Stanford digs deep
for national title
Lambert gets MVP in Cardinal's
Staff and wire reports
first championshipCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- It took an hour longer than it had a week earlier, but the end result was the same for the Stanford men's volleyball team. And even more satisfying. The Cardinal held off UCLA's threat to three-peat as NCAA champion Saturday night, beating the Bruins, 15-7, 15-10, 9-15, 6-15, 15-13, at St. John Arena. The match took 2 hours and 31 minutes, about 61 minutes longer than Stanford needed to defeat host UCLA eight days ago in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title match.
It was the Cardinal's first championship in the sport in three tries, giving Stanford the distinction of becoming the first school to win both the women's and men's volleyball titles in a school year since the NCAA began sponsoring the women's tournament in 1981.
It also completed the set of NCAA rings for the Lambert family of Kaneohe. Mia Lambert earned hers in 1991, playing for UCLA, while sister Debbie was on the Stanford team that defeated Hawaii last December.
Brother Mike not only gets a ring but also will bring home the trophy as the MVP of the national tournament. Lambert, a Punahou graduate, put down a team-high 27 kills, six in the deciding rally score Game 5, in denying UCLA its 17th championship since 1970.
"I am so tired," said Lambert, who tasted disappointment at the Olympics last summer as a member of the fifth-place U.S. team. "That game definitely took everything out of me.
"We knew we had to dig real deep. And that is what the fifth game was all about."
Stanford, entering the match on a 16-match winning streak, was 3-1 in five-game matches before Saturday night. The Cardinal led 3-1 in Game 5 with the Bruins coming back to take a 6-4 lead on a kill by Ben Moselle.
A kill by Lambert and a block and a kill by Matt Fuerbringer put Stanford ahead, 7-6. Neither team led by more than one point after that until the final minute, when the Cardinal broke a 13-13 tie on a Paul Nihipali serving error and a stuff of Nihipali by Mike Hoefer and Fuerbringer.
Nihipali finished with a match-high 29 kills, hitting .322, with 10 digs and 9 block assists. He was named to the all-tournament team, along with Lambert, Fuerbringer, Stanford's Keenan Whitehurst, Adam Naeve of UCLA and Penn State's Ivan Contreras.
Finishing an outstanding career was Stanford senior Stewart Chong, the nation's leading setter. The Kamehameha Schools graduate had 69 assists and 10 digs as well as having the honor of serving for match point.
"We picked up our intensity at the end but couldn't finish it off," said UCLA sophomore hitter Fred Robins, also a Kamehameha product.
Robins had 11 kills and 10 digs Saturday. He is expected to be one of the keys next season in getting the Bruins to next May's final four tournament to be played at the University of Hawaii's Special Events Arena.
Saturday was the second consecutive five-game NCAA title match and third in four years, all involving UCLA. The Bruins defeated Hawaii last season, 3-2, and lost to Penn State, 2-3, in 1994.
National champs
1997--Stanford.
1996--UCLA.
1995--UCLA.
1994--Penn State.
1993--UCLA.
1992--Pepperdine.
1991--Long Beach St.
1990--Southern Cal.
1989--UCLA.
1988--Southern Cal.
1987--UCLA.
1986--Pepperdine.
1985--Pepperdine.
1984--UCLA.
1983--UCLA.
1982--UCLA.
1981--UCLA.
1980--Southern Cal.
1979--UCLA.
1978--Pepperdine.
1977--Southern Cal.
1976--UCLA.
1975--UCLA.
1974--UCLA.
1973--San Diego St.
1972--UCLA.
1971--UCLA.
1970--UCLA.
