FORT COLLINS, Colo.—John Dunning didn’t look like a coach working on getting his team back to the Final Four of NCAA volleyball. He looked more the spectator enjoying an entertaining play or cultural event.
“I really liked just watching and not just from the point of view of winning,” the Stanford coach said after watching his team dismantle Hawaii Saturday night. “I thought we played together really well and that’s a key to this team.”
How dominating were the Cardinal? Stanford needed only 89 minutes to defeat Hawaii in straight sets to win the NCAA volleyball regional finals.
“It was really fun to watch tonight, for me as a coach,” Dunning said. “I thought we did a lot of things well in the hard work areas, we played great defense, blocked really well and I think the whole thing started with passing and serving.”
Stanford (30-3) won the sets 25-19, 25-9 and 25-18. The Cardinal were hardly challenged.
“It seemed like everything was going in rhythm when we were out there,” said Stanford middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo, the MVP of the regional. “There was great communication with everyone.”
Stanford now advances to the Final Four, to be played Dec. 18 and 20 in Omaha, for an NCAA record 18th time. The Cardinal are six-time NCAA champions, last winning in 2004. They were runner-up to champion Penn State last year.
Hawaii (30-4) fell to 8-9 in regional final matches. The Rainbow Wahine are 17-13 all-time against Stanford and 3-3 in NCAA Tournament matches.
“I don’t think we ever got into our game tonight,” Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. “Stanford hit for a fantastic hitting percentage, they were balanced, they served well and were the better team tonight.”
The first set was tied at 5-5, but an unforced error kept Hawaii from gaining the lead. Erin Waller’s dink for point put Stanford ahead 19-14 and the Rainbow Wahine never were closer than four the rest of the set.
Nickie Thomas blocked Akinradewo to put Hawaii up 2-1 at the start of Set 2. And then everything unraveled for the Rainbow Wahine.
Stanford got rolling, putting together a five-point run and then a pair of seven-point runs. The second 7-0 surge put the Cardinal ahead 20-4.
“I was on the bench for most of Set 2, relaxing, enjoying myself thinking, what beautiful volleyball,” Akinradewo said.
Akinradewo finished the set with a kill.
“Part of it in the second set was blocking, part of it was just everything falling together for us,” Stanford’s Alix Klineman said. “For a while, we couldn’t do anything wrong.”
“We’ve been down like this before,” Hawaii outside hitter Jamie Houston said. “We just couldn’t find our rhythm and couldn’t get back into it.”
The Cardinal maintained its control in the third. Again, it was Akinradewo that provided the set-winning kill that also ended the match.
“I think we are all very excited right now,” Dunning said. “We’re ready to go to the next step.”
The Cardinal will have Texas as its first opponent in the Final Four.
