"We're happy to be here, maybe relieved to be here," Dunning said today, when he gave the Cardinal players a day off heading into the title tilt tomorrow night against Penn State. "It'd be an understatement to say that was a great match."

Volleyball fans could be in for another thriller at Arco Arena, as Saturday's matchup features six first-team All-Americans — three on each side — and two teams with a combined 65 wins and only four losses.

The third-seeded Nittany Lions (33-2) have reeled off 25 straight victories since a five-game loss to the Cardinal on Sept. 15, dropping just six games during that impressive run. While Penn State certainly is anticipating a rematch, Stanford (32-2) has a championship on the mind after losing in the final last year to Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are the only other team to beat Penn State this season.

The Cardinal are seeking their seventh NCAA title and first since 2004, and only seniors Bryn Kehoe and Franci Girard were part of that championship team. They barely got to the final this time: earning a hard-fought 23-30, 30-20, 30-25, 20-30, 16-14 win Thursday night to extend their winning streak to 12 since losing at USC on Oct. 27.

Trailing 14-13 in Game 5, Cynthia Barboza watched as Asia Kaczor's serve for the Trojans on match point landed just long. Kaczor was blocked on the next play and Barboza followed with the match-winning kill.

"Good eye," Dunning said with a grin, looking at Barboza and recalling the serve that just missed. "Perfect decision making on the floor."

Barboza has been focused all season on being more aggressive after feeling like she didn't do her part in Stanford's runner-up finish last year.

"One thing I do regret is I feel like I got tentative in the finals last year," the junior outside hitter said. "I think (falling short) makes us pretty hungry. Coming so close and coming up on the short end of the stick is a hard thing to go through. I think it is very vivid in our minds. We want to rewrite it this year and come out on top."

If the Nittany Lions were somehow to pull of an improbable sweep Saturday, they would become only the third team in NCAA history to win a title without dropping a single game. Texas did it in 1988 and Washington in 2005.

Penn State sophomore setter Alisha Glass was trying to protect her spot in the starting lineup earlier this year when her team faced Stanford. The Cardinal rallied from a 2-1 deficit.

"We had to take some things away from that match," Glass said. "I think when you schedule those teams and get to look at some of the top teams in the country, you get to gauge where you are. I think that was a stepping stone earlier in the season. I think we've come a long way since then."

Not only will the nation's two top hitters be on the floor in Pac-10 Player of the Year Foluke Akinradewo and Big Ten Player of the Year Christa Harmotto, each side has multiple All-Americans.

"Wow," Dunning said. "I don't know if that has happened before."

Stanford knows it will have a tough task to bring a national championship back to the Pac-10. The Nittany Lions haven't dropped a single game during their best NCAA run since winning it all in 1999. This is the program's fifth appearance in the final.

While Stanford had to go the distance to beat Pac-10 rival USC in the semifinals, the Nittany Lions quickly took care of California in just more than an hour. But they didn't start their match until midnight Eastern time.

"Both teams have grown a lot," said Stanford's Alix Klineman, the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. "It just depends who comes out ready to play tomorrow."

Penn State and Stanford are the only two teams to make every NCAA tournament, and the Cardinal lead the all-time series 5-4.