Posted on: Friday, December 10, 2004

Stanford, Texas in region rematch

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Stanford hasn't lost in a regional semifinal since 1998. That came against Texas, in the Longhorns' last regional appearance. Tonight, the teams play again in the opener at Resch Center.

Texas, which missed the postseason for only the second time last year, was seeded sixth by the NCAA and is ranked 11th in the Coaches Top 25. The Cardinal are seeded 11th, but ranked sixth. Both teams have legitimate Player of the Year candidates and feature several freshmen.

Croatian Mira Topic is seventh nationally in kills (5.65 per game) for the Longhorns. The 6-foot-3 senior is also hitting .312 and averaging more than three digs a game. Topic, who graduated last Saturday, is Texas' career kill leader and the Big 12 Player of the Year.

Stanford's Ogonna Nnamani is the only Olympian in collegiate volleyball. She played in Athens before coming back for her final year. Nnamani is averaging 5.88 kills, hitting .338 and is the Pac-10 Player of the Year. She is also the conference's career kill leader with 2,333, and eighth in NCAA history.

The Cardinal, who have won their last 11, start three freshmen, including setter Bryn Kehoe. Texas plays four freshmen in its eight-player rotation, including setter Michelle Moriarty, who is from nearby Appleton. Moriarty said she has 17 people coming to tonight's match.

NOTES

Cold inside: Tournament officials here are hoping to draw 5,000 tonight at Resch Center, which holds 9,877. As of yesterday, 1,200 two-day passes had been sold. Organizers predicted the volleyball will bring 3,000 people to town, with an economic impact of $1 million. The Packers are also in town this weekend so volleyball room tariffs were raised by hotels.

Family trait: The Stanford Director of Volleyball Operations is Punahou graduate Cobey Shoji, daughter of UH coach Dave Shoji.

One more time: Ha'iku's Leahi Hall, a defensive specialist, is one of three seniors on the Stanford roster. Texas, Hawai'i and Wisconsin each have two seniors.

Klum alum: Texas coach Jeritt Elliott played for the University of Hawai'i in 1990, but not much because of abdominal and shoulder injuries. His most vivid memory of UH fans remains the late "Crazy Mary." Former Baylor coach Brian Hosfeld is in his first year as one of Elliott's assistants. Hosfeld and UH associate coach Charlie Wade co-founded the Magnum Volleyball Club in Southern California.

Series streaks: Hawai'i has won all but one of its 10 matches against Texas. The loss came in the 1988 national championship final. The 'Bows lead the series with Stanford 17-11, after breaking a seven-match losing streak last year.

Surprise: Louisville and Georgia Tech are the only unseeded teams to reach the regionals. Louisville, which hosts a regional this week, upset 16th-seeded Missouri. Georgia Tech swept 13th-seeded UC-Santa Barbara and plays fourth-seeded Minnesota in a regional semifinal at Minneapolis.

Big Seven: This is the fifth time the Big Ten has sent seven or more teams to the NCAA Tournament. Penn State is the only conference team to win the NCAA title, in 1999 at Hawai'i. The Rainbows are 30-4 against Big Ten competition, and 1-1 against Wisconsin.

END QUOTE

Question to Wisconsin coach Pete Waite from an Internet chat:

"Hawai'i always leads with attendance figures. What kind of facility do they have to compete? Is it outside?"

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.