2003 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament

The 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on December 4, 2003 with 64 teams and ended December 18 when Southern California defeated Florida 3 games to 1 in Dallas, Texas for the program's third NCAA title and sixth national title overall.

2003 NCAA Women's Division I Volleyball Tournament
2003 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Southern California (3rd NCAA (6th National) title)
Runner-up	Florida (1st title match)
Semifinalists	Hawaiʻi (8th Final Four) Minnesota (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Mick Haley (3rd title)
Most outstanding player	Keao Burdine (2nd) (Southern California)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Bibiana Candelas (Southern California) April Ross (Southern California) Jane Collymore (Florida) Aury Cruz (Florida) Cassie Busse (Minnesota)

It was Southern California's second consecutive NCAA title. The team capped off the 2003 season undefeated at 35-0, becoming the third team in NCAA history to accomplish the feat,[1] the first repeat NCAA national champion to go undefeated, and the first team in the NCAA era to be ranked #1 in the coaches poll for the entire season.

Florida made the school's first national championship match in the program's seventh final four appearance. Minnesota also made the program's first NCAA final four appearance.

Records

Three teams in the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Tournament qualified with either 0 or 1 losses: USC (29-0), Hawaii (32-1), and Florida (31-1). It is the most recent tournament to feature at least three such teams.

Lincoln Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona Pac-10 At-large 17-14 Cal State Northridge Big West At-large 16-12 Dayton Atlantic 10 Automatic 25-9 Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large 25-6 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 19-11 Missouri Big 12 At-large 18-10 9 Nebraska Big 12 At-large 26-4 New Hampshire America East Automatic 23-11 Nicholls State Southland Automatic 18-14 San Diego West Coast At-large 17-12 16 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 21-9 UC Irvine Big West At-large 23-9 8 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 21-8 1 USC Pac-10 Automatic 29-0 Valparaiso Mid-Continent Automatic 27-7 Wisconsin Big Ten At-large 21-10

Long Beach Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Green Bay Horizon Automatic 23-10 Kansas Big 12 At-large 21-10 Long Beach State Big West At-large 19-10 Manhattan MAAC Automatic 21-13 13 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 22-10 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley Automatic 27-5 Northwestern Big Ten At-large 18-14 Pacific Big West At-large 17-13 4 Pepperdine West Coast Automatic 25-2 Sacramento State Big Sky Automatic 23-11 San Francisco West Coast At-large 23-7 Santa Clara West Coast At-large 20-10 5 Stanford Pac-10 At-large 23-6 UC Santa Barbara Big West Automatic 19-8 Utah Mountain West At-large 20-8 12 Washington Pac-10 At-large 19-8

Gainesville Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record American Patriot Automatic 22-9 Arkansas SEC At-large 26-6 Cincinnati Conference USA At-large 27-5 14 Colorado State Mountain West Automatic 28-4 3 Florida SEC Automatic 31-1 George Mason CAA Automatic 16-14 Georgia Southern Southern Automatic 27-9 6 Kansas State Big 12 Automatic 28-4 Maryland ACC Automatic 26-7 Ohio MAC Automatic 28-4 Penn Ivy League Automatic 20-6 11 Penn State Big Ten Automatic 28-4 Pittsburgh Big East Automatic 25-5 Robert Morris Northeast Automatic 23-11 Southwest Missouri State Missouri Valley At-large 27-5 UCF Atlantic Sun Automatic 22-6

Honolulu Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Alabama A&M SWAC Automatic 23-5 BYU Mountain West At-large 22-8 10 California Pac-10 At-large 23-6 Colorado Big 12 At-large 21-9 Florida A&M MEAC Automatic 26-3 7 Georgia Tech ACC At-large 31-3 2 Hawaii WAC Automatic 32-1 Idaho Big West At-large 19-10 15 Illinois Big Ten At-large 24-6 Louisville Conference USA Automatic 24-5 Michigan Big Ten At-large 20-11 Murray State Ohio Valley Automatic 24-5 New Mexico State Sun Belt Automatic 30-4 Notre Dame Big East At-large 23-6 Saint Mary's West Coast At-large 20-12 Winthrop Big South Automatic 24-12

Lincoln Regional

	First round December 4–5					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 12					Regional finals December 13
	1	Southern California	3
		New Hampshire	0
						1	Southern California	3
	Los Angeles, CA
							Loyola Marymount	0
	Cal St. Northridge		0
	Loyola Marymount		3
											1	Southern California	3
											16	Texas A&M	0
	Arizona		1
	Wisconsin		3
							Wisconsin	0
	College Station, TX
						16	Texas A&M	3
		Nicholls St.	0
	16	Texas A&M	3
																1	Southern California	3
																8	UCLA	1
	9	Nebraska	3
		Valparaiso	0
						9	Nebraska	3
	East Lansing, MI
							Dayton	0
	Dayton		3
	Michigan State		2
											9	Nebraska	1
											8	UCLA	3
	Missouri		2
	UC Irvine		3
							UC Irvine	0
	Los Angeles, CA
						8	UCLA	3
		San Diego	0
	8	UCLA	3

Long Beach Regional

	First round December 4–5					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 12					Regional finals December 13
	5	Stanford	3
		Sacramento St.	0
						5	Stanford	3
	Stanford, CA
							Pacific	0
	Pacific		3
	San Francisco		0
											5	Stanford	1
											12	Washington	3
	Santa Clara		2
	Utah		3
							Utah	0
	Seattle, WA
						12	Washington	3
		Northwestern	0
	12	Washington	3
																12	Washington	2
																13	Minnesota	3
	13	Minnesota	3
		Wisconsin-Green Bay	0
						13	Minnesota	3
	Minneapolis, MN
							Northern Iowa	1
	UCSB		2
	Northern Iowa		3
											13	Minnesota	3
											4	Pepperdine	2
	Kansas		3
	Long Beach St.		0
							Kansas	1
	Malibu, CA
						4	Pepperdine	3
		Manhattan	0
	4	Pepperdine	3

Gainesville Regional

	First round December 4–5					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 12					Regional finals December 13
	3	Florida	3
		Georgia Southern	0
						3	Florida	3
	Gainesville, FL
							Central Florida	0
	Cincinnati		2
	Central Florida		3
											3	Florida	3
											14	Colorado St.	0
	Maryland		3
	American		0
							Maryland	0
	College Park, MD
						14	Colorado St.	3
		George Mason	0
	14	Colorado St.	3
																3	Florida	3
																11	Penn St.	0
	11	Penn St.	3
		Robert Morris	0
						11	Penn St.	3
	University Park, PA
							Pittsburgh	1
	Pittsburgh		3
	Pennsylvania		1
											11	Penn St.	3
											6	Kansas State	1
	SW Missouri St.		1
	Arkansas		3
							Arkansas	0
	Manhattan, KS
						6	Kansas State	3
		Ohio	0
	6	Kansas State	3

Honolulu Regional

	First round December 4–5					Second round December 5–6					Regional semifinals December 12					Regional finals December 13
	7	Georgia Tech	3
		Alabama A&M	0
						7	Georgia Tech	3
	Atlanta, GA
							Florida A&M	0
	Winthrop		0
	Florida A&M		3
											7	Georgia Tech	3
											10	California	0
	Colorado		0
	Michigan		3
							Michigan	0
	Berkeley, CA
						10	California	3
		St. Mary's	0
	10	California	3
																7	Georgia Tech	1
																2	Hawaiʻi	3
	15	Illinois	3
		Murray St.	0
						15	Illinois	3
	Champaign, IL
							Louisville	0
	Notre Dame		0
	Louisville		3
											15	Illinois	0
											2	Hawaiʻi	3
	New Mexico St.		0
	BYU		3
							BYU	0
	Honolulu, HI
						2	Hawaiʻi	3
		Idaho	0
	2	Hawaiʻi	3

Final Four – Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas

	National Semifinals December 18					National Championship December 20
	1	Southern California	3
	13	Minnesota	0
						1	Southern California	3
						3	Florida	1
	3	Florida	3
	2	Hawaiʻi	1

National Semifinals

Southern California vs. Minnesota

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
USC	30	30	30
MIN	27	28	20

Minnesota, making their first NCAA Final Four appearance in program history, played top-seeded USC tough in the first two sets, falling 30-27, 30-28. USC rode the momentum in the third set, winning easily 30-20 to advance to the national championship match for the second consecutive year. USC's balanced attack consisted off three players with double digit kills, including Bibiana Candelas with 12, Keao Burdine with 13 and April Ross with 11. Minnesota was led by Cassie Busse with 23 kills and Erin Martin with 11.[2]

Florida vs. Hawaiʻi

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
FLA	30	30	23	30
HAW	28	28	30	28

Florida and Hawaiʻi battled in the second semifinal, with Florida looking to advance to their first final in school history after being 0-for-6 in previous NCAA semifinals, while Hawaiʻi was looking to advance to their first final since 1996.

Both teams played even in the first two games, but it was Florida who won them by the scores of 30-28, 30-28. Hawaiʻi answered back after the break to win 30-23. The 30-23 loss was the first individual game the Gators lost since August 23, breaking their NCAA record of 105 straight game wins. Florida and Hawaiʻi once again played even in the fourth set, but Hawaiʻi was unable to force a fifth set as Florida won the fourth set, 30-28.[3] Hawaiʻi was paced by AVCA National Player of the Year Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku who both had 21 kills.[4]

National Championship: Southern California vs. Florida

Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4
USC	25	30	30	30
FLA	30	27	19	26

Florida started out the match well by winning the first set off of undefeated Southern California. USC answered back by taking the second set 30-27 and used a 6-0 run in the third set to win easily, 30-19. In the fourth set, USC never trailed and led 22-15 before Florida mounted a comeback to cut USC's lead to 25-23. USC did not let up and won the fourth and final set 30-26 to cap off an undefeated season at 35-0. Florida ended their season at 36-2 with their only other loss coming to USC in the season opening AVCA Showcase tournament.

References

1. "Perfect ending to a perfect season!". Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
2. Minnesota vs. USC boxscore
3. "Florida VB advances to National Championship match". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
4. Florida vs. Hawaii boxscore