYU
- Amy Schlauder - BYU
- Izabela Kozen - Middle Tennessee
MadisonMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
Regional
Recap
The biggest upset in the NCAA tournament occurred in the Madison regional final, where #10 seed California defeated defending champion and #2 seed Nebraska in a sweep. Nebraska saw their dominance slipping after having to come up from 2 games down in the regional semifinals against unseeded Michigan State. Nebraska has also never won a regional final outside of the state of Nebraska, with the exception of the 2006 tournament2006 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
The 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on November 30, 2006 with 64 teams and concluded on December 16, 2006, when top ranked Nebraska defeated second ranked Stanford 3 sets to 1 in Omaha, Nebraska for the program's third NCAA title....
when they came from 2 games down to defeat Minnesota, and eventually went on to win the title in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. California advanced to their first final four in school history.
Madison Regional All-Tournament Team:
- Hana Cutura (MVP) - California
- Angie Pressey - California
- Carli Lloyd - California
- Sarah PavanSarah PavanSarah Lindsey Pavan is a 6'5" Canadian volleyball player, who was born and raised in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, USA where she graduated in 2008...
- Nebraska - Tracy Stalls - Nebraska
Final Four – ARCO ArenaARCO ArenaPower Balance Pavilion is an indoor arena, located in the Natomas area of Sacramento, California. It is the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.-Background:...
, Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
Scouting final four members
#1 Stanford: Stanford made the program's NCAA record 17th final four. In 2007 Stanford claimed their 2nd consecutive and 11th overall Pac-10 conference title. Four Stanford players were named AVCA All-Americans: Junior Foluke Akinradewo
Foluke Akinradewo
Foluke Atinuke Akinradewo is a member of the U.S. national volleyball team. She played college women'svolleyball at Stanford University. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From February to July 2008, she trained with the U.S...
, senior Bryn Kehoe, and junior Cynthia Barboza
Cynthia Barboza
Cynthia Jane Barboza is an American volleyball player. She is an outside hitter who played at Stanford University for four years.-High school:...
took home first team honors while freshman Alix Klineman was placed on second team. Akinradewo was named the AVCA and Pac-10 Player of the Year, while Klineman was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Stanford's two losses of the season came from Washington and Southern California.
#3 Penn State: Penn State made the program's 6th final four. In 2007 Penn State claimed their Big Ten record 5th consecutive outright Big Ten title and 11th overall. Penn State finished the Big Ten season with a 20-0 record, the fourth time since joining in 1991 Penn State accomplished the feat. Four AVCA All-Americans were named on Penn State's squad, junior Nicole Fawcett
Nicole Fawcett
Nicole Marie Fawcett is an American indoor volleyball player who played for Penn State University's volleyball team from 2005–2008, winning two NCAA National Championships in 2007 and 2008....
, junior Christa Harmotto
Christa Harmotto
Christa Deanne Harmotto is an American indoor volleyball player who plays the middle blocker position. She played college volleyball at Pennsylvania State University team from 2005–2008. In 2009, she joined the U.S. National Team....
and sophomore Megan Hodge
Megan Hodge
Megan Hodge is an American indoor collegiate volleyball player who played for Pennsylvania State University's volleyball team.-Early life and high school:...
were named to first team while sophomore Alisha Glass took second team. Harmotto was named the Big Ten Player of the Year
Big Ten volleyball
Big Ten volleyball represents the 12 women's teams that participate in the conference. Through 2009, Big Ten volleyball has earned a combined 17 NCAA final four appearances by 6 different teams. In 1987, Illinois became the first program to represent the Big Ten in the final four, and in 1999...
, while freshman Arielle Wilson, who was also named the University Park Regional most outstanding player, was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Penn State's two losses of the season came from Nebraska and Stanford.
#5 Southern California: USC made the program's 8th final four. USC had their hands full in the Gainesville regional, as they had back to back five game matches from Long Beach State and St. John's. They surprisingly swept #4 Texas in the regional finals. Senior Asia Kaczor was named an AVCA First Team All-American while sophomore Taylor Carico was named to second team. USC's four losses of the season came from Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. Kaczor was also named the Gainesville regional most outstanding player.
#10 California: California made the program's first final four. Senior Angie Pressey, the daughter of Paul Pressey
Paul Pressey
Paul Matthew Pressey is an American former professional basketball player. Pressey is widely, though unofficially, credited with being the originator of the point forward position, combining the attributes of a point guard and forward...
, was named an AVCA First Team All-American and also was selected for her fourth consecutive First Team All-Pac 10 honor, the first time in Cal's history that that happened. Sophomore Hana Cutura, who was also named the Madison regional most outstanding player was named an AVCA Second team All-American. Cal's losses of the season came from Colorado, Stanford twice, USC twice, UCLA and Washington.
Stanford vs. Southern California
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| STAN | 23 | 30 | 30 | 20 | 16 |
| USC | 30 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 14 |
USC started off the match taking the first game, 30-23. Stanford took the next two games, 30-20 & 30-25, before USC took the next game 30-20 to force a 5th game. The 5th game was back and forth, before Stanford saw a 3 point deficit at 11-9. Stanford rallied to tie the match at 12 all. The teams traded points before the score was tied at 13. USC took the next point to earn match point, but a service error on match point tied the game up at 14. Stanford took the next two points to win the match and 5th game, 16-14.
Penn State vs. California
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| PSU | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| CAL | 28 | 25 | 16 |
Penn State defeated California in a sweep, 30-28, 30-25, 30-16. The first game was tied at 28 before a solo block from Blair Brown gave Penn State the game, 30-28. The second game was not as close as Penn State won 30-25, and the third game Penn State won easily 30-16. Penn State advanced to their 5th national championship match in school history.
National Championship recap: Stanford vs. Penn State
| Teams | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| PSU | 30 | 30 | 23 | 19 | 15 |
| STAN | 25 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 8 |
Russ Rose
Russell "Russ" David Rose is an American author, professor and volleyball coach at Penn State University . His coaching record is 1,033-164, an .863 winning percentage which ranks first in NCAA history...
, was ranked #1 in the AVCA coaches poll since October, but Stanford was the #1 seed, while previously ranked #4 in the poll. This was the third time in a decade that the two teams have met in the NCAA title match, tying an NCAA record. The teams previously met in 1997, when Stanford won in a five game match, and two years later, when Penn State won in a sweep. Additionally, Penn State and Stanford are the only Division I universities that have made every NCAA tournament appearance since NCAA starting sponsoring in 1981.
Coming into the match, Penn State had the highest hitting percentage in the nation as a team, while Stanford was ranked number 4. The first game started out back at forth with Stanford holding a slight edge at the media timeout at 15-13. The difference proved to be a 6-0 run after the timeout that separated Penn State from Stanford as the Cardinal never got closer than 3 points, with Penn State winning 30-25. The second game was much like the first as it featured many lead changes and ties. Penn State remained in control, never allowing Stanford to get closer than three points, thus winning 30-26 and sending Stanford in the locker room with their first 0-2 deficit of the season.
In the third game, Stanford responded back and took control of the third, by winning 30-23, and handing Penn State their first single game loss of the tournament, as Penn State swept through each opponent until that point, ending their bid to become just the 3rd school in NCAA history to sweep through each opponent en route to winning the NCAA title. The fourth game was all Stanford as Penn State saw them take the second game, 30-19 as Stanford did not record a hitting error, and force a 5th game. This was the first five game match in a championship since rally scoring began in 2001.
In the decisive 5th game, Penn State saw Stanford take a 4-3 lead out of Penn State errors, but after that, it was all Nittany Lions as they did not allow Stanford a single kill in a 7-0 scoring run to take their biggest lead of the night at 10-4. Stanford was not able to get any closer than 4 points. Stanford took their last point on their only kill of the game, but Penn State took the next points to earn match point on a block and MVP Megan Hodge
Megan Hodge
Megan Hodge is an American indoor collegiate volleyball player who played for Pennsylvania State University's volleyball team.-Early life and high school:...
's 26th kill of the match sealed the championship, 15-8. As a team, Stanford hit negatively, with 1 kill, 4 errors on 19 attempts to hit -.158%, compared to Penn State's 11 kills, 5 errors on 21 attempts to hit .286% in the fifth game. Penn State outhit Stanford for the match, .317 to .291, just the second time all season Stanford was outhit. This win snapped an 12 match winning streak by Stanford, while it was the 26th consecutive match won by Penn State, as their last loss of the season was to Stanford exactly three months before on September 15, 2007, in another five game thriller.
NCAA Tournament records
There were three NCAA tournament records that were set in the 2007 tournament that still stand.- Hitting percentage, tournament (team record) - Penn State, .424% (.514 vs. Siena, .602 vs. Albany, .384 vs. Michigan, .530 vs. BYU, .347 vs. California, .291 vs. Stanford).
- Services aces, tournament (team record) - Penn State, 43 (tied with 1998 Long Beach State) (7 vs. Siena, 9 vs. Albany, 8 vs. Michigan, 11 vs. BYU, 6 vs. California, 2 vs. Stanford).
- Kills, tournament (team record) - Stanford, 421 (55 vs. Santa Clara, 61 vs. Sacramento State, 59 vs. Cal Poly, 91 vs. UCLA, 83 vs. Southern California, 72 vs. Penn State).