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McGee lends a big hand

by Rick Eymer

Sara McGee shares more in common with Logan Tom than just being her teammate on the Stanford women's volleyball squad.

Like Tom, McGee is in the midst of a record-setting season that has led - once again - to the NCAA Final Four.

No. 3 Stanford (31-4) dispatched Arizona, 30-14, 30-17, 30-25, in the Pacific Regional final on Friday at Maples Pavilion to earn a trip to New Orleans for Thursday's national semifinal match against No. 2 Hawaii (34-1) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2). The championship match is slated for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Top-ranked USC (29-1) and No. 5 Florida (34-2) meet in the other semifinal.

"Every Final Four is an accomplishment in itself," said Tom. "We can't overlook anyone at this stage."

Stanford has beaten Hawaii, lost to Florida and split with USC. The Lady Trojans are the national No. 1 seed. Stanford is seeded second.

"Every time we play USC it's always a battle," said McGee. "We know each other pretty well. They have a great team, and balanced."

Hawaii will be looking to avenge its only loss of the season against the Cardinal. The two teams last met in the postseason in 1996, when Stanford beat Hawaii in the national championship match.

USC's only loss is also to Stanford. The Cardinal are 9-0 against USC in postseason play.

Should Stanford meet Florida, the Cardinal would be out to avenge one of their losses.

The Cardinal reached the regional final with a 30-24, 30-25, 30-27 victory over Ohio State on Thursday as coach John Dunning won his 500th career match.

Tom recorded 15 kills against Arizona to move past Kristin Klein and become Stanford's career leader in kills with 1,910. That Tom could accomplish such a feat despite missing 22 matches in her collegiate career because of commitments to the U.S. National and Olympic teams makes it even more remarkable.

"I know Logan well enough to know she doesn't think about stuff like that," said Dunning. "It does put her in a group of players who were great here and is another sign she's a great player."

Tom was a little tongue-tied when she was informed of her achievement.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool I guess," she said. "Klein is a great player and I feel privileged to be associated with her. I don't know what else to say."

Tom does her talking on the court, where she reigns as the country's best collegiate player.

"I'm glad to see Logan Tom leaving the conference," said Arizona coach Dave Rubio. "How many times did Logan save them when they got out of system? When they get out of their system, they still make plays. When you move up to the level Stanford is, the game becomes very unforgiving. Stanford has the best player in the country and they kept the pressure on us."

What could McGee possibly have achieved in the face of Tom's accomplishments? Well, how about this: the junior middle blocker whom Dunning "tried like heck" to recruit for Pacific three years ago will become Stanford's all-time leader in hitting percentage for a season. She takes a .431 average into the Final Four, better than Wendy Rush's .400 mark of 1987, and better than Kim Oden, Bev Oden, Kerri Walsh, Tom and countless other former Stanford All-Americans ever hit in a season.

McGee has attacked 664 times this season and put down 381 for kills, with 95 errors.

"Playing with Logan and Ogonna (Nnamani) make it quite a bit easier because teams cheat to them," said McGee. "Half of that percentage belongs to them."

Dunning said McGee has accomplished the feat on her own ability.

"Sara lines up with one hitting partner two-thirds of the time," said Dunning, "and she plays what we call the M-1 position next to the setter. That's the hardest middle to hit for the highest percentage. That's a sign of how good she must be."

This has been a coming out party for McGee this season. Playing at full health for the first time since high school, McGee has displayed a penchant not only for hitting, but for blocking as well. Her six blocks give her 171 on the season, the fourth-best single-season total ever at Stanford. Bev Oden is third on the list with 185 in 1989.

McGee was named to the first team Pacific All-region team and is in line to be named to the All-American team after leading the conference in hitting percentage and ranking among the top five nationally.

"It's getting more experience in the Pac-10 and coming in with the right mindset," said McGee. "It's knowing your opportunities and when you only have one-up, you should put it down."

McGee played hurt during her freshman season after spending the summer with the USA Junior National Team, and underwent surgery following the season. That set her back for her sophomore year and she struggled while trying to regain her strength.

A healthy McGee has translated into a spectacular player.

"Sara is kind of rare and it's neat to have a player like that," said Dunning. "She has a tremendous feel and sense for the game. She sees things, she studies things, she asks questions and observes. She's a real student of her position and knows where the holes are."

McGee also pays attention when Tom speaks.

"She's been around the world," said McGee. "We should listen to her. During practice she reminds me where to hit."

Junior setter Anna Robinson also moved up the ranks in the Stanford history books, assuming fourth place on the single-season assists ladder with 1,395, a handful more than Lindsay Kagawa in 2000.

Nnamani had 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .320 against the Wildcats, while Tom hit .406 and added 11 digs. Senior Ashley Ivy hit .400 and recorded 10 digs. Lindsey Yamasaki added 11 digs while Jennifer Harvey hit at a .600 clip.

Against Ohio State, Nnamani had 16 kills, hit .565 and had nine digs to lead the team in all three categories.