By Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports

The Stanford women's volleyball team earned a top seed and will host the first two rounds of its own regional on Friday and Saturday.

The Pac-10 champion Cardinal (22-7) meets Long Island (21-13) in the first round, while St. Mary's (22-4) and UC Santa Barbara (22-7) meet in the other first round. The winners meet Saturday at 7 p.m. for the chance to reach the Sweet Sixteen.

"Coming into the season I didn't know what to expect," Stanford coach John Dunning said. "There's no way we would have expected this. We knew the Pac-10 would be respected because the conference had some good wins out of conference. People know the Pac-10 is tough."

Stanford and top-ranked Penn State are the only teams to receive bids to play in all 29 NCAA tournaments.

Stanford also hosts the regional the following week, with a possible rematch with Notre Dame on the horizon. Michigan, Ohio and Niagara are other possibilities.

"The parity, and playing to 25 has caused the streakiest volleyball we've ever seen," Dunning said. "We've had big leads and lost them, and we've overcome big deficits. This is a resilient team and the home court matters more than ever."

A total of eight Pac-10 teams were awarded berths in the NCAA tournament, with California, UCLA and Washington also seeded. Washington State, Oregon, and Arizona are also entered.

Stanford, seeded fourth overall, is 12-7 against the NCAA field. Long Island, which won its sixth straight Northeast Conference title, is 0-2 against the field.

The Cardinal is as healthy as it's been all year. Junior outside hitter Alix Klineman's right shoulder has improved to the point she was able to put down 33 kills during the dramatic five-set win over Cal in the regular-season finale.

In related news, Stanford recruit Rachel Williams of Mitty High, was named to the 24-member first team AVCA All-American high school team.

Six members of the first team are committed to Penn State.