My Opinion
‘Bad guys’ prevail in NCAAs

Sometimes, the bad guys beat the good guys. Just ask the Penn State women’s volleyball team.

Last month’s NCAA National Championship match ended much as the 1997 title match did — with a stacked team from the West Coast charging the floor in celebration while the Lady Lions sat on their bench and covered their tear-filled eyes.

They had reason to be disappointed with their more recent performance. The Lions, who recorded the nation's highest hitting percentage during the regular season, hit a mere .166 in their championship match battle with the trash-talking Long Beach State 49ers, women's collegiate volleyball's version of the Dallas Cowboys.

The other statistics were no less ugly for Penn State. The Beach outblocked the Lions 14.5 to 12, and also managed a distinct advantage in digs.

This contributed to Penn State's first defeat of the season (3-15, 10-15, 15-13, 16-14, 12-15) in what could go down in collegiate volleyball lore as a classic -- a classic in which the Lions uncharacteristically failed to get untracked.

"I remember exactly what happened last year, and we felt no matter how big a hole we dug for ourselves, we were going to pull ourselves out," outside hitter Christy Cochran said. "The fact that we didn't is really strange. It's not like a matter of nerves, because we were really ready for this game. That's what puzzles me the most."

It was a match that symbolized almost everything that is great about volleyball. The crowd of 13,194 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. was the largest ever to witness a NCAA women's volleyball match. Both teams entered the game undefeated, which guaranteed that, for the first time in the 18-year history of the NCAA Tournament, the champion would not only hold the first-place trophy, but an unblemished record as well.

Only one thing about that great weekend went terribly awry. The wrong team won the match.

In a perfect world, Penn State obliterates Long Beach State -- if not to become the Eastern-most team to win the national championship, then simply to shut the 49ers up.

Before the match, there was more whining and complaining emanating from the Long Beach State camp than any fan of true sportsmanship would care to hear. Frankly, after bashing the supposed softness of Penn State's schedule and weaknesses of their NCAA tourney opponents during an interview with The Daily Collegian last month, I expected Long Beach coach Brian Gimmillaro to run his mouth further at the tournament. His team, unfortunately, was equally as arrogant.

49ers Veronica Walls, Brandy Barratt and Jessica Alvarado, whose talent was exceeded only by their pomposity, pointed out after the match how pleased they were in their victory over the Lions, who they incorrectly made out to be a sinister, overconfident brood that had no real claim to any championship. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Lions never bashed their opponents under any circumstances this season, despite the fact they won by such large margins on so many occasions.

In a perfect world, Penn State would have been afforded that same courtesy by its opponents when the national spotlight was brightly shining.

"Long Beach has a certain approach to a lot of things that brings out a lot of enthusiasm for their opponents," Lion coach Russ Rose said. "I'm very proud of how our kids responded to the verbal taunts, and also the behavior of the other team."

National title or no national title, the Lions have a lot for which to be proud. Thirty-five wins, a Big Ten title and an incredible run in the postseason are proof of that.

So what if they fell three points short of their ultimate goal? There's no shame in finishing second, especially when there are well over 100 teams that would envy finishing as strongly as Penn State, even if Long Beach State thinks otherwise.

The 49ers certainly earned the right to call themselves champions. In a perfect world, they would have proven to be winners, too. Even in defeat, the Lions can still claim that.

"We had a great year," Rose said. "Not a good year, a great year. I'd love to trade the result, but I wouldn't trade the players that I coached."