The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
The magic of Minneapolis: From 1988 to 2014
12.11.2014 | Volleyball
Friday’s match against Colorado State will be the first time Texas has played in Minneapolis since the 1988 national championship game.
The year was 1988 and Mick Haley was in his ninth season as Texas head coach, but at this point in the season, the Texas Longhorns were heading to Minneapolis not for a regional, but because they claimed their spot in the Final Four.
After receiving little respect from the volleyball community for years, the 1988 University of Texas women's volleyball team shocked the nation by storming through the NCAA Final Four by being the first team to ever go undefeated during the NCAA playoffs with a perfect sweep record of 15-0.
The 1988 Horns were not expected to make it past No. 1 and previously undefeated UCLA in the semi-final, but Haley knew he had the ingredients for a national championship team — experience in the form of four outstanding seniors, youthful exuberance from the underclassmen and a schedule that had tested his squad's determination.
With the final stuff block by All-American Dawn Davenport in the championship match against No. 3 Hawaii, Texas clinched its first national championship since it joined the league in 1982.
Haley, now the USC Women's Volleyball head coach, recounts his experience:
"I remember we arrived in Minneapolis, and the newspapers had pointed out that Illinois, Hawai'i, or UCLA all had a chance to win the championship. We were the only team that wasn't mentioned. We were scheduled to face an unbeaten UCLA team in the first round. What made it even more interesting was that I got lost on the way to the arena and almost missed the start of the match. The bus had already left and I was bringing my family with me… and I ended up in St. Paul because I couldn't find my way there. Eventually, I got there about five minutes before the start of the match.
We won the first two games with a front-row sub named Janine Gremmel scoring the set point each time. Then, we won the third game going away for a huge upset. After that, everyone started saying that it would be an easy championship for Hawai'i, which had beaten Illinois. In our match with Hawai'i, not only did we win, 3-0, we just about KO'd their setter on a big hit by Dagmara Szyszczak. She had a great match for us, as did Quandalyn Harrell. Dawn Davenport was named MVP of the tourney after she stuffed Hawai'i for championship point.
Hawai'i was televising the matches back on the islands, but we were able acquire the signal coordinates for the broadcast and had the matches shown in all of the Austin sports bars. Everyone in Austin piled into sports bars to watch the championship. Karen Kramer, one of our former middle blockers, was doing the Texas radio broadcast, and during her description of us winning – she started to cry. She had gone to the final four with us the year before. It was just a special moment for everyone involved."
That was 1988—it's 2014 now and the Horns have an urgent fire burning as they travel to Minneapolis with a focused mindset to set this year a part from all those previous.
Friday's match against Colorado State will be the first time Texas has played an NCAA Tournament game in Minneapolis since the 1988 national championship game.
In the First and Second Rounds, Texas swept Northwestern State (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) first (Dec. 4) and Arizona State (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) second (Dec. 5) to claim its spot in the Minneapolis regional.
On Friday (Dec. 12), the team will face Colorado State who clinched its spot in the regional by beating Colorado in an emotional five set (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 24-26, 16-14) battle.
Minneapolis will always hold a special place in Texas Volleyball history because of the 1988 championship run. But we will learn how special as the weekend unfolds.