NCAA | Familiar two at Final Four

Washington among decade’s best as Penn State and Texas continue a habit

• #12 Wisconsin vs. #1 Texas | December 19 | 4:30 PM |Key Arena (NCAA Semifinal)
• #2 Penn State vs. #3 Washington | December 19 | 6:30 PM |Key Arena (NCAA Semifinal)

12.16.2013 | 8:00AM | TICKET UPDATE: The Seattle Sports Commission reports that only 540 tickets remain to the general public through Ticketmaster. See Still Looking for NCAA Volleyball Tickets?

For Lions and Longhorns, the Final Four is familiar territory. For the fifth time in the past six seasons, Penn State and Texas have both qualified for the final weekend of volleyball competition. And over the past decade, only Washington, Stanford and USC come close.

NCAA Women’s D1 Volleyball Final Four appearances, 2004-2013

Teams qualifying two or more times (champions in red)

Penn St				2007	2008	2009	2010		2012	2013
Texas					2008	2009	2010		2012	2013
Washington	2004	2005	2006							2013
Stanford	2004		2006	2007	2008
USC	2004			2007			2010	2011
Nebraska		2005	2006		2008
UCLA			2006					2011
Minnesota	2004					2009

Penn State's Arielle Wilson (7) attacks during the
2009 Championship match against Texas in Tampa
-Associated Press

Texas and Penn State have met twice in Final Fours during that span, with the Nittany Lions winning in 2009 (Championship) and again in 2010 (semifinals.) Many rank the 2009 contest as one of the best championship matches ever. Texas took a 2-0 lead, only to have undefeated Penn State win the final three, 15-13 in the fifth set. The match featured an epic battle between future Olympians Destinee Hooker of Texas and Megan Hodge of Penn State. Hooker had 34 kills on 76 swings; Hodge recorded 21 kills on 73 attacks.

The following season’s rematch was a wipeout, as the Nittany Lions won easily 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-22) in the semis, before sweeping California in the Finals for its fourth consecutive national championship.

See also:

Still looking for NCAA Volleyball Championship tickets? Better hurry.

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