The Minnesota volleyball team reinforced a valuable lesson in sports this season. That lesson is to peak when the time is right. By peaking at the right time the Golden Gophers advanced to their first Final Four in the program's history.

Minnesota struggled early with a tough non-conference schedule. The Golden Gophers lost their first three matches at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic to No. 2 Hawai'i, No. 13 UCLA and No. 22 Louisville to start out 0-3. After being upset in its home opener by Kansas, the Golden Gophers dropped to 0-4 for the first time in school history. It was not the last time during the season that the number four was involved with a first in school history.

The Golden Gophers quickly regrouped by winning seven of their next eight matches, with their only loss in he stretch coming at No. 3 Florida, to enter Big Ten play with a 7-5 record. Perhaps the most significant of those victories came against No. 6 Northern Iowa on Sept. 17. That was Minnesota's highest ranked win since 1993.

Minnesota briefly stumbled again with two straight losses to open Big Ten play to drop 7-7, and started 0-2 in conference play for only the fifth time in school history. The Golden Gophers responded once again with 10 straight Big Ten victories, their second-longest conference winning streak in school history. That streak included an impressive pair of road victories at No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 13 Penn State. Minnesota also defeated No. 22 Michigan State and the then No. 20 Badgers at home during the winning streak. The Golden Gophers finished the month of October with an undefeated record, at 10-0, for the first time since 1974 when it was 8-0.

Minnesota entered November with a wave of momentum that had them at 17-7 and 10-2 in Big Ten play. That momentum was momentarily halted with a pair of road losses at Illinois and Northwestern, which dropped Minnesota's conference record to 10-4. The Golden Gophers came back with four straight victories to move to 14-4 in Big Ten play. That set up a showdown with Penn State with the conference title at stake. The Nittany Lions claimed that match to win the Big Ten title, but after Minnesota rebounded to defeat Ohio State the next night it felt good about how it was playing heading into the NCAA Tournament.

After finishing the regular season with a 22-10 overall record and a second-place 15-5 Big Ten record, Minnesota received the No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first two rounds at the Sports Pavilion.

Minnesota defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round, and claimed a hard-fought second-round match in four games against No. 16 Northern Iowa to advance to the NCAA Regionals in Long Beach, Calif.

The Golden Gophers turned the regional upside down by defeating No. 4 Pepperdine, who was the top seed in the region, in five games. Minnesota's victory over the fourth-ranked Waves was the highest ranked opponent it had defeated in school history. It was also the first time since 1999 that a No. 4 seeded team defeated a No. 1 seed.

In the regional final against No. 12 Washington, the Golden Gophers fell behind 1-0 in the match for a second straight night. Minnesota trailed 26-24 in game two, but battled back to win it and tie the match at one game apiece. The Golden Gophers moved on to win in five games to advance to their first "Final Four" in school history. With the victory they served notice to the volleyball world, and earned the "Cinderella" moniker by becoming the first No. 4 seed in a region to advance to a Final Four in the history of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.

Minnesota faced the daunting task of trying to derail No. 1 USC's 45-match winning streak in the Final Four. The Golden Gophers led in the later stages of both games one and two in the match, but were unable to take either game as the Women of Troy won in three games to end Minnesota's season en route to their second straight national championship.

Individually Cassie Busse had a senior season to remember as she was named a First-Team AVCA All-American, 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year, NCAA Tournament Pacific Region Most Outstanding Player and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

Sophomore libero Paula Gentil also collected many awards as she was named a Second-Team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the NCAA Tournament Pacific Region All-Tournament Team. Erin Martin also collected NCAA Pacific Region All-Tournament honors, while Lindsey Taatjes was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and Meredith Nelson was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

Minnesota said goodbye to Busse, who had one of the greatest senior seasons in school history, along with Erin Lorenzen. However, the Golden Gophers return 11 letterwinners including five seniors who are hungry to build upon the amazing success of the program over the last two seasons. The Minnesota volleyball team reinforced a valuable lesson in sports this season. That lesson is to peak when the time is right. By peaking at the right time the Golden Gophers advanced to their first Final Four in the program's history.

Minnesota struggled early with a tough non-conference schedule. The Golden Gophers lost their first three matches at the Hawaiian Airlines Classic to No. 2 Hawai'i, No. 13 UCLA and No. 22 Louisville to start out 0-3. After being upset in its home opener by Kansas, the Golden Gophers dropped to 0-4 for the first time in school history. It was not the last time during the season that the number four was involved with a first in school history.

The Golden Gophers quickly regrouped by winning seven of their next eight matches, with their only loss in he stretch coming at No. 3 Florida, to enter Big Ten play with a 7-5 record. Perhaps the most significant of those victories came against No. 6 Northern Iowa on Sept. 17. That was Minnesota's highest ranked win since 1993.

Minnesota briefly stumbled again with two straight losses to open Big Ten play to drop 7-7, and started 0-2 in conference play for only the fifth time in school history. The Golden Gophers responded once again with 10 straight Big Ten victories, their second-longest conference winning streak in school history. That streak included an impressive pair of road victories at No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 13 Penn State. Minnesota also defeated No. 22 Michigan State and the then No. 20 Badgers at home during the winning streak. The Golden Gophers finished the month of October with an undefeated record, at 10-0, for the first time since 1974 when it was 8-0.

Minnesota entered November with a wave of momentum that had them at 17-7 and 10-2 in Big Ten play. That momentum was momentarily halted with a pair of road losses at Illinois and Northwestern, which dropped Minnesota's conference record to 10-4. The Golden Gophers came back with four straight victories to move to 14-4 in Big Ten play. That set up a showdown with Penn State with the conference title at stake. The Nittany Lions claimed that match to win the Big Ten title, but after Minnesota rebounded to defeat Ohio State the next night it felt good about how it was playing heading into the NCAA Tournament.

After finishing the regular season with a 22-10 overall record and a second-place 15-5 Big Ten record, Minnesota received the No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first two rounds at the Sports Pavilion.

Minnesota defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round, and claimed a hard-fought second-round match in four games against No. 16 Northern Iowa to advance to the NCAA Regionals in Long Beach, Calif.

The Golden Gophers turned the regional upside down by defeating No. 4 Pepperdine, who was the top seed in the region, in five games. Minnesota's victory over the fourth-ranked Waves was the highest ranked opponent it had defeated in school history. It was also the first time since 1999 that a No. 4 seeded team defeated a No. 1 seed.

In the regional final against No. 12 Washington, the Golden Gophers fell behind 1-0 in the match for a second straight night. Minnesota trailed 26-24 in game two, but battled back to win it and tie the match at one game apiece. The Golden Gophers moved on to win in five games to advance to their first "Final Four" in school history. With the victory they served notice to the volleyball world, and earned the "Cinderella" moniker by becoming the first No. 4 seed in a region to advance to a Final Four in the history of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.

Minnesota faced the daunting task of trying to derail No. 1 USC's 45-match winning streak in the Final Four. The Golden Gophers led in the later stages of both games one and two in the match, but were unable to take either game as the Women of Troy won in three games to end Minnesota's season en route to their second straight national championship.

Individually Cassie Busse had a senior season to remember as she was named a First-Team AVCA All-American, 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year, NCAA Tournament Pacific Region Most Outstanding Player and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

Sophomore libero Paula Gentil also collected many awards as she was named a Second-Team All-American, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the NCAA Tournament Pacific Region All-Tournament Team. Erin Martin also collected NCAA Pacific Region All-Tournament honors, while Lindsey Taatjes was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and Meredith Nelson was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

Minnesota said goodbye to Busse, who had one of the greatest senior seasons in school history, along with Erin Lorenzen. However, the Golden Gophers return 11 letterwinners including five seniors who are hungry to build upon the amazing success of the program over the last two seasons.