SPOKANE, WASH., DEC. 20, 1997 THE FOLKL POINT OF STANFORD'S VOLLEYBALL TITLE? NO SURPRISE: IT WAS KRISTIN

As teammates sprawled on the floor near her, happy and
exhausted, Stanford senior outside hitter Kristin Folkl sat in
her chair in the Cardinal locker room at the Spokane Arena after
the NCAA women's volleyball final and absently stuffed things
into her gym bag: shoes, socks, the chicken hand puppet the
Stanford Band had given her for her 22nd birthday, which she had
celebrated the day before. "We wanted to get you a basketball,"
a band member had explained, "but this was the best we could do
in Spokane late at night."

Not that the 6'2" Folkl (right) was in a hurry to leave. She had
just scored the final point of her final match on the final day
of her final autumn as a Cardinal volleyball player, and she had
six whole days before she would begin her third season as a
forward on the Stanford basketball team. She wanted to savor yet
another moment of triumph in an amazing athletic career that has
included four state titles each in volleyball and basketball at
St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis and three volleyball national
championships with the Cardinal. Besides, she was so tired she
could barely move. "It was a battle," said the two-time
All-America, who had 18 digs and a team-leading 22 kills in the
defending champion Cardinal's exhausting 15-10, 15-6, 2-15,
15-17, 15-9 title-match win over top-seeded Penn State. "I was
so tired I couldn't even jump around afterward. Penn State was
amazing. They could just as easily have won this thing."

Folkl and her senior teammates ended each of their seasons at
volleyball's final four, winning an unprecedented three titles
in four years. But their previous runs didn't make this season's
any easier. "My roommate and I have been taking turns counting
sheep," said a stressed-out senior middle blocker Paula McNamee
last Saturday.

The Nittany Lions, who had accounted for both of the Cardinal's
losses this season, had been sleeping just fine--until they woke
up on Saturday trailing Stanford two games to none. That was
when Penn State senior All-America Terri Zemaitis, employing
what the public address announcer called "Zemaitis touch,"
sparked a heroic comeback, contributing 12 of her 25 kills in
Game 4 to force the Cardinal to its first fifth game of the
season.

But Folkl, the Pac-10 Player of the Year and the GTE women's
volleyball Academic All-America of the Year--she's an economics
major with a 3.46 average--has a unique touch, too. Applying the
strength and leaping ability that Stanford's women's basketball
team (2-4 through Sunday) will be welcoming back, Folkl hammers
a spike notorious for sounding more terminal than anyone else's.
Fittingly, that was the weapon that determined the championship.
On a match-point set from senior Lisa Sharpley, Folkl slammed
home a missile that the Nittany Lions simply couldn't handle.

Then, contrary to her postgame account, Folkl did jump around.
"This was by far the best championship match I've been in," she
said later. "Being seniors, you want to finish your career with
a win. Finally, we're the ones who get to pick out the rings."

Folkl already has two championship rings--the styles were
selected by previous senior classes--but as she mingled with the
crowd in the arena lobby after the match, the most eye-catching
thing on her hand was her new chicken, which she showed off for
camera-wielding fans before jamming it back in her bag and
heading for the exit. As she emerged into the twilight, a light
snow was falling. A new season had already begun.

--KELLI ANDERSON

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK [Kristin Folkl and others in game]