The women's volleyball Final Four was held 30 years ago at Williams Arena, and it came and went with determined yet modest coverage in the Twin Cities media. The 1988 tournament was the NCAA's eighth for Division I, and it had been basically an event for teams on the West Coast and the powerhouse then referred to as the University of Hawaii Wahines.
The first seven champions were from the West, and six of the first seven title games were between two such teams. Only Nebraska from the Big Eight sneaked into the final before being swept by Pacific in 1986.
Mike Hebert became the first coach in the Big Ten to bring a team — Illinois — to the Final Four in 1987. And Hebert and the Illini were back in Minneapolis in 1988, and meeting defending champion Hawaii in the second semifinal. The first semi had Texas vs. UCLA, the tournament's unbeaten favorite.
Hebert offered the underlying story line before the semifinals: "Can somebody beat the West Coast? That means what will it take for us to beat Hawaii … we must play as if we think we can beat Hawaii.
"This is the best Final Four field. Our team and Texas are stronger than the non-West Coast teams in other years.''
Illinois was able to win a set before losing to Hawaii. Texas upset UCLA, then defeated Hawaii to become the first non-West Coast champion. This appeared to be merely a crack in the volleyball universe as West Coast teams won the next six titles.
This time around in Minneapolis, with the 2018 Final Four at Target Center, that crack is an earthquake from Nebraska to Pennsylvania and points South.
Hebert is delighted over this, and justifiably proud. He was raised in San Bernardino, Calif., "on the edge of the desert,'' and played volleyball at Cal-Santa Barbara. He started his coaching career at the University of Pittsburgh in 1976, coaching both the men's and women's teams.