Just want to send my congratulations out to Penn State, the 2009 NCAA women's volleyball champions. It was an incredible season capped off by a completely unreal championship match. Also congratulations to Texas - who put on quite a show tonight (and throughout the season).

Here are some links to coverage of the match:
• Recap
• Box Score
• Video Highlights
• NCAA Photo Gallery (Images Available for Purchase)
• AP Photo Gallery
• Penn State Postmatch Press Conference
• Texas Postmatch Press Conference
• Quotes
• Notes

Plus, Penn State's official athletic site, gopsusports.com, has some nice coverage of the Nittany Lions' championship. You can check that out here.

While I'm thiking about it, it's never too early to look forward to next season. One thing I noticed today is that, although the four 2009 first-team All-Americans that we enjoyed seeing tonight (Hodge, Glass, Hooker and Engle) all graduate, nine of the 14 players on that first team will be back next season (which is exciting, in itself). Interestingly, out of those nine, six are in the Big Ten - so look for Penn State to be thoroughly challenged in its quest for a fourth straight championship. There are five schools that will return a pair of players who were AVCA All-Americans this year: Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Washington. So maybe they'll be among the favorites next season. But there's still a lot of time for things to change between now and then.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has made this women's volleyball season beyond enjoyable - particularly all the fans and readers of this blog. It certainly ended in a special way. Happy holidays and enjoy the offseason!

You can read a full recap of the match here. We'll be adding more things to it, like video highlights, quotes, notes and box score, soon.

The fifth set was as good as every other one. After the score was tied for a 10th time at 12-12, a Darcy Dorton kill and a Destinee Hooker attack error gave Penn State two match points. Megan Hodge converted the second for a 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13 victory and the Lions' third consecutive NCAA championship.

I'll have a full recap soon, but for now, you can view the stats here.

It's not over yet.

After the teams traded the first six points of the fourth set, Penn State ran off five in a row - including back-to-back double blocks from Alisha Glass and Arielle Wilson (the first coming against Destinee Hooker). But that advantage would be short-lived. The Longhorns would use a 7-1 run that included three kills from Rachael Adams and a pair from Hooker to get back into the set.

It was tight the rest of the way, but at 22-21, Penn State got a kill on a slide from Arielle Wilson and then survived a long rally that ended on a Texas ball-handling error. On set point, it was Megan Hodge pounding her seventh kill of the set to give Penn State a 25-21 victory.

Well, this couldn't have gone better ... and now we get a game five to decide it all. Awesome!

After the break, Penn State came out like a team that wasn't quite ready to taste defeat for the first time in more than two years. The refocused Nittany Lions built a lead of as many as six early (11-5) and then edged that out to an 18-11 advantage. But the Longhorns - now certainly the favorites in the match - would rally to make things interesting. Texas got to within a pair, at 22-20, but kills by Megan Hodge and Blair Brown gave Penn State a few set points, at 24-20. Again UT held strong, getting a kill from Adams and then a hitting error from Hodge to prolong the set and force a PSU timeout. On the next point, Hooker and Jennifer Doris blocked Blair Brown to pull the Longhorns to within one. But Hodge answered and finally converted Penn State's fourth set point for a 25-23 victory.

Hooker again led all players with seven kills in the set; she has 23 for the match. Hodge had five kills to lead the Nittany Lions.

This is the first time during Penn State's 101-match winning streak that the Lions have dropped the first two sets. They are trying to become the third team ever to rally to win the NCAA title match after losing the first two sets. Hawai'i rallied from the deficit to beat USC in 1982, and UCLA did so against Long Beach State in 1991.

After the teams split the first eight points of the second set, Texas went on another run - this one set off by a pair of PSU errors (a service error and a bad set). That was the only opening the Longhorns would need. For a time there, it wasn't as much a volleyball match as a spectacular showcase of Destinee Hooker's ability. After PSU used a kill and an error to cut the advantage to 10-8, Hooker made a case for being the top player in the collegiate game right now, National Player of the Year Award or not. Eight of the next 10 points ended in kills by Hooker - a display that you rarely see at this level. Mercifully for Penn State, the Longhorns committed a service error (they have six through the first two sets) that led to Hooker rotating out of the front row.

The Texas lead ballooned to as many as eight on several occasions, but the Nittany Lions would string together four straight points late and make somewhat of a set of it. In the end, though, Hooker and Texas prevailed 25-20 ... which is now the most-lopsided set defeat for the Lions this season.

One thing was clear early in this match: this is a different level. The start of the match was nothing short of beautiful, with both teams diving to keep points alive and then pounding kills into the floor. For awhile the play seemed flawless - that's when I looked at the box score and saw that it was. The first nine points of the match ended in eight kills and service ace - no attack errors. The level didn't drop much the rest of the way, though some great floor defense - something that often gets overlooked on these teams - drove the hitting percentages down.

It was back and forth for much of the set - which would have 10 tie scores. After kills from Ashley Engle and Amber Roberson and a Destinee Hooker ace put Texas up 18-15, Penn State responded with a 7-1 run - that got going with a pair of Darcy Dorton kills and also featured a couple of blocks - that put the Nittany Lions seemingly in control. But the Longhorns weren't done. Following a timeout, Texas reeled off six in a row - including three kills from Hooker, a kill and an ace from Engle, and a huge triple block by Juliann Faucette, Rachael Adams and Amber Roberson on Megan Hodge with the score tied at 22-22.

The three-point margin is, remarkably, the largest margin of defeat for Penn State in any set this season. The Nittany Lions have lost the opening frame three times before this season, but they rallied to win in five at Michigan on Oct. 16 and in four at Purdue on Nov. 20 and against Hawai'i on Thursday.

Hooker was an absolute monster, converting a match-high five kills (.333) and notching a match-best eight digs and two service aces. National Player of the Year Megan Hodge was held to just one kill and made three errors on her eight swings (-.250 hitting), but she did contribute six digs.

Just a reminder that coverage of tonight's match begins at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2. First serve is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET. If you're not around a television, you can follow the match via live statistics (Gametracker). You can also listen for free to audio coverage from either Penn State or Texas. Links to all of those things can be found on NCAA.com's interactive bracket. I'll also have a post after each set right here on the blog.

Because there has been a lot of content posted on the blog of late, here are some of the essentials to get you ready for the match:
• Championship Comparison: Penn State vs. Texas
• The Match We All Wanted to See
• The Penn State-Texas Series
• The Penn State-Texas Series: Beyond Volleyball
• The Quest for Perfection
• History of Back-to-Back-to-Back Failures

Enjoy the match!

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 8 minutes until first serve

Some of the Face Painters Had Themed Headgear

Once again, excited fans arrived early to the St. Pete Times Forum today to take part in the championship edition of the NCAA Fan Festival. One highlight was the AT&T serving contest - where 10 lucky (and skilled) fans qualified to take part in a serving contest on the main court between games two and three of tonight's match. Also, many of this year's AVCA All-Americans were in attendance to do a demonstration and then sign autographs for fans. Again, folks had the chance to snap a photo with this year's championship trophy, take part in a trivia contest, play cornhole, enjoy music and purchase concessions and championship gear. Also, both Penn State and Texas had cheerleaders, their mascot and a pep band in attendance to get their fans ready to cheer tonight.

I took some photos of the activity, and you can see them here.

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17 minutes until first serve

Texas' Juliann Faucette

After thousands of matches, including 63 in this tournament, the college volleyball season culminates tonight with the matchup that the college volleyball world has wanted to see all season. Penn State has been ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll since the middle of the 2007 season. Texas was placed into the No. 2 spot back in August and has stayed there ever since. They were the top two teams in the NCAA's RPI (UT was first), and when the NCAA Championship draw was announced, they were - not surprisingly - the top two seeds. Penn State has won 101 matches in a row and the last two NCAA titles. Texas has 13 wins over nationally-ranked teams this season, including six against current top-10 teams (PSU has 10 wins over ranked squads, with four coming against the top-1). They also rank first and second in Division I in hitting percentage.

You can make the case that this is one of the most anticipated NCAA title matches in history. The only one that probably definitively would surpass it is the 1998 final. At the time, no team had ever completed an undefeated season in women's volleyball since the NCAA began sponsoring the sport in 1981. In '98, there were two teams - No. 1 Long Beach State and No. 2 Penn State - that entered the tournament with perfect records. Both squads continued to dominate - dropping just one set combined en route to colliding in the championship match. That match didn't disappoint either - as Long Beach eventually prevailed 15-3, 15-10, 13-15, 14-16, 15-12.

This is only the third time that the teams playing in the NCAA final come in with a combined one defeat or fewer. In addition to 1998, there was the 2003 final that pitted an unbeaten USC squad against a one-loss Florida (the Women of Troy won in four).

In the 29 years of the NCAA tournament, the top two seeds in the bracket have advanced to the final on nine occasions - including Penn State and Stanford in 2008. The bad news for Texas is that the top-seeded squad is 7-1 in the previous eight matches. The lone second-seeded team to have beaten a top-seeded opponent in the final is the 1984 UCLA squad that knocked off Stanford in five sets.

So let's try to remember tonight how fortunate we are to be seeing such a unique matchup between two dominant teams that were outstanding all season and elevated their games during the tournament. It's not often you get to watch a show like this.

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Three hours and 22 minutes until first serve ...

Blair Brown and Penn State look to complete the fifth unbeaten season in NCAA history

Though the attention on Penn State often focuses on its 101-match winning streak or its attempt to win a third consecutive NCAA title - it should not be forgotten that the Nittany Lions also are attempting to simply complete an undefeated season.

That feat is nothing to be taken lightly, as there have been 16 teams that have entered the NCAA Championship with an undefeated record since the tournametn began in 1981. But only four of those - Long Beach State in 1998, Nebraska in 2000, USC in 2003 and Penn State in 2008 - have been able to complete an undefeated season.

Previously unbeaten teams are 4-3 in the NCAA title match, with UCLA falling in 1992, Penn State losing to unbeaten Long Beach State in 1998 and The Beach falling in the final in 2001.

Below is a look at all 16 teams that have had a chance to go undefeated, as well as their postseason fates, in chronological order.

PURDUE - 1982
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 31-0
NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-0 to USC)
Final Record: 33-1

WESTERN MICHIGAN - 1983
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 29-0
NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-0 to UCLA)
Final Record: 31-1

UCLA - 1988
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 31-0
NCAA Result: Semifinals (lost 3-0 to Texas)
Final Record: 34-1

PENN STATE - 1990
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 42-0
NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-0 to Nebraska)
Final Record: 44-1

UCLA - 1992
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 29-0
NCAA Result: Runner-Up (lost 3-1 to Stanford)
Final Record: 33-1

NEBRASKA - 1994
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 29-0
NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-1 to Penn State)
Final Record: 31-1

HAWAI'I - 1995
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 29-0
NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-2 to Michigan State)
Final Record: 31-1

LONG BEACH STATE - 1998
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 30-0
NCAA Result: Champion (def. Penn State 3-2)
Final Record: 36-0

PENN STATE - 1998
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 30-0
NCAA Result: Runner-Up (lost 3-2 to Long Beach State)
Final Record: 35-1

NORTHERN IOWA - 1999
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 28-0
NCAA Result: Round of 16 (lost 3-0 to Pacific)
Final Record: 30-1

NEBRASKA - 2000
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 28-0
NCAA Result: Champion (def. Wisconsin 3-0)
Final Record: 34-0

LONG BEACH STATE - 2001
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 28-0
NCAA Result: Runner-Up (lost 3-0 to Stanford)
Final Record: 33-1

USC - 2003
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 29-0
NCAA Result: Champion (def. Florida 3-1)
Final Record: 35-0

HAWAI'I - 2004
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 28-0
NCAA Result: Round of 16 (lost 3-2 to Wisconsin)
Final Record: 30-1

PENN STATE - 2008
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 32-0
NCAA Result: Champion (def. Stanford 3-0)
Final Record: 38-0

PENN STATE - 2009
Record Entering NCAA Tournament: 32-0
NCAA Result: Finalist (vs. Texas)
Final Record: 38-0 or 37-1

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Four hours and 7 minutes until first serve ...

Alyssa D'Errico and Penn State are seeking a third consecutive national title tonight

Penn State is on the verge of accomplishing what has turned out to be the most elusive team feat in college volleyball - winning three consecutive national championships.

There have been nine schools previously - five in the NCAA tournament and four previously in the AIAW tournemant - that won two consecutive national championships, but then failed in their bid to win a third. Penn State is just the third member of this group to even return to the championship match for a third time after winning the previous two titles. UCLA did that in 1976, but lost 2-1 (in a best-of-three match) to USC. The Bruins - the only team to have won back-to-back national championship on two separate occasions - also got back to the final in 1992, but lost in four games to Stanford.

Below is a look at each of these teams that failed to "three-peat," in chronological order.

SUL ROSS STATE
First AIAW Championship: 1970 (def. UCLA 2-0)
Second AIAW Championship: 1971 (def. Long Beach State 2-1)
Next Year's AIAW Result: 5th place (lost 2-0 to UCLA in first round)

LONG BEACH STATE
First AIAW Championship: 1973, winter (def. BYU 2-0)
Second AIAW Championship: 1973, fall (def. Texas Woman's 2-0)
Next Year's AIAW Result: 5th place (lost 2-1 to UC Santa Barbara in first round)

UCLA
First AIAW Championship: 1974 (def. Hawai'i 2-0)
Second AIAW Championship: 1975 (def. Hawai'i 2-0)
Next Year's AIAW Result: Runner-Up (lost 15-6, 14-16, 15-5 to USC)

USC
First AIAW Championship: 1976 (def. UCLA 2-1)
Second AIAW Championship: 1977 (def. Hawai'i 3-1)
Next Year's AIAW Result: 6th place (lost 3-1 to Hawai'i in first round)

HAWAI'I
First NCAA Championship: 1982 (def. USC 3-2)
Second NCAA Championship: 1983 (def. UCLA 3-0)
Next Year's NCAA Result: First Round (lost 3-2 to Oregon)

PACIFIC
First NCAA Championship: 1985 (def. Stanford 3-1)
Second NCAA Championship: 1986 (def. Nebraska 3-0)
Next Year's NCAA Result: Quarterfinals (lost 3-0 to Hawai'i)

UCLA
First NCAA Championship: 1990 (def. Pacific 3-0)
Second NCAA Championship: 1991 (def. Long Beach State 3-2)
Next Year's NCAA Result: Runner-Up (lost 15-8, 15-9, 6-15, 15-10 to Stanford)

STANFORD
First NCAA Championship: 1996 (def. Hawai'i 3-0)
Second NCAA Championship: 1997 (def. Penn State 3-2)
Next Year's NCAA Result: Round of 16 (lost 3-1 to Texas)

USC
First NCAA Championship: 2002 (def. Stanford 3-1)
Second NCAA Championship: 2003 (def. Florida 3-1)
Next Year's NCAA Result: Semifinals (lost 3-1 to Minnesota)

PENN STATE
First NCAA Championship: 2007 (def. Stanford 3-2)
Second NCAA Championship: 2008 (def. Stanford 3-0)
Next Year's NCAA Result: vs. Texas in final

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Four hours and 46 minutes until first serve ...

Photos were a little slow in crossing the Associated Press wire on Thursday, so I went back today and created photo galleries with AP images from the matches. You can view them here:

• Texas vs. Minnesota Gallery
• Penn State vs. Hawai'i Gallery

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Five hours and 13 minutes until first serve ...

As we prepare for tonight's NCAA championship match between Penn State and Texas, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at some of the memorable meetings between the schools in sports other than volleyball. As I covered earlier, PSU leads the volleyball series 8-6 (details here). Below is a look at how the teams have fared against each other in some other sports.

FOOTBALL
The teams have played five times in football, with Penn State leading the series 3-2. As you might expect from two traditional football powers, several of the games have been on a big stage. The first meeting between the schools - who rank second (Texas) and seventh (Penn State) in all-time victories among Football Bowl Subdivision schools - came in the 1972 Cotton Bowl, where the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions pounded the 12th-ranked Longhorns, 30-6. The teams didn't meet again until the regular season of 1984. Both teams were ranked in the top five, but this time it was second-ranked Texas earning a lopsided victory, 28-3 over No. 4 Penn State in Giants Stadium. The squads split a pair of regular-season matchups in 1989 and '90 (both winning on the road), and the most-recent game came in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl - when No. 7 Penn State won 38-15 over 20th-ranked Texas.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Penn State and Texas have never played in men's basketball.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Texas leads the series 7-3. Six of the games - including each of the last four - have seen both squads carrying national rankings. One of the most-memorable games came on Jan. 6, 1979 at Penn State when the seventh-ranked Longhorns beat No. 11 Penn State by a 76-69 score in University Park. On Jan. 30, 1992, an unranked Texas squad upset the Nittany Lions 76-73 in overtime in Austin. The following season, though, PSU returned the favor with its 23rd-ranked squad winning 76-85 at home against 10th-ranked Texas on Dec. 1, 1992. Another big matchup came on Dec. 7, 2003, when eighth-ranked Penn State pounded No. 2 Texas 79-59 in Happy Valley. In the most-recent meeting, second-ranked Texas won 84-69 over No. 21 Penn State on Nov. 14, 2004.

BASEBALL
The teams have met just six times in baseball - Texas leads the series 4-2 and has won the last four - but nearly every one has had a lot on the line. They have played three times in the College World Series and also an NCAA Super Regional series. Penn State won the first meeting by a 5-3 score in the 1952 CWS and also prevailed 4-1 in the '57 World Series. Texas got its first victory in the series in the 1963 College World Series, taking a 6-4 win in 10 innings. Afte the lone regular-season meeting came in 1994 (UT won 4-1), the squads squared off in a super regional in 2000 in Austin. Texas won both games (7-3 and 10-0), and the series still ranks as the second-most-attended two-game series in the history of Texas' Disch-Falk Field - averaging 7,507 fans per game.

SOFTBALL
The teams have played twice. Penn State took the first meeting by a 6-5 score in Fullerton, Calif., in 2007 - while Texas got a 1-0 victory in 10 innings at home in 2008.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Penn State and Texas have played just once - but it was big one. The unranked Longhorns knocked off No. 3 Penn State by a 2-1 score at home in 2006.

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Five hours and 26 minutes until first serve ...

Alisha Glass set Penn State to a .355 team hitting mark in the last meeting between the schools

Saturday night will be the 15th time that Penn State and Texas have played in women's volleyball. The Nittany Lions lead the series 8-6 and have won each of the last eight matchups.

They first played on Oct. 1, 1982 in Houston, with the Longhorns rallying from losing the opening two games for a 13-15, 12-15, 15-7, 15-12, 15-0 victory. In fact, Texas would win the first six matchups - all played at neutral sites - between the squads.

Penn State came close on Sept. 16, 1989, but Texas again prevailed in five - by scores of 15-6, 6-15, 15-6, 14-16, 15-9. That match still stands as the last UT win in the series - as Penn State has won each of the last eight meetings. PSU's first victory came on Nov. 24, 1990, in Austin, by scores of 15-11, 15-10, 15-2. The Longhorns have had chances during the run of futility, forcing five of those matches to four sets and one to a fifth.

The best opportunity for a Longhorn victory during the streak came on Sept. 8, 2006, in Austin, when Texas won the first two games, before Penn State rallied for a thrilling 27-30, 28-30, 30-28, 36-34, 15-13 victory. Megan Hodge, then a freshman, had a match-high 27 kills on .322 hitting in the match - while fellow rookie Alisha Glass set the Nittany Lions to 85 kills and a .320 hitting mark (while also recording eight kills, 63 assists, 16 digs and seven blocks). Texas got 26 kills and 15 digs from then-freshman Ashley Engle, while her fellow rookie Destinee Hooker had 21 kills on .308 hitting. You can read Penn State's recap of that match here.

Most recently, the teams began the 2007 season with a pair of matches against each other in University Park. Penn State, ranked No. 3, won both of those in four sets over the fourth-ranked Longhorns. The Lions prevailed 30-23, 32-34, 30-22, 30-24 on Aug. 24 (recap) and then won 19-30, 30-13, 30-21, 30-24 the next day (recap). Hodge had 22 kills, 11 digs and four blocks in the first match and 20 kills, 10 digs and six blocks in the second. Glass set the Lions to a .355 team mark in the series finale. For Texas, Hooker led the way in the first match with 15 kills - while Juliann Faucette posted a team-high 18 in the second.

The teams have never before played in the NCAA Championship. This will be the eighth time the schools have played at neutral sites, with Texas holding a 6-1 edge in the previous meetings.

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Six hours and 18 minutes until first serve ...

The long wait is almost over, as we've reached the day that will see the 2009 NCAA Division I women's volleyball champion crowned. Below is a look at what fans in Tampa can take part in today.

• 5-7:30 p.m. ET: NCAA Fan Festival - West Plaza, next to St. Pete Times Forum
Great place for fans to go before the match. You can take a look at Thursday's Fan Festival here. Among the highlights today will be:
- 5:30 p.m.: AT&T Serving Contest
- 6 p.m.: AVCA All-America Demonstrations and Interaction
- 6:30 p.m.: AVCA All-America Autograph Session
- 6:45 p.m.: Fan Rallies With the Cheerleaders, Mascots and Bands from both Penn State and Texas
• 6:30 p.m. ET: Gates of the St. Pete Times Forum open to the public
• 8 p.m. ET: Championship Match: Penn State vs. Texas, televised live on ESPN2

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Seven hours and 43 minutes until first serve ...

Megan Hodge

As mentioned previously, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) holds its annual convention in conjunction with the women's volleyball championship weekend each year. One of the highlights of that event is the AVCA All-America/Player of the Year Banquet presented by Zamst - which was held tonight in the Tampa Convention Center. It's a great event, because it honors all 42 players that were named to the AVCA All-America teams - which were announced earlier this week (more info here).

There is some drama at the banquet, though, as it's also wher the Nfinity/AVCA National Playe of the Year award is announced. This year's honor went to Penn State senior outside hitter Megan Hodge. It means that Hodge was honored this season with both the highest athletic award in college volleyball, as well as the highest academic award in the sport. She was named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America last month.

Hodge - who is just the fifth player ever to be named to the AVCA All-America First Team on four occasions - had another phenomenal season on the court. She ranks among the top 20 in Division I in three categories: eighth in kills per set (4.69), 12th in points per set (5.16) and 16th in hitting percentage (.386). A two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, Hodge has helped Penn State win a pair of NCAA titles (2007 and '08) and compile an overall record of 141-5 during her career. That .966 winning percentage for Hodge and her fellow seniors is the best-ever for any class of DI women's volleyball players.

It's the second year in a row that Penn State has had the AVCA National Player of the Year, as Nicole Fawcett was the 2008 honoree. PSU middle blocker Lauren Cacciamani also shared the award with Stanford's Kerri Walsh in 1999.

Texas coach Jerritt Elliott

Heather Kisner, Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette

Members of the media had the opportunity to question Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott and players Heather Kisner, Destinee Hooker and Juliann Faucette about Saturday's championship match. Below are a few excerpts. You can view the full transcript here and listen to part of the press conference here.

Head Coach Jerritt Elliott
On Saturday's Match
"We're excited to be here. We know that this is the match that everybody associated with college volleyball wanted to see at the beginning of the year. We hope that both teams play well tomorrow night, and we showcase the talents of how athletic these young women are in college volleyball."

On Destinee Hooker's Progression
"She's amazing. She's developed and has such a tremendous learning curve. Her first year, she only played three rotations. Her second year, she played a little more back court and got to jump serve a little bit. Last year, she was playing all the way around, but not passing - and this year she's developed into a six-rotation, passing, hitting, jump serving, blocking, defensive specialist. She can hurt you from every position. She's one of the few players in the country that can take over a match on her own, and that's one of the reasons we've been so successful this year."

On Reaching the Championship Match
"It's very gratifying. When we took over the program, it was 10-18 - and we knew how much tradition there was. It's not so much for me. You do this because you love the kids you recruit, and you love building and teaching them a lot of life skills. More importantly, you do it for the alumni and the university."

On Saturday's Keys to the Match
"You're going to have to serve and pass. Both teams are going to know that. These are two teams, Texas and Penn State, and physicality-wise, there's not another team in the country that can match up with both of these teams. Now when you stare across the net, you're seeing someone who can do the same kind of things you can, skill-wise and physical-wise, so it's not going to come down to skill level. We're going to have to execute. We're going to have to be very efficient with our attacking and make good attack choices. Your block is going to have to be efficient and set up so that it can be funneled to the right defensive players."

Senior Libero Heather Kisner
On Megan Hodge
"Just watching the game last night, she has a lot of great shots. She swings high. She tips and kills the ball pretty hard."

Junior Outside Hitter Juliann Faucette
On The Matchup
"I think it's a great matchup. I think as physica as they are, we practice with some of the men coaches in our gym, and we have Destinee (Hooker) and some pretty big hitters, like Ashley Engle and myself. I think it's a really good physical matchup."

On Saturday's Match
"It's going to be a great challenge for our team. ... It's obviously a 1 vs. 2 match so it's going to be fun. It's going to be a fun match to see and to play."

Senior Outside Hitter Destinee Hooker
On Going Against Penn State's Block
"This whole year we've been working hard ... just to transition and swing high and not to bring your hand low into the block. It's going to be a great game. Arielle Wilson is a great blocker, and it's going to be a great match. I'm looking forward to it."

On Whether She Was Recruited By Penn State
"For basketball."

Penn State coach Russ Rose

Kathy Quilico, Blair Brown and Fatima Balza

The Penn State contingent of head coach Russ Rose and players Cathy Quilico, Blair Brown and Fatima Balza met with the media Friday afternoon. Below are a few excerpts. You can view the full transcript here and watch part of the press conference here.

Head Coach Russ Rose
On Penn State's 101-match Winning Streak
"It's a large number. There's a lot of factors that have to come into play for you to have that sort of success. We've been very fortunate that that's taken place. We've been healthy. We've had players play well together. We've been able to overcome people not playing well and all of the things that coaches have to deal with with teams."

On Texas
"Texas challenges you in different ways (than Hawai'i) because they certainly match us and surpass us in some of the physical aspects of the game. Juliann (Faucette) hits the ball as hard as anyone in college volleyball. Destinee (Hooker) has a high contact point. A number of these players we recruited, so I'm very familiar with them. I think they're a very talented group."

On The Problems Texas Presents
"The matchup problems that they pose for everyone is that, with the (6-2) system they're running, they always have three great hitters in the front row."

On the Matchup of Megan Hodge vs. Destinee Hooker
"What you would hope would happen is that there's a whole bunch of young kids around the country watching volleyball that see two charismatic players going out there and playing hard and playing with passion, and that it sparks more young kids playing volleyball around the country."

On Whether He Remembers What It's Like to Lose
"Yes. I'm married and have four kids! But I remember the last time we lost. It happens all the time. It hasn't happened in a while in this college program, but it will happen. When it happens, we will work on the things we need to do to get better for our next match.

Junior Libero Cathy Quilico
On Destinee Hooker
"I think that Destinee Hooker is a great player, but we aslo have a big block - just like they do - and I think she's used to going over blocks, and that's what makes her so great. But having a big block makes it easier for the defense to set up (for her)."

On Saturday's Match
"We're extremely excited to be able to play Texas. It's an awesome opportunity."

Junior Middle Blocker Fatima Balza
On Preparing for Destinee Hooker
"Megan (Hodge) hits a lot like her, so it's not like we have never played against somebbody like her before."

On Saturday's Match
"It's the match everyone expected, and we are very excited and ready for it."

Junior Right Side Blair Brown
On Texas
"I think there are a few players on Texas' team that are going to get theirs (statistics), and I think we need to focus on each of the players individually, based on their roles and our roles defensively."

On Saturday's Match
"It's been a highly anticipated match from a lot of people, and this is our chance to go out on a high note. We want to prove ourselves as a team, as well."

We're down to just two teams left with a chance to win the NCAA title - the two that have been atop the college volleyball world all season. Here's a side-by-side comparison of Penn State and Texas: