The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- October 11, 1999

Women's volleyball championship at Hawaii records earliest sellout

The NCAA has announced that the 1999 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, which will be held at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu December 16 and 18, is sold out.

It marks the first time in recent history that tickets for the volleyball championship have sold out this early. Ticket sales began September 8.

"The women's volleyball championship in Honolulu attracted an incredibly large volume of ticket interest and was complemented with enthusiasm from the University of Hawaii's 5,000 season-ticket base," said Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano, assistant athletics director at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, the host institution.

"We will not be able to fill all of the ticket requests, but we are excited about the interest in the event, and we are committed to making the championship one of the best ever. We intend to provide the participants with a memorable experience and plan to extend our Hawaiian hospitality to the players, coaches and fans."

Brenda Weare, associate commissioner of Conference USA and chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee, said the sellout is a boost for the championship.

"We're excited to be going to Hawaii," Weare said. "With the university's past success in hosting preliminary-round competition and its outstanding regular-season attendance figures, fans there have proven themselves to have a keen interest in volleyball. A sellout this early speaks extremely well for women's intercollegiate volleyball, the university and the community. The championship promises to be a great event in Honolulu."

The Stan Sheriff Center, which seats 10,300 for volleyball, hosted the 1998 National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship.

This is the second time the women's championship will be held in Honolulu. In 1989, the event was hosted by Hawaii and held at the Neal S. Blaidell Center.

Sandra L. Vivas, executive director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, said that more than 700 coaches plan to travel to Honolulu to attend the association's convention, which will be conducted in conjunction with the championship.

"The 3,000 room nights that will be used by coaches, families and friends for the 1999 championship will break all records for the AVCA," she said.

In a related matter, Virginia Commonwealth University has been selected as the host institution for the 2000 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The semifinals and the final will take place December 14 and 16 at the 12,500-seat Richmond Coliseum in downtown Richmond. Tickets for the event are on sale now through the Virginia Commonwealth ticket office at 804/828-7267.

In 1994, Virginia Commonwealth sold out the Richmond Coliseum for the NCAA Women's Final Four.