1997 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament

The 1997 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began with 56 teams and ended on December 20, 1997, when Stanford defeated Penn State 3 games to 2 in the NCAA championship match.

1997 NCAA women's Division I volleyball tournament
1997 NCAA Final Four logo
Champions	Stanford (4th title)
Runner-up	Penn State (2nd title match)
Semifinalists	Long Beach State (5th Final Four) Florida (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Don Shaw (4th title)
Most outstanding player	Terri Zemaitis (Penn State)
Final Four All-Tournament Team	Kristin Folkl (Stanford) Paula McNamee (Stanford) Lisa Sharpley (Stanford) Carrie Schonveld (Penn State) Lauren Cacciamani (Penn State)

Stanford won their second straight title and 4th in 6 years. After winning the first two games 15-10, 15-6, Penn State forced a fifth game as the Nittany Lions won the next two 15-2, 17-15. In the decisive fifth game, Stanford jumped out to the 12-8 lead before Kristin Folkl recorded the final three kills for the 15-9 win. Stanford finished the year 33-2, with their only two losses coming from Penn State in the early season.

The 1997 NCAA tournament was the first, and would be the last, year with 56 tournament teams, as it was expanded from 48 teams (1993-1996). In 1998, the tournament would be expanded to its present-day 64 tournament teams.

Play-in games

	November 21
		Morgan State (MEAC, 24-9)	3
		Grambling State (SWAC, ?)	0

	November 23
		Lehigh (Patriot, 17-12)	3
		Wagner (Northeast, 10-19)	1

Records

East Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record BYU WAC Automatic 27-5 Fairfield MAAC Automatic 25-9 Hofstra America East Automatic 23-13 Maryland ACC At-large 26-1 Miami (OH) Mid-American At-large 23-7 Michigan Big Ten At-large 20-11 Minnesota Big Ten At-large 22-9 Northern Illinois Mid-American Automatic 26-3 Ohio State Big Ten At-large 22-10 Penn State Big Ten Auto (shared) 30-1 Princeton Ivy League Automatic 22-5 Temple Atlantic 10 Automatic 29-4 Texas A&M Big 12 At-large 24-7 Villanova Big East At-large 20-8

Central Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record American CAA Automatic 30-3 Arkansas SEC At-large 29-5 Arkansas-Little Rock Sun Belt Automatic 16-12 Clemson ACC Automatic 26-7 Colorado State WAC At-large 26-5 Florida SEC Automatic 31-3 Florida State ACC At-large 25-8 Lehigh Patriot Automatic 18-12 Liberty Big South Automatic 26-8 Notre Dame Big East Automatic 23-8 South Florida Conference USA At-large 25-8 UCF Trans America Automatic 27-3 Washington State Pac-10 At-large 24-6 Wisconsin Big Ten Auto (shared) 28-2

Pacific Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Butler Midwestern Collegiate Automatic 27-6 Cal State Sacramento Big Sky Automatic 23-8 Chattanooga Southern Automatic 26-9 Hawaii WAC At-large 25-7 Kansas State Big 12 At-large 20-12 Long Beach State Big West Automatic 30-1 Loyola Marymount West Coast At-large 21-6 Michigan State Big Ten At-large 22-11 Morgan State MEAC Automatic 25-9 Nebraska Big 12 At-large 25-6 Pacific Big West At-large 22-8 San Diego West Coast Automatic 25-3 USC Pac-10 At-large 21-5 Washington Pac-10 At-large 18-9

Mountain Regional Seed School Conference Berth Type Record Arizona Pac-10 At-large 20-6 Colorado Big 12 At-large 20-8 Houston Conference USA Automatic 22-9 Illinois State Missouri Valley Automatic 24-8 Oklahoma Big 12 At-large 19-12 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent Automatic 28-9 Pepperdine West Coast At-large 23-5 South Carolina SEC At-large 20-7 Stanford Pac-10 Automatic 28-2 Stephen F. Austin Southland Automatic 23-12 Tennessee Tech Ohio Valley Automatic 23-9 Texas Big 12 Automatic 23-6 UC Santa Barbara Big West At-large 29-4 UCLA Pac-10 At-large 16-12

Brackets

East Regional - University Park, PA

	First round					Second round					Regional semifinals					Regional final
						1	Penn State	3
							Northern Illinois	0
		Northern Illinois	3
		Villanova	2
											1	Penn State	3
												Ohio State	0
		Ohio State	3
		Fairfield	0
							Ohio State	3
							Maryland	0
		Maryland	3
		Princeton	0
																1	Penn State	3
																2	BYU	0
		Temple	2
		Michigan	3
							Michigan	0
							Texas A&M	3
		Hofstra	0
		Texas A&M	3
												Texas A&M	2
											2	BYU	3
		Miami (Oh.)	0
		Minnesota	3
							Minnesota	0
						2	BYU	3

Central Regional - Madison, WI

	First round					Second round					Regional semifinals					Regional final
						1	Wisconsin	3
							Central Florida	0
		Central Florida	3
		Clemson	0
											1	Wisconsin	3
												Notre Dame	1
		Arkansas	3
		Arkansas-Little Rock	0
							Arkansas	1
							Notre Dame	3
		Notre Dame	3
		Liberty	0
																1	Wisconsin	2
																2	Florida	3
		American	1
		Colorado State	3
							Colorado State	1
							Washington State	3
		Lehigh	0
		Washington State	3
												Washington State	0
											2	Florida	3
		Florida State	2
		South Florida	3
							South Florida	0
						2	Florida	3

Pacific Regional - Long Beach, CA

	First round					Second round					Regional semifinals					Regional final
						1	Long Beach State	3
							Loyola Marymount	0
		Hawaiʻi	0
		Loyola Marymount	3
											1	Long Beach State	3
												Washington	0
		Washington	3
		Chattanooga	0
							Washington	3
							Pacific	1
		Pacific	3
		Cal St. Sacramento	1
																1	Long Beach State	3
																2	Nebraska	0
		Kansas State	1
		San Diego	3
							San Diego	2
							Southern California	3
		Morgan State	0
		Southern California	3
												Southern California	2
											2	Nebraska	3
		Butler	0
		Michigan State	3
							Michigan State	0
						2	Nebraska	3

Mountain Regional - Stanford, CA

	First round					Second round					Regional semifinals					Regional final
						1	Stanford	3
							Oklahoma	0
		Oklahoma	3
		Houston	0
											1	Stanford	3
												Colorado	0
		Colorado	3
		Tennessee Tech	0
							Colorado	3
							Oral Roberts	2
		Arizona	2
		Oral Roberts	3
																1	Stanford	3
																2	UCSB	0
		Illinois State	0
		South Carolina	3
							South Carolina	0
							Texas	3
		Stephen F. Austin	0
		Texas	3
												Texas	0
											2	UCSB	3
		UCLA	3
		Pepperdine	1
							UCLA	2
						2	UCSB	3

Final Four - Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington

	National Semifinals					National Championship
	1	Penn State	3
	2	Florida	0
						1	Penn State	2
						1	Stanford	3
	1	Long Beach State	1
	1	Stanford	3

See also

• NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship