1998 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament

The 1998 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on December 3, 1998, with 64 teams and ended December 19 when Long Beach State defeated Penn State 3 games to 2 in Madison, Wisconsin, for the program's third NCAA title and fifth national title overall.

1998 NCAA Women's Division I Volleyball Tournament
1998 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Long Beach State (3rd NCAA (5th National) title)
Runner-up	Penn State (3rd title match)
Semifinalists	Florida (5th Final Four) Nebraska (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	Brian Gimmillaro (3rd title)
Most outstanding player	Misty May (Long Beach State) Lauren Cacciamani (Penn State)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Benishe Dillard (Long Beach State) Veronica Walls (Long Beach State) Jessica Alvarado (Long Beach State) Bonnie Bremner (Penn State)

Long Beach State became the first team in NCAA history to finish the season undefeated. Penn State, who was also undefeated before the championship, fell in the finals for the second year in a row.

The NCAA's expansion from 56 teams to 64 began in 1998.[1]

Records

The NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1998, joining the men's and women's basketball tournaments as the only 64-team NCAA Tournaments at the time. The NCAA baseball tournament would expand to the same size in 1999, followed by the NCAA women's soccer tournament in 2001 and the NCAA softball tournament in 2003. The Big Ten and Big 12 each earned six bids in 1998. The Pac-10 only received four bids in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, which is the fewest they have earned in the 64-team era.

Mountain Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona Pac-10 At-large 21-6 Colorado Big 12 At-large 21-7 Colorado State WAC At-large 23-7 Eastern Washington Big Sky At-large 24-5 Fresno State WAC At-large 18-10 4 Illinois Big Ten At-large 20-10 1 Long Beach State Big West Automatic 30-0 Milwaukee Midwestern Collegiate Automatic 25-5 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 17-12 San Jose State WAC At-large 21-11 South Carolina SEC At-large 21-10 Southeast Missouri State Ohio Valley Automatic 24-11 Southern SWAC Automatic 19-12 Southwest Texas State Southland Automatic 25-8 2 Stanford Pac-10 Automatic 25-3 3 Texas Big 12 At-large 24-2

East Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record 3 Arkansas SEC At-large 27-5 Brown Ivy League Automatic 23-8 Chattanooga Southern Automatic 23-10 1 Florida SEC Automatic 31-2 2 Hawaii WAC Automatic 29-2 Indiana Big Ten At-large 15-13 Miami (OH) MAC Automatic 26-7 Nevada Big West At-large 22-6 New Hampshire America East Automatic 24-10 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic 25-2 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 16-13 Temple Atlantic 10 Automatic 22-9 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 20-8 Texas Tech Big 12 At-large 23-10 UMBC Northeast Automatic 22-6 4 USC Pac-10 At-large 22-5

Central Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record American CAA Automatic 29-5 Bucknell Patriot Automatic 16-11 2 BYU WAC At-large 28-3 Cal State Sacramento Big Sky Automatic 25-8 Clemson ACC At-large 21-10 Coastal Carolina Big South Automatic 23-12 Fairfield MAAC Automatic 35-1 Florida Atlantic Trans America Automatic 16-5 Florida State ACC Automatic 25-10 Georgetown Big East At-large 24-5 Houston Conference USA At-large 21-12 Kansas State Big 12 At-large 18-11 4 Louisville Conference USA Automatic 27-4 Northern Illinois MAC At-large 26-6 3 Pacific Big West At-large 24-5 1 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 30-0

Pacific Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Ark.-Little Rock Sun Belt Automatic 20-8 Illinois State Missouri Valley At-large 22-9 4 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 23-6 Morgan State MEAC Automatic 18-14 1 Nebraska Big 12 Automatic 28-1 North Carolina ACC At-large 28-7 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent Automatic 29-5 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 17-10 San Diego West Coast Automatic 23-5 Santa Clara West Coast At-large 20-9 South Florida Conference USA At-large 25-7 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 15-11 3 UC Santa Barbara Big West At-large 26-5 Utah WAC At-large 20-9 Virginia ACC At-large 26-7 2 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 27-4

Mountain Regional (Long Beach)

	First round December 3–4					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 10–11					Regional finals December 12–13
	1	Long Beach State	3
		Southern	0
						1	Long Beach State	3
	Long Beach, CA
							Arizona	0
	Arizona		3
	Fresno State		0
											1	Long Beach State	3
											4	Illinois	0
	Colorado		3
	San Jose State		0
							Colorado	1
	Champaign, IL
						4	Illinois	3
	4	Illinois	3
		SW Texas State	1
																1	Long Beach State	3
																3	Texas	0
	Colorado State		3
	South Carolina		2
							Colorado State	0
	Austin, TX
						3	Texas	3
	3	Texas	3
		UW–Milwaukee	0
											3	Texas	3
											2	Stanford	1
	Notre Dame		3
	Eastern Washington		1
							Notre Dame	0
	Stanford, CA
						2	Stanford	3
	2	Stanford	3
		SE Missouri State	1

East Regional (Gainesville)

	First round December 3–4					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 10–11					Regional finals December 12–13
	1	Florida	3
		Chattanooga	0
						1	Florida	3
	Gainesville, FL
							Ohio State	1
	Texas Tech		2
	Ohio State		3
											1	Florida	3
											4	Southern California	1
	Texas A&M		3
	Temple		1
							Texas A&M	1
	Los Angeles, CA
						4	Southern California	3
	4	Southern California	3
		UMBC	0
																1	Florida	3
																2	Hawaiʻi	2
	Northern Iowa		0
	Indiana		3
							Indiana	0
	Fayetteville, AR
						3	Arkansas	3
	3	Arkansas	3
		New Hampshire	0
											3	Arkansas	0
											2	Hawaiʻi	3
	Nevada		0
	Miami (Oh.)		3
							Miami (Oh.)	0
	Honolulu, HI
						2	Hawaiʻi	3
	2	Hawaiʻi	3
		Brown	0

Central Regional (University Park)

	First round December 3–4					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 10–11					Regional finals December 12–13
	1	Penn State	3
		Bucknell	0
						1	Penn State	3
	University Park, PA
							Clemson	0
	Fairfield		0
	Clemson		3
											1	Penn State	3
											4	Louisville	0
	Florida State		1
	Northern Illinois		3
							Northern Illinois	1
	Louisville, KY
						4	Louisville	3
	4	Louisville	3
		American	0
																1	Penn State	3
																2	BYU	0
	Cal St. Sacramento		3
	Houston		0
							Cal St. Sacramento	0
	Stockton, CA
						3	Pacific	3
	3	Pacific	3
		Florida Atlantic	0
											3	Pacific	1
											2	BYU	3
	Kansas State		3
	Georgetown		0
							Kansas State	0
	Provo, UT
						2	BYU	3
	2	BYU	3
		Coastal Carolina	0

Pacific Regional (Lincoln)

	First round December 3–4					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 10–11					Regional finals December 12–13
	1	Nebraska	3
		Morgan State	0
						1	Nebraska	3
	Lincoln, NE
							Utah	1
	Utah		3
	Illinois State		0
											1	Nebraska	3
												Pepperdine	2
	North Carolina		3
	Oral Roberts		2
						North Carolina		0
	East Lansing, MI
						Pepperdine		3
	4	Michigan State	2
		Pepperdine	3
																1	Nebraska	3
																2	Wisconsin	2
	Virginia		1
	UCLA		3
							UCLA	1
	Santa Barbara, CA
						3	UCSB	3
	3	UCSB	3
		Santa Clara	0
											3	UCSB	2
											2	Wisconsin	3
	South Florida		0
	San Diego		3
							San Diego	0
	Madison, WI
						2	Wisconsin	3
	2	Wisconsin	3
		Arkansas-Little Rock	0

Final Four – Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin

	National Semifinals December 17					National Championship December 19
	1	Long Beach State	3
	1	Florida	0
						1	Long Beach State	3
						1	Penn State	2
	1	Penn State	3
	1	Nebraska	1

National Semifinals

Long Beach State vs. Florida

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
LBSU	15	15	15
FLA	2	8	10

Long Beach advanced to the finals easily, taking the 10-0 lead in the opening game before winning 15-2. Florida staved off seven game points in the second game before falling 15-8. Long Beach then won a closer third game to sweep the Gators.

Misty May put down 11 kills and had two service aces, while Jessica Alvarado led the 49ers with 12 kills.

Penn State vs. Nebraska

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
PSU	15	15	8	15
NEB	11	8	15	11

Lauren Cacciamani had 20 kills, Christy Cochran had 19 and the three-time all-American Bonnie Bremner had 13 to help Penn State beat No. 3 Nebraska in four games. The Huskers ended their season 32-2 while Penn State improved to 35-0 and advanced to the program's third title match.

National Championship: Long Beach State vs. Penn State

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
LBSU	15	15	13	14	15
PSU	3	10	15	16	12

Long Beach took the first two games easily, 15-3 and 15-10. However, like the 1997 NCAA championship, Penn State took the next two games to force a fifth game.

In the decisive rally-scoring fifth game, Penn State led 7-2, but Long Beach tied it up at 8. Tied at 12, Long Beach State's Jessica Alvardo put down two kills before Veronica Wall's 19th kill of the night ended the match, 15-12. Long Beach State's Misty May, also the AVCA National Player of the Year, was named the co-MVP of the Championship along with Penn State's Lauren Cacciamani.[2]

NCAA Tournament records

There are two NCAA tournament records that were set in the 1998 tournament.

• Service aces, tournament (individual record) - Misty May, Long Beach State - 20 (4 vs. Southern, 4 vs. Arizona, 4 vs. Illinois, 4 vs. Texas, 2 vs. Florida, 2 vs. Penn State)
• Service aces, tournament (team record) - Long Beach State - 43 (shared with 2007 Penn State) (15 vs. Southern, 7 vs. Arizona, 8 vs. Illinois, 6 vs. Texas, 4 vs. Florida, 3 vs. Penn State)

References

1. 1998-12-03 "Penn State earns top seed for NCAA tournament" The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved on 2009-1-12
2. 1998-12-20. "WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP; Long Beach State Edges Penn State" The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-1-12.