Volleyball Final 4-Minneapolis

[UpAndUnder43]

I assume others have tickets for this as well! My group of 8 is really excited.

Have they announced anything else for the tournament? Like a fan zone or anything?

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...lking-about-final-four-at-home-yet/498082621/

Final Four ticket update:

The lower bowl at Target Center, which has a capacity of 19,356, was entirely sold out as of Friday. Tickets remained available in only 11 of 40 sections in the upper deck.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/former-g...n-big-ten-s-rise-while-at-illinois/502645952/

The women’s volleyball Final Four was held 30 years ago at Williams Arena, and it came and went with determined yet modest coverage in the Twin Cities media. The 1988 tournament was the NCAA’s eighth for Division I, and it had been basically an event for teams on the West Coast and the powerhouse then referred to as the University of Hawaii Wahines.

The first seven champions were from the West, and six of the first seven title games were between two such teams. Only Nebraska from the Big Eight sneaked into the final before being swept by Pacific in 1986.

Mike Hebert became the first coach in the Big Ten to bring a team — Illinois — to the Final Four in 1987. And Hebert and the Illini were back in Minneapolis in 1988, and meeting defending champion Hawaii in the second semifinal. The first semi had Texas vs. UCLA, the tournament’s unbeaten favorite.

...


Hebert coached the Gophers to Final Fours in 2003, 2004 and 2009. They reached the final in ’04, after upsetting defending champ Southern Cal. In 2006, Hebert announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and he retired after the 2010 season.

“I’m doing OK, but not well enough to be there this week, ’’ Hebert said. “The Illini have reached out to me through the years; they still are in my heart. So are the Gophers. We watched that match last Friday. The Gophers lost that second set [41-39] and let down a little to start the next one.

“The margins are so close now that’s tough to overcome. It’s easy for me now, though. I’m pulling for the Illini to win a first one.’

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Fun night. Shocked Nebraska won. I think Stanford will win the title.

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

The most interesting thing about the first match was, naturally, the Stanford band with it's loin cloth clad, mace wielding director. The Illini band deserves some note for annoying some of the Big Red fans around me when they broke out a "Nebraska's not a state" chant. There must be some history of which I'm not aware.