NCAA Volleyball : Pacific Women Successfully Defend Title

Outside hitter Teri McGrath had 14 kills to lead the University of the Pacific to a three-game sweep over Nebraska Saturday night in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship match.

Behind McGrath and middle blocker Elaina Oden, who recorded 13 kills, Pacific powered to its second straight national championship before a capacity crowd of 6,500.

Pacific (39-3) never trailed in any of the match’s three games, winning, 15-12, 15-4, 15-4. The Tigers, who won their 23rd straight match, recorded a team hitting percentage of .308 to Nebraska’s .076.

“The first game was an offensive showdown and after that, our blocking took its toll,” Pacific Coach John Dunning said.

Nebraska (29-6) was led by outside hitter Enid Schonewise with 13 kills.

“I thought UOP played a terrific match,” said Nebraska Coach Terry Pettit, who was named Division I coach of the year on Friday by the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Assn.

“We were able to play with them in the first game, but I thought our players got intimidated when Pacific never came down from that level,” he said.