Dropped Sets and the Pursuit of Perfection: How the Final Four Teams from 1998 to 2009 Stack Up

Perfection in sports is rare. The Penn State Women’s Volleyball team came close in 2008, going 38-0 and dropping only two sets all season (those two coming in the classic NCAA Semifinal match against Nebraska in Omaha).

This season, Penn State extended its streak of consecutive sets without a loss to 141, before losing a set to Iowa at Rec Hall on October 2nd, followed by another dropped set on October 7th, (this time to Ohio State), and then two more against Michigan on October 16th, and ended with a total of eight in 2009.

Which has caused many volleyball fans around the country to wonder just how good the 2009 Penn State team really is. It was a fair question. As it turned out, they were good enough to win their third consecutive NCAA Championship, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

To put their season in perspective, we took a look at the records of all the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Final Four teams from 1998 on (admittedly, somewhat arbitrary) — how many sets did those teams drop during the course of their seasons?

Many volleyball fans probably know the answers by heart. We didn’t — we had to look them up, and in a few instances, we couldn’t track them down (is it just us, or is Wisconsin’s site particularly hard to navigate?).

One thing stands out: Perfection is very hard to achieve. Only four NCAA Champions (in this admittedly limited sample) have dropped fewer than 10 sets in their Championship season (Penn State with a 114-2 record in 2008, Penn State with a 114-8 record in 2009, Long Beach State at 108-8 in 1998, and USC at 105-8 in 2003). The most lost sets by a Final Four team through 2009? A tie between Minnesota in 2003 (85-49) and Tennessee in 2005 (70-49).

Editors Note: We are not statisticians, nor are we perfect. If you identify any errors, please feel free to contact us.

Won Lost Records (Matches and Sets): Final Four Teams from 1998 to 2009

Year	Team	Conf.	NCAA Finish	W	L	Sets Won	Sets Lost
2008	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	02
2009	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	08
1998	Long Beach	Big West	First	36	0	108	08
2003	USC	Pac 10	First	35	0	105	08
2000	Nebraska	Big 12	First	34	0	102	13
1999	Penn State	Big Ten	First	36	1	110	15
2006	Nebraska	Big 12	First	33	1	101	14
2005	Washington	Pac 10	First	32	1	98	10
2002	USC	Pac 10	First	31	1	95	12
2007	Penn State	Big Ten	First	34	2	104	18
2001	Stanford	Pac 10	First	33	2	101	21
2004	Stanford	Pac 10	First	30	6	98	35
2001	Long Beach	Big West	Second	33	1	NA	NA
1998	Penn State	Big Ten	Second	34	1	104	06
2003	Florida	SEC	Second	36	2	109	08
2005	Nebraska	Big 12	Second	33	2	101	15
2009	Texas	Big 12	Second	29	2	91	13
2007	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	32	3	101	24
1999	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	31	3	95	18
2000	Wisconsin	Big Ten	Second	33	4	NA	NA
2008	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	31	4	95	23
2006	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	30	4	92	19
2004	Minnesota	Big Ten	Second	33	5	105	34
2002	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	32	5	102	27
2003	Hawaii	WAC	Semi-finals	36	2	109	16
2002	Hawaii	WAC	Semi-finals	34	2	102	12
1998	Nebraska	Big 12	Semi-finals	32	2	99	16
2000	Hawaii	WAC	Semi-finals	31	2	95	16
2001	Nebraska	Big 12	Semi-finals	31	2	94	14
1998	Florida	SEC	Semi-finals	35	3	107	24
2002	Florida	SEC	Semi-finals	34	3	105	17
2009	Hawaii	WAC	Semi-finals	32	3	100	17
1999	Pacific	Big West	Semi-finals	32	3	NA	NA
2008	Nebraska	Big 12	Semi-finals	31	3	97	21
2000	USC	Pac 10	Semi-finals	29	3	87	20
2004	Washington	Pac 10	Semi-finals	28	3	89	23
2006	UCLA	Pac 10	Semi-finals	33	4	104	24
1999	Long Beach	Big West	Semi-finals	31	4	95	23
2008	Texas	Big 12	Semi-finals	29	4	94	24
2006	Washington	Pac 10	Semi-finals	29	5	92	26
2007	USC	Pac 10	Semi-finals	29	5	91	35
2005	Santa Clara	WCC	Semi-finals	27	5	88	30
2001	Arizona	Pac 10	Semi-finals	25	5	79	25
2004	USC	Pac 10	Semi-finals	23	6	76	32
2007	California	Pac 10	Semi-finals	26	8	87	36
2009	Minnesota	Big Ten	Semi-finals	28	9	88	41
2003	Minnesota	Big Ten	Semi-finals	26	11	85	49
2005	Tennessee	SEC	Semi-finals	19	12	70	49

As an aside, even with those two lost sets, we loved the 2008 Penn State-Nebraska semifinal match. Here’s why:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi1XaBJpqRc[/youtube]

DigNittanyVolleyball.com

Co-Publishers: Ethan Kasales and Daniel Chun

Dropped Sets and the Pursuit of Perfection: How the Final Four Teams from 1998 to 2009 Stack Up

Won Lost Records (Matches and Sets): Final Four Teams from 1998 to 2009