|
|
|
Final Four Another Good Start For SDSU San Diego Union-Tribune
Dec. 12, 2001
By Nicole Vargas SAN DIEGO - Unlike postseason play in football or basketball, the NCAA women's volleyball Final Four is about something other than money. After all, there isn't much to be made. But what this week's Division I tournament at Cox Arena lacks in profit potential can be made up in national exposure and prestige, San Diego State officials hope. Tickets cost $35 and are good for tomorrow's semifinal doubleheader plus Saturday's championship match. So far, 8,500 tickets have been sold, and event officials say a sellout is a possibility. "We could not have asked for a better championship field," said Al Zitlau, an SDSU assistant athletic director who will serve as the tournament manager. "Nebraska will be looking to defend its title against three programs from the West. It should make for a great atmosphere at Cox Arena."
It began in March 1997, when SDSU and the San Diego International Sports Council announced that the unfinished Cox Arena would host the NCAA women's volleyball Final Four.
It costs about $275,000 to stage the tournament. With 8,500 tickets sold, San Diego State has met its financial obligation to the NCAA but still needs to sell about 500 more tickets to break even. A sellout of 11,700 would allow SDSU to make about $30,000, Zitlau said. In tomorrow's semifinals, top-seeded Long Beach State (32-0) will face No. 5 Arizona (25-4) at 6 p.m. and No. 2 Nebraska (31-1) will take on No. 3 Stanford (31-2) at 8. Both matches will be taped and televised at 8 a.m. and noon, respectively, Friday on ESPN2. Winners advance to Saturday's championship match, which will be shown live on ESPN2 at noon. "Any time you can get the visibility of San Diego State out there, it's going to help recruiting," said SDSU coach Mark Warner, whose team lost to the 49ers in the first round of the tournament. "It will be on TV, and if one or two girls become interested who may not have been interested and are top players, that will help (in recruiting)." Warner also sees the NCAA tournament as an invitation for volleyball fans around San Diego to return to SDSU and view the best in collegiate volleyball in their own back yard. "A lot of people in San Diego who are volleyball people haven't really been back to San Diego State," Warner said. "A lot of them will come to the tournament and see the construction and new buildings and how the arena is laid out. So it's not just good for volleyball, but good for the school." |
|
