The 1997 NCAA Division I women's volleyball tournament began with 56 teams and ended on December 20, 1997, when

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

defeated

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

3 games to 2 in the NCAA championship match. Stanford won their second straight title and 4th in 6 years. After winning the first two games 15-10, 15-6, Penn State forced a fifth game as the Nittany Lions won the next two 15-2, 17-15. In the decisive fifth game, Stanford jumped out to the 12-8 lead before

Kristin Folkl Kristin Just Folkl (born December 19, 1975) is an American former volleyball player and collegiate and professional women's basketball player. She now goes by her married name of Kristin Folkl-Kaburakis. As a volleyball player she was part of th ...

recorded the final three kills for the 15-9 win. Stanford finished the year 33-2, with their only two losses coming from Penn State in the early season. The 1997 NCAA tournament was the first, and would be the last, year with 56 tournament teams, as it was expanded from 48 teams (1993-1996). In 1998, the tournament would be expanded to its present-day 64 tournament teams.

Play-in games

Records

Brackets

East Regional - University Park, PA

Central Regional - Madison, WI

Pacific Regional - Long Beach, CA

Mountain Regional - Stanford, CA

Final Four -
Spokane Arena Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in the northwestern United States, located in downtown Spokane, Washington. Opened in 1995, it is home to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Facility C ...
,
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

References

{{1997–98 NCAA Division I championships navbox NCAA women's volleyball tournaments

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Volleyball in Washington (state) 1997 in sports in Washington (state) December 1997 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in Washington (state) Women's sports in Washington (state)