NCAA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Long Beach State Takes On Penn State for Title

MADISON, Wis. — Coaches like to be prepared for everything--especially when they are contending for a national championship. There’s one thing, however, that Long Beach State Coach Brian Gimmillaro did not expect to find at the NCAA women’s volleyball final four: a hostile crowd.

Third-ranked Long Beach (31-2) will play seventh-ranked Penn State (31-4) in the NCAA final at 5:30 (PST) tonight at the University of Wisconsin Field House before what is expected to be a record crowd.

Tonight’s anticipated near sell-out in the 11,500-seat Field House is expected to break the previous attendance record for a final, set at Minneapolis in 1988, by about 2,000.

And most of the spectators are expected to be rooting for Penn State, a member of the Big Ten Conference along with Wisconsin.

Gimmillaro was shocked to see the support for Penn State in the Nittany Lions’ semifinal upset of fourth-ranked Brigham Young on Thursday before a crowd of 10,270. Jenny Myszewski, a Penn State sophomore middle blocker, received a standing ovation from the crowd when she was introduced because she is from Wauwatosa, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb.

Gimmillaro suddenly realized that, even though Penn State is the farthest away from Wisconsin of any Big Ten team, and even though it has been playing volleyball in the conference for only three years, the Nittany Lions are local favorites in this NCAA final four.

Whomever the crowds have rooted for, their size has been a surprise. Wisconsin is not exactly a hotbed of women’s volleyball. Eight of the 12 NCAA titles have been won by California teams, and Hawaii has won three of the four others.

Long Beach, which defeated 14th-ranked Florida on Thursday in the semifinals, is making its third consecutive appearance in an NCAA final four. The 49ers won the NCAA title in 1989.

They are led by Danielle Scott, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker recently selected the national player of the year. Scott will have set a record for hitting percentage when she ends her career tonight. Her current hitting percentage is .430. The record is .420, set by Mary Eggers of Illinois from 1985-88.

Penn State, making its first appearance in an NCAA final four, does not have a first-team All-American.