Florida Fills Out Final Four Volleyball Field Ncaa Championships Headed For Spokane With Field Including Top Three Teams In Poll

Filling the final spot supplied the most suspense.

After rallying from a two-game deficit, the University of Florida women’s volleyball team came back to beat Wisconsin 8-15, 14-16, 15-7, 15-11, 15-5, Sunday at Madison, Wis. The Gators, seeded second in the Central Regional behind the Badgers, earned the fourth spot in the NCAA Tournament, to be played Thursday and Saturday in Spokane.

The field will include three of the top four teams in the USA Today/ACVA poll, No. 1 Long Beach State, No. 2 Penn State and No. 3 Stanford. Florida’s eighth-ranked Gators, who defeated No. 11 Washington State 3-0 in the regional, will return to the Final Four for the fourth time in the past six years. Last year, they lost to Hawaii in the national semifinal.

The Gators were the only regional champion who did not win on their home court.

The semifinal round - scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday - includes top-seeded Penn State (33-1) vs. fifth overall seed Florida (34-3). No. 2 seed Long Beach State (33-1) vs. third-seeded Stanford (31-2).

Stanford, the defending champion, earned its fourth straight Final Four appearance. The Cardinal is seeking its third national title in four years.

Penn State is competing in its third Final Four, all in the past five years. The Nittany Lions reached the championship match once, losing to Long Beach State in 1993.

That was the last time the 49ers qualified for the Final Four.

This year’s contenders have a lot in common. Aside from Florida’s five-match tussle against Wisconsin, the regional winners breezed through the postseason.

Penn State of the East swept Northern Illinois, Ohio State and Brigham Young. The Mountain Region’s Stanford had little problem with Oklahoma, Colorado and UC Santa Barbara. Pacific Regional champ Long Beach State qualified with 3-0 scores over Loyola Marymount, Washington and Nebraska.

When the teams play in Spokane, it won’t be the first time some of them have faced each other this year.

Stanford, which features outside hitter Kristin Folkl, Pacific-10 Conference player of the year, has suffered two losses - both to Penn State, early in the season. Since then, middle blocker Kerri Walsh has returned to the lineup after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. The Cardinal have won 26 straight matches and have only dropped three games during that span.

Long Beach State brings in Big West player of the year Misty May, a setter. The 49ers have only lost to Florida. The two teams split back-to-back matches in September. The Big West champion 49ers have won 23 straight, also dropping just three games.

Penn State’s sole loss came against Big Ten rival Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions, who also feature their conference’s player of the year in setter Bonnie Bremner, have not dropped a set since beating Illinois 3-1 on Nov. 1.

Florida, however, has struggled lately, losing two of its last six matches. The Gators are led by the SEC player of the year, Nina Foster, a senior middle blocker who had 22 kills against Wisconsin on Sunday and 18 kills in Florida’s victory over WSU on Saturday.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FINAL FOUR Semifinals: Thursday, 6 p.m.* Penn State vs. Florida Long Beach State vs. Stanford Championship: Saturday, noon Semifinal winners *Order of semifinals TBA